Doctoral Degrees (Drama)

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Hyperartifical cinema and the art of cool
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2002-04) Bain, Keith Norman; Hauptfleisch, Temple; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Drama.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this thesis, an ontology of contemporary cinema is developed using the position assumed by postmodern thinkers (notably Jean Baudrillard) and contemporary filmmakers. Using Baudrillard's perspective it is argued that the cinematic apparatus is an expression of both human curiosity and a desire to place "reality" at a distance. While the spectator seeks involvement with the viewed subject, he or she remains detached from the images which simulate the various "realities" in which he or she becomes "involved" through the act of viewing. The contemporary Western subject is said to crave "meaning" in a universe which is increasingly secular, materialistic, individualistic and, to a certain extent, "virtual". Life is also said to be more ironic, providing illusory concessions such as communication in lieu of interaction, information instead of knowledge, choice in favour of quality, surfaces rather than depth, and images which ultimately extinguish "the real". Moving images may be said to allude to the artificial nature of a "reality" which is itself a human construction. This suggests that the role of the camera is to place both the world and human subjects "at a distance", thereby objectifying (and potentially dehumanising) the subject-objects of the gaze. Many postmodern films are concerned with the functioning of the cinematic apparatus itself, and these films - implicitly and explicitly - deal with the way in which subjectivity is established through the cinematic gaze. "Realism" in the cinema has to a large extent shifted from the documentation of the world, to techniques which problematise the viewer's experience of "reality". Interactivity, faux-verité and the hyperrealism of computer graphic imaging, have contributed to the confusion of various forms of screen "realism", arguably impacting on the viewer's experience of "reality". In another sense, "reality" has been transformed by the blurring of distinctions between high and low cultural paradigms, increasingly evident in work that privileges the showing of "perverse", "profane", "grotesque", "vulgar" and explicit "realities". Boundaries between private and publiC spaces are eroded as the cinematic apparatus takes spectators into increasingly intimate personal spaces, demystifying and popularising the unknown and previously hidden. Considering the influence of commercial and socio-economic factors on the development of contemporary cinema (emphasizing Hollywood), the thesis looks at the aesthetic, thematic and narrative concerns of both mainstream and niche-market films. Focus is given to the socalled postmodern aesthetic which is closely linked to what some critics call recycling (an inability to say anything "new"), some label "empty" (meaningless) and many see as "schizoid" (able to be read in various, often contradictory, ways). The thesis proposes that contemporary (postmodern) cinema is a "pure" form which increasingly sets "reality" at a distance so that it's illusory nature is emphasised. It also demonstrates how contemporary films serve as reflections of a world which is itself nothing but a reflection (artificial construction). Like dreams, fantasies and other "virtual realities", the cinema represents a form of "remembering" which is detached from any particular time or space. In this sense, cinematic moving images enable viewers to engage with aspects of their own humanity which may be quite independent of the "reality" status of the world.
Luister-leer : die opvoedkundige moontlikhede van die hoorspel in Suid-Afrika
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 1999-12) Cruywagen, Eben; Hauptfleisch, Temple; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Drama.
ENGLISH SUMMARY: The aim of this study is to ascertain what the nature of educational drama is and whether it would be feasible to apply educational radio drama to help meet the learning needs of South Mrica. In England, the well-known educational radio serial, The Archers, has been broadcast by the BBC with great success since the Fifties. Hitherto radio drama in South Mrica has served primarily as a means to entertain listeners. The study began with research into other didactic forms, such as folklore, drama- and theatre-in -education, industrial theatre and sociodrama, as well as radio and television as educational media. Further information was collected by means of interviews and correspondence. Two experimental radio productions, a series and a serial, were broadcast in Mrikaans in 1997 and 1998 respectively on a national radio station, Radiosondergrense, in an attempt to determine the formula for, and the format of, outcomes based radio drama for a South Mrican audience. Included in this study are copies of scripts (industrial theatre, television drama, radio drama) and the scripts of the two experimental radio productions. Each script is accompanied by an analysis and evaluation. Recordings of the two experiments are also included. According to the results of a professional market research campaign, the outcomes based radio drama proved not only to be a popular educational tool, but also very accessible, since very few listeners felt excluded by such a format. Over and above its inclusive nature, the enjoyment level of the experimental serial drama was ranked among the highest of all (non-educational) programmes by respondents. The knowledge gained through researching available sources, coupled with the results of the market research, was used to formulate a text model, together with hints and directions. With these aids, all language groups in South Mrica may create outcomes based radio drama within the framework of language, culture and listeners' needs.
