The ghosts that will not be laid to rest: a critical reading of “Abantu Stand”
Journal Title: International Journal of Pedagogy, Innovation and New Technologies - Year 2018, Vol 5, Issue 2
Abstract
This paper centres on an existential consciousness reading of the production of “Abantu Stand” by Rhodes University Theatre. “Abantu Stand” is a product of pieces of workshop sketches on current social, economic and political conversations in South Africa. From my participation in the back stage conversations of the artists and the production crew towards the final making of the production, to the discussions with the audience after each performance, I realise that, of a truth, as the closing song of the performance re-echoes, “It is not yet uhuru” for the South Africans, particularly, the people on the peripheral of the society!” In “Abantu Stand,” in spite of her post-apartheid status, South Africa appears as a volatile contested space. Of course, in reality, in many areas, 70 to 85% of lands remain in the hands of the settlers. There are towns and settlements outside of towns – for till now, majority of the blacks live in shanties outside the main towns. Inequality, mutual suspicion, mismanagement and oppression operate at different levels of the society – from race to race, gender to gender and tribe to tribe. There is the challenge of gender/sexual categorisation and the tension of “coming out” in relation to the residual resisting traditional culture of heterosexuals. The sketches in the performance are woven around these contentious issues to give room for free conversations. The desire is to provoke a revolutionary change. However, one thing is evident: South Africa, with the relics of apartheid, is still a state in transition.<br/><br/>
Authors and Affiliations
Olabode Wale Ojoniyi
Keywords
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- EP ID EP516316
- DOI 10.5604/01.3001.0012.9675
- Views 91
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