1 the Larger Stages: the 'Becoming Minor' of South African Theatres
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The Larger Stages: The ‘Becoming Minor’ of South African Theatres Jill Planche Interdisciplinary Humanities PhD Program Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Faculty of Humanities, Brock University St. Catharines, Ontario © 2019 1 ABSTRACT The Larger Stages: The ‘Becoming Minor’ of South African Theatres. By Jill Planche South Africa is layered with entangled histories that have created a fragile landscape of ambiguities where fractured memories are revealed yet remain concealed. The social architecture of apartheid still persists in a legacy of hostile urban geographies and land inequity, while global capitalism and economic disparity are seen in the dramatic contrast between the developing middle class and the poverty of millions. This research project interrogates the way in which contemporary theatre in South Africa is implicated in the country's complex cultural, economic and social realities. Pursuing rigorous qualitative research in the history, practice and criticism of South African theatre; contemporary studies in theatre spatiality; and philosophy, cultural theory and human geography, I explore precisely whose voices are being heard and which audiences are being reached. What role does – and might – theatre play in addressing South Africa’s socio-economic and artistic challenges, both as a barrier and a bridge to audiences? Drawing on the work of such thinkers as Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari, Rosi Braidotti and Achille Mbembe, can we anticipate what we might describe as a ‘minor’ theatre that will tell the stories that resonate twenty years after the end of apartheid? The term ‘minor’ refers to the Deleuzian concept of affirmative and dynamic processes to create new political subjects; processes of “becoming” that break from the fixed, proscribed “being,” which in the South African context has been created by centuries of colonialism and decades of state-imposed racial construction. Given the insights afforded by such theorization, I argue that the spaces of performance are potentially dynamic spaces of 2 intersection within this landscape of layered socio-economic and artistic challenges created by a milieu of rooted physical and mental boundaries that have informed the country’s inherited theatrical practices. Keywords: Deleuze, minoritarian, immanent, postapartheid, South African theatre 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people have supported and encouraged the research and writing of this dissertation. Their enthusiastic engagement with the ideas and their belief in the project encouraged me to reach further than I might ever have imagined. I owe them my sincerest appreciation. Since I first approached him