CRITICAL ARTS
A Journal for Media Studies

(Special Issue: Drama and Theatre

in South Africa)

Oct 1930 Vol 1 No 3

Critical Arts:

A Journal for Media Studies.

Back copies available:

Vol. 1. No.1.
Vol. 1. No.2.

Harch 1980:
June 1980:

South African Cinema.
Censorship
of Desire in Advertising.

in South Africa.

Sexism in Advertising.

Triangular Structures

Yolo 1. No.3.

September

1980:

Theatre and Drama in South Africa. Semiology
of Theatre.

CRITICAL ARTS

'I

Third .World and its theoretical

neglected
society.
and is concerned

~RITICAL ARTS is tbe only journal which studies the relations
.etwee~ the ~edia and society
in South Africa. Its perspective
lS radlcal. lts context
.
leaning is towards
semiotics.
CRIT~CAL ARTS is polemic
prev~ously
(radlo. film. television,
apartheid
frameworks
and the arts from the point of view of popular culture.
CRITICAL ARTS aims to generate
and dialogue
between academics
the ex~sting social structures
govern the status quo orientation
media institutions.
Subscriptions

and seeks to stimulate study of
areas such as the role of the media
advertiSing.
It seeks to establish relevant critical
of media

discussion
and the world at larie, and to challenge
and socla1 relations which

with the interpretation

are R2.S0

A Journal for Media Studi~Si

(local) and $4.00 (overseas)for

4 iss~es.

of South Africa's

drama etc) in

Write to:
ersity of Witwatersrand,

CRITICAL

ARTS, clo School of Dramatic Art. Univ-
2001

I Jan Smuts Ave, Johannesbur~

;

i

CRITI CAL ARTS

Vol 1

No J

October

1980

~
Keyan G Tomaselli
John van Zyl

BOARD

EDITORIAL
Eve Bertelsen
Tim Couzens
Peter Horn
David Maughan Brown
Ian Steadman
les Switzer

o

OVERSEAS ORGANIZER
London:

Susan Gardiner

Published by
Critical Arts Study Group
University
1 Jan Smuts Avenue
2001 Johannesburg,

of the Witwatersrand
South Africa

I:::r;:::=========~

EDITORIAL

A Journal for Media Studies,

All theatre and drama is a response to

This, the third issue of Critical Arts:
carries a special issue of theatre and drama.
Four of the papers repose
~ithin an African context, three of them relating direcly to South Africa.
Temple Hauptfleisch's survey of theatre research in South Africa shows up
a paucity of investigation into the socio-economic, socio-cultural and
political functions of theatre in this country.
Most students of drama
and theatre in South Africa avoid contentious issues by concentrating on
text and playwright.
In cOntrast, Hilary Blecher's contribution describes
an excercise in improvisation in a squatter camp in Boputhatswana and
extends the conventional notion of theatre beyond that of the proscenium
arch and the elitist activity of "going to the theatre".
It is an un-
fort~nate fact that few, if any, South African university drama departments
are Involved in this kind of activity.
Rather than being governed by
the developmental needs of South African society, most departments seem to
be perpetuating the capitalist interpretation of entertainment, to offer
an escape, to assist the theatre-goer to forget the troubles of the world,
In spite of the fact that all theatre, critical or not, is informed by the
~orld outside of the theatre.
political, social, economic and psychological forces.
Theatre cannot be
influences, it is not simply something that happens
isolated from these
on a stage, divorced from social reality and social history.
Following from a discussion of Blecher's improvisation experiment is Ian
Steadman's article detailing the paucity of informed critical responses to
South
blinkers, few critics in South Africa are even aware that the majority
of South African theatre is, in fact, black, both interms of original
plays and local imagery.
which to assess the semiotics of black theatre.
To some extent this
framework is provided by KeyanTomaselli's
discussion. "Black Theatre:
Text and Context", to be published in English in Africa in March 1981.
A more general
however. is provided in the first
theoretical discussion
Although this particular p~per
article in thi~ issue by Patrice pavis:
has little to do with South African theatre and drama, it does prOVIde a
basis for theoretical discussion for future research on the subject of
indigenous theatre.
Pavis' discussion should be seen against the back-
ground of the preface to this issue where he relates some of the responses
by some South African university drama and French departments ~o the need
for rigorous critical frameworks.
sppea~e~
to be a Constant refrain.
The preface, which has been included at Pavls
request outlines some of his experiences occurring during a tour of
South African drama departments during 1979.

What is lacking is a critical framework within

African theatre.

locked within the confines of our Western

"Does it compare favourably

Cover design by Paul Roumanoff

Vol. 1 NO.3

October 19AO

-

11
23

40

47

59

70

76

CONTENTS
Preface
MAJOR ARTICLES
I.
2.
3.
4.

-

-

-

Patrice Pavis

Hilary Blecher

in South Africa"

Temple Hauptfleisch

"Semiotics of Theatre"
"Theatre Research
"Goal Oriented Theatre in the Winterveld"
"Critical Responses to Contemporary
Ian Steadman
"The Form of Protest in Kenya:
David Maughan Brown
"Ritual into Myth - Ceremony and COllll1unicationin The Blacks" -
Loren Kruger
CONFERENCE REPORT
7.

"A Critique of the Mass Media at the ASSA Congress"
Les Switzer

South African Theatre"

Drama or the Nove17"

5.

6.

-

-

BOOK REVIEWS
8.

-

-

77

and the Theatre by Kieth Johnstone

Impro Improvisation
Reviewed by Hilary Blecher
Tea~hinQ About Television by Len Masterson
Revlewed by Keyan Tomaselli

9.
NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
Patrice Pavis is senior lecturer at the Institut d'Th~atral in Paris
Temple Hauptfleisch
Hilary Blecher is a professional
in the School of Dramatic Art at the University of the Witwatersrand
Ian Steadman is a lecturer in the School of Dramatic Art. Wits University
D~vid Maughan Brown leatures in English at the University of Natal.
Pletermaritzburg
~oren Kruger was formally a graduate assistant at ~and~e Afrikaans Universitelt
1n the En911." Department.
Les Switzer is professor of Journalism at Rhodes University. Grahamstown.

is Head of the Centre for South African Theatre. Pretoria

theatre director and part-time lecturer

She is presently studY1ng 1n England.

.

PREFACE

Since the students in question

Patrice Pavis
When I told the editors of Critical Arts that I could either write about sem-
iotics of the theatre or tell about niyexperiences when "touring South Africa
in search of semiotics". I did not really expect them to prefer the second
topic, which is obviously the more difficult, even from a "scientific" point
of view.
Since there's no doubt that I very much enjoyed what I discovered and made
many new friends, I hope I can forgiven for not naming in full all the persons
and institutions who helped me.
Perhaps I might thus sum up in a metasemiptic
extract some of my South African impressions:
signifieds are certified exact,
signifiers might be a little mixed up.
I had been invited to teach a few weeks in the drama department of one of the
major universities.
I lectured on dramaturgy, performance analysis and sem-
I found the students (2nd and 3rd year) very interested in learning
iotics.
how one could redefine structurally notions that were confronted in every-
day ~ractice as actors - notions such as~,
character, ElQ.!, story, etc.
I trIed to use as little new terminology as possible, but I had-sometlmes to
are very practice
be abstract and theoretical.
orientated, I was worried about coming up with my "heavy artillery" of 5"miotic
concepts, especially when I started drawing maps of different sign models A 1a
Sa~ssure, a la Peirce or & 1a Ogden and Richards.
crltical methods are often looked upon as slightly weird; and I wanted to avoid
showing up as a recently imported, new scientific prophet (I don't have a long
The analysis we made of the SASC-TV production of Wilde's
whIte beard).
~a10me gave me the opportunity to clarify some theoretical notions by observ-
lng them at work in the performance.
It seemed difficult to overcome the
:ttitude based on value judgements (I kept being asked if the produ~tion
Avoiding such meaningless comparisons, I trled to
compared favourab1y").
"read" the TV play along some coherent lines (oppositions of colour, of acting
styles, of psychology and metaphysics).
Thus, we could discuss different
OPtions of the mise en sc~ne, its possible interpretations, the ideolo~ic~l
The idea they found most dIffIcult
and aesthetic contradictions
to accept was that a given text could .produce" different meanings and.cou1d
be recreated by its interpreters.
A slight panic could often be felt ln class
if meaning is only relative, if a text can be
rooms, when I made this point:
manipulated and we also can be manifupated by discourse, what comes after?
After all those warming-up exercises, I jumped into my blue Volkswag~n an~ .
started my unguided tour.
but I was determined to test their semiotic potential and visit them all.
Packed in our small car, my wife and I noticed soon, ~xpecially when crossing
the Karoo desert, that semiotics can be a long and palnful proc~ss.
I began
to associate South Africa with a.semiotic analysis:
in each maln town, I felt
I had to simplify what I had just explained in the previous one and.to sum u~
1n an "all-you-always-wanted-to-know-about-semiotics
,-but-were-afrald-to-ask
manner.
I found it hard to change the topic from technical pro~lems to more
SOCial concerns, because our talks seemed often to be predetermlned by pre-

Even in Europe, those new

it contained.

I had no fixed programme

in the other unlversltles,

J probably

a rehearsal

which

it.

play.

I tried to ex-

to tow my car away;

to illustrate

Ho~ do ~ou like our beautiful

country?

