REFIGURING the PAST with THEATRE Mark Fleishman
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it is to be published without full acknowledgementTown of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes only. Cape Published by the University ofof Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. University REMEMBERING IN THE POSTCOLONY: REFIGURING THE PAST WITH THEATRE Mark Fleishman Town Cape of University Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In the Department of Drama, Faculty of Humanities, UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN FEBRUARY 2012 “To write one’s autobiography, in order either to confess or to engage in self-analysis, or in order to expose oneself, like a work of art, to the gaze of all, is perhaps to seek to survive, but through a perpetual suicide – a death which is total inasmuch as fragmentary.” (Maurice Blanchot in The Writing of the Disaster, 1995: 64) “… while the relation of the present to the past is purely temporal, the relation of what-has- been to the now is dialectical: not temporal but figural.” (Walter Benjamin in The Arcades Project, 1982/1999: 463) “Thank God our art doesn’t last. At least we’re not adding more junk to the museums. Yesterday’s performance is by now a failure. If we accept this, we can always start again from scratch.” (Peter Brook in The Shifting Point, 1988: 56) Town Cape of University 2 ABSTRACT REMEMBERING IN THE POSTCOLONY: REFIGURING THE PAST WITH THEATRE By Mark Fleishman This thesis is a study of remembering in the postcolony. A remembering that is less about the need to forestall forgetting then it is about a putting back together of the fractured body. It suggests that while the postcolony demands remembering, its particularities render remembering highly problematic if not impossible. It argues that performance and a particular practice of dramaturgy is one way of intervening in this process of remembering; one way of making the silent dead speak, because performance is connected to both time and silence in key ways. The study develops a particular dramaturgical method that draws on the idea Town of ‘dwelling’ as developed by Tim Ingold, following a question posed by Heidegger on the difference between building and dwelling, and puts it to work on four ‘sites of memory’ (Nora, 1989) in and around the city of Cape Town: Robben Island; District Cape Six; The Bleek & Lloyd Collection; and the archive of Slavery at the Cape. In doing so of it engages with two fundamental and interconnected problems related to the themes of time and silence: how to find an appropriate image in the present for something that has passed and how to make the archive speak in unspeakable ways. It then applies the same dramaturgical method to the construction of the thesis itself, arguing that to remember the performance work produced fromUniversity each site of memory requires its own process of embodied dwelling. Themes engaged with include the resistance of the past to being known at all - the inevitable gap between the past event and the artwork in the present; the fragmentary, imagistic and ambiguous nature of the work and its refusal of closure or redemption; an embodied, sensuous and experiential approach to memory-work both in the work going on and in the work accomplished; an interest in erasure and disappearance and an anti-monumental impulse; and the shift of emphasis from the art object itself to the relationship between that object and the audience/viewer. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis would not have been possible without the artistic and intellectual contribution, ongoing support and encouragement of many dedicated, loyal, talented individuals to whom I am eternally grateful. My colleagues in the Drama department at UCT who have over many years inspired me with their dedication, their artistry and their commitment to our students and the discipline and profession we work in; and all students past and present whose ideas and performances have made my working life bearable and at times hugely exciting. The Magnet Theatre family who have supported my work and contributed to this thesis in significant ways and whose contribution to developing South African theatre and young theatrical talent is beyond compare: Mandla Mbothwe, Margie Town Pankhurst, Faniswa Yisa, Craig Leo, Neo Muyanga, Sherna Botto, Frances Slabolepszy and Lavona de Bruyn. My collaborators at Jazzart Dance TheatreCape who were instrumental in the contribution of dance to this study and whose talent facilitated the latter two of projects particularly. Most importantly I acknowledge the influence on my work of Alfred Hinkel without whose immense abilities, vision and generosity I would not have been able to produce the work I have. The young people of Clanwilliam with whom I have had the privilege of interacting over the past eleven years and the late Peter Fairhead and the Fairheads Company who have supported our work in Clanwilliam over this period.University My colleagues in the working group on Performance as Research at the IFTR whose comments and ideas have helped shape much of my thinking in this project. Numerous other colleagues at UCT who inspire me with their intellectual ideas and their creativity, particularly: Pippa Skotnes, Edgar Pieterse and the late Stephen Watson whose poetry inspired my interest in the /Xam and contributed significantly to two productions. My supervisor, Nigel Worden, who took me on when he did not have to, and whose quiet, steady and experienced hand guided me through to completion despite 4 the burdens of teaching, creating and administering that threatened to derail the project constantly. I am deeply grateful for your support. Moeneeb Dalwai, IT Technician on Hiddingh Campus, and Richard Mason, graphic artist extraordinaire, whose combined technical expertise has been indispensible. And Solvej Vorster and the staff of the Hiddingh Library who are always ready to lend a hand and support my research needs. Finally, my family, who have put up with me throughout despite my bad moods and frequent absences, Zachary, Hannah and in particular my partner, Jennie Reznek whose contribution to my life, my artistic work and this study is immense. You inspire me each day to keep going, to do better and to make a difference. This thesis is dedicated to: all my teachers over many years but particularly to Mavis Taylor and Barney Simon who taught me what theatre was really about and Town who set me on the path I have followed to this day; and my parents, Josh and Isobel Fleishman, who agreed to let me follow that path despite never quite understanding why. Cape of University 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................... 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................. 6 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 8 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ..................................................................................................................... 16 A SHORT REVIEW OF LITERATURE ....................................................................................................... 21 STRUCTURE ....................................................................................................................................................... 31 CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY .......................................................................... 32 PERFORMANCE AS RESEARCH ................................................................................................................. 32 THE DRAMATURGICAL METHOD ............................................................................................................ 40 Phase 1 – Archival Research ....................................................................................................................... 45 Phase 2 – Dwelling .......................................................................................................................................... 48 Phase 3 – Emplotment ................................................................................................................................... 52 DRAMATURGY AS A METHOD OF ANALYSIS ..................................................................................... 52 THE INSERTION OF IMAGES ...................................................................................................................... 55 CHAPTER 3: LEAPING THE ABYSS (53 DEGREES, 2002-2003) .................................. 57 IN PERFORMANCE ................................................................................................Town.......................................... 57 ALONGSIDE PERFORMANCE ..................................................................................................................... 60 The Island ............................................................................................................................................................ 66 Haunted Spaces ................................................................................................................................................ 70 CHAPTER 4: THE POST-MUSEUM: PERFORMING BEYOND THE BOX (Cape ONNEST’BO, 2002-2006) ..........................................................................................................