"Memory is a weapon" : the uses of history and myth in selected post-1960 Kenyan, Nigerian and South African plays
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 1999-12) Hutchison, Yvette; Hauptfleisch, Temple; Breitinger, H. E. (Habil Eckhard); Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Drama.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In hierdie proefskrif word gekyk na die verwantskap tussen geskiedenis, mite, geheue en teater. Daar word ook gekyk na die mate waartoe historiese of mitiese toneelstukke gebruik kan word om die amptelike geheue en identiteite, soos deur bewindhebbers in post-koloniale Nigerie en Kenya geskep, terug kon wen of uit kon daag. Hierdie werke word dan vergelyk met die soort teater wat tydens die Apartheidbewind in Suid-Afrika geskep is, om verskille en ooreenkomste in die gebruik van historiese en mitiese gegewens te bekyk. Die slotsom is dat een van die belangrikste kenmerke van die teater in vandag se samelewing sy vermod is om alternatiewe historiese narratiewe te ontwikkel wat kan dien as teen-geheue ("counter-memory") vir die dominante narratief van amptelike geskiedenisse. Sodoende bevraagteken die teater dan ook 'n liniere en causale siening van die geskiedenis, maar interpreteer dit eerder as meervoudig en kompleks.
Selected black African dramatists South of the Zambezi
(Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2003-04) Litkie, Celeste Avril; Hauptfleisch, Temple; Schauffer, Dennis; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Drama.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Late twentieth century theatre studies has been characterised by an expansion of the notion of theatre to encompass an enormous variety of performance-based activities. A range of pioneering academics and practitioners have moved beyond the old European-American paradigm of the literary theatre, to recognize the unique qualities of the performance as a theatrical artefact in its own right. One of the by-products of this paradigm shift has been what some would term the death - or at least diminution - of the dramatist or playwright. Another has been the (re-)discovery of what is vaguely referred to as "African theatre". This study had no intention of taking up the argument about the precise forms and processes that belong under that rubric, nor the many problems associated with such categorizing. It has a much more mundane aim, namely to look at one form of play creation - formal playwriting - in a specified region of the vast African continent, south of the Zambezi. The focus is very specifically on published or written texts, created and produced in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Swaziland and Mozambique. For a variety of reasons not all these countries could be studied, but enough material was found to arrive at some initial conclusions. In this respect, this is a pioneering study, since no such comparative survey has yet been done. Based on a previous pilot study by Dennis Schauffer at the University of Durban-Westville, the study utilises a process model of the theatrical system proposed by Temple Hauptfleisch (1997) as a frame of reference and a range of four basic kinds of data to answer a number of questions to study the writers and their works. The materials utilized are: 1. Play scripts 2. Biographical data, press cuttings, video recordings, articles. 3. Interviews and interviewer's journal entries. 4. Studies of the socio-political milieu. Data was gathered on 12 writers and their works, as well as some substantial information on community theatre and related forms in the region. The primary authors discussed in some detail are Gibson Kente, Zakes Mda, Gcina Mhlope, Matsemela Manaka, Fani-Kayode Osazuwa Omoregie, Freddy Philander, Vickson Tablah Hangula, Tsokolo Muso (Tjotela mor'a Moshpela), Sonny Sampson-akpan, Andreas Mavuso, and Sipho Mtetwa. With this data the study seeks to address a number of questions concerning playwriting in the sub-continent. These include: 1. a comparison of existing performance forms and their relationships to oral traditions; 2. the influence of socio-political contexts on the works produced; 3. the relationship between plays and the other media, such as film and television; 4. a consideration of audiences (or target audiences) and their impact on the form and content of works; 5. the impact of the nature of, access to and availability of venues; 6. the role played by funding and relationships to state institutions; 7. language choices and their impact on the arts; 8. And finally, the interesting question of cross-cultural encounters and their influence on the forms of theatre in the region. This set of questions provide the context for a study of the variety of theatrical and performance output generated in Africa, south of the Zambezi, and to identify some common and/or divergent cultural influences in the works of the selected black African dramatists in the southern sub-continent of Africa. As expected, one such common denominator was the oral tradition, the other was the colonial heritage of western, Eurocentric theatre and literary practices. The dynamic between these traditions proved to be a point of some interest, but also posed many methodological problems. Two other major factors in many of the countries have proven to be the lack of a strong theatrical infrastructure and divergent audience expectations, which have led to a proliferation of non-formal and applied theatre processes (e.g. in political theatre, popular theatre, community theatre, theatre for development, etc), which in their turn pose their own methodological problems for researchers. In the final analysis, given the restraints under which the candidate had to work, the study could only look at some interesting but selected authors, who in their works seem to illustrate some of the variety and energy of the widely dispersed region. Hopefully in doing this it provided a few broad indications of important trends. More importantly perhaps, the study did identify a number of areas for future research. It would seem that, besides a tremendous need to do considerably more work on the collection and archiving of data on theatre and performance systems, practitioners and practice in Southern Africa, there are at least three additional areas of research that require particular attention: 1. the development of an appropriate theatre research methodology for application in the region; 2. a study of the role played by foreign nationals; 3. the setting up of a national and continent-wide database on theatre in Africa.