2)

and down to earth questions

of the students.

comedy

in a rural setting.

and its self-censorship)

(The same afternoon,
it was a fight against

The same evening,
the director

I attended

had had to suppress

I felt sorry for the energy they were obviously

to the non-said or in ruptures and fragmentation.

so that the play lost all its impact and degenerated

innocent questions:
What do you know about the
often appeared possible

The following
groups what a theatrical
studio and interviewed

took the shape of two frequent,
Discourse

after only three weeks?

of the Fountain of
I had only a pair of
in front of the
of a contemporary
the central motive of the
Once again, the outside world
made the work of the actors meaning-
putting into the pro-
morning,
sign is, and how we receive
again J was placed in front the tape-
time and recorders).

about semiotics and theatre
I really was
whereas I enjoyed
After al-
looking through the window, that.
I was just explaining
has to be limited in time and
it is to set the limits of the modern work of art.
my theory by my action:
I
that J would move my car myself and jumped on the
that the centre of my dis-
could no longer function
the police had been
from the Sorbonne".

suppositions
1)
real sltuatlon
only through allusion
But still,
I was very warmly welcomed at the University
Youth.(although
did not compare favourably:
blue Jeans left, after all our luggage had been stolen,
"Royal Hotel"!).
Afrikaans
play;
threat of castration,
into a drawing-room
(its constraints
less.
duction of this "emasculated"
plain to three different
and interpret
of the SABC-TV
recorders
in South Africa:
frightened
to be "taped down" by the very swift journalist,
very much the direct
most three hours of talk, J suddenly noticed,
the campus police were beginning
is, how the performance
what a framing
device
space and how difficult
This time, I thought
it appropriate
the window,
opened
sill.
window
course was situated
as a closed entity.
warned
The equilibrium
The greatest
tribal university,
black students
ings were empty on this Saturday,
remarkable
I had very interesting
how it could be applied
There were many other visits and discoveries.
~,
plain the difference
ing in an extravagant,
ments of the University
seemed to stress
~hat we had
production:
to stand in front of the locked doors of the theatre when we arrlved after a
search of two hours for the hidden campus.
apoplexy
of my Beckettian
we were trapped
in a tiny town wit~ only ~ne re~tau~ant ~nd a.
university
comedy.
At the University
the French and in the Dramatic
ment students
"deconstructing"

of the High SKirits,
.
a text, the second showed much interest in experimentlng

and staff seemed to be reluctant and afraid of the lde

in Parls.
manner using cheap effects.

At the University of Wine and
I ~ried t? ex-
play and slmply dlrect-
The depa~t-
Province and at Collossus Un1versl

So the play ended up with my
entertainment.
a nlcely

On another occaslc'
strlnged

it became evident

shouted
outside and that the class-room
But I did not have to jump outside:
in fact to a "Professor

shock I had - amongst many others - was to watch at the
All the build-

learning to dance the waltz.
but the cultural

"transfer" seemed more

and beautifully
talks with lecturers
to ritual and ceremonies

danced waltz than anywhere else.
on the concept of performance and

of the black communities.

between

"re-reading"
fashionable
of the Holiday Ca~

the Beckettian

situation was so well reconstructed

we discussed

the trends of theatre production

that the blue car belonged

of our semiotic

the actlng progranme.

One of them was showing a Beckett

at being deprived
on a Sunday

theatre.

The students were rehears1ng

J had the opportunity

rt departments.

Whereas

of lecturing In
In the f~rs: ~~part-

cultural

in this innocent

At this moment,

world was re-established •••

a classical

muSIcal

tools.
This happened
is taught as such and one could already
mind of the students,

in the only department
where semiotics
sense the curisoity
but also the latent tensions reflected

and ways of life.

of the Metauniversity
transcendental
had just mentioned
of Universities
cells of a bee-hive,

with semiotic
of performance
and critical
in the staff's methods
Driving home after an exhausting
the huge figure-head
looked like the Lacanian
brilliant
semiotician,
cept of this University
trated in the thousand
transformed
into a honey-like
of the work of the Romance
with hundreds
corresponds
ology, communication
ganisation
of the offices.
1 must say that my most lasting memory
but with zoosemiotics.
bush the social behaviour
my few hours) observing
game.
their everlasting
the whole bunch with me to demonstrate
of knowing
precisely
afraid it's going to be abstract

the proxemic
what I have to illustrate

power,
Languages
of unknown

pseudo-semiotic

sciences

day "with the High Spirits",

which overlooks
signifier/Phallus,
in her lectures.
where knowledge
I admired the seriousness
Department
brains.

I re-dlscnvered
the motorway:
it
which Jenny 5.• a
I liked the con-
seems to be concen-
in order to be then automatically
and coherence
One could have studied epistem-
the or-

where each staff member

just by watching

or social relations,

A young scientist,
their social distances,

of vervet monkeys.

is not connected
Jean-Pierre,

with theatre studies,
in the
was studying
He spent months (compared with

in search of the rules of
I wish I could have brought back

to my students

code between actors when directing

this afternoon,

and theoretical

again!

in Paris the importance
This is
back in Paris, and 1 am

a play.

ERRATA
Vol 1
With reference
in Advertisingo:
1.
2.

No 2
June 1980
to John Coetzee's

article

"Triangular

Structures

of Desire

IVo referred
with paragraph

"section
starting
p.38, paragraph
3, line 34.
read, °The images of desiring
beholders
no one knows the source",

are elements

2 on p.39.

to on p.34 refers ~o the text on pp.39 and 40

The sentance
subjecthood
of an unpredictably

starting on this line should
that the models offer their
shifting
of which

reportoire