Theatre for development in Kenya : in search of an effective procedure and methodology
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2005-12) Odhiambo, Christopher; Hauptfleisch, Temple; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Drama.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This is a study of Theatre for Development (TfD) in Kenya. It is an attempt to map out and describe different manifestations of the practice which would, in a way, act as a critical model for practitioners and other stakeholders. However, this is in no way an attempt to provide a rigid all-purpose theoretical model, but nonetheless to offer ways, through a description of aspects of Theatre for Development, within which and through which social and behavioural transformations in this eclectic field may take place. To this end, case studies of a few indicative and contrasting examples of Theatre for Development will be used to provide a mirror which will enable its practitioners to reflect upon and critique their own practices as a way of achieving optimum effectiveness. The works of Paulo Freire and Augusto Boal provide the study with a theoretical model in which its basic assumptions and arguments are tested and developed. These two authors, whose works are related in many ways, privilege the use of participatory approaches in the process of creating critical consciousness and promoting change in the individual and in society; these are fundamental requirements in any meaningful practice of Theatre for Development. The findings of this study reveal the discursive and eclectic state of the practice of Theatre for Development in Kenya as originating from a multiplicity of factors such as the skills (or lack thereof) of the practitioners, government interference and the prescriptive agenda and demands of the project funding bodies, institutions and agencies as well as the proliferation of NGOs using Theatre for Development but lacking its foundational philosophy and methodology. This study therefore suggests that, for the enterprise to be more effective and efficient there is a serious need to reflect critically on its procedures and methodology in order to improve and guide its operation. These fundamental aspects include collaborative research, codification, interactive participation, and facilitation and intervention, and are not prescriptive matters but descriptive, arrived at through a critical analysis of a number of Theatre for Development activities in Kenya. Ultimately the research process has thus highlighted a number of weaknesses and strengths in the practice of Theatre for Development in Kenya. Because Theatre for Development is a performance event, the study utilised both quantitative and qualitative research methods. This was necessary, because the study depended on a bibliographical review, unstructured interviews and action research, where the researcher participated in Theatre for Development projects, happenings and related activities
Theatre in a new democracy : some major trends in South African theatre from 1994 to 2003
(Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2008-03) Van Heerden, Johann; Hauptfleisch, Temple; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Drama.
Following the socio-political change in South Africa after the democratic elections of 1994 the relationship between the state and the arts changed markedly. Whereas, under apartheid, the white population groups benefited greatly from government support for the primarily Eurocentric cultural heritage and the arts, the new South Africa recognised a multi-cultural and multi-lingual population whose every human right was protected under the new Constitution. Under the new government priorities shifted and this resulted in a transformation of the state-subsidised Performing Arts Councils and generally in the financial dynamics of the arts and culture sector. During the first decade of democracy an arts festival circuit emerged which provided opportunities for specific population groups to celebrate their cultural heritage and also for new independent theatre-makers to enter the industry. After the demise of apartheid there was no longer a market for the protest theatre that had become a hallmark of much South African performing arts in the 1970s and 80s and the creative artists had to discover new areas of focus and find alternative creative stimuli. This dissertation identifies and examines a number of major trends that emerged in the professional theatre in post-apartheid South Africa during the first decade of its new democracy.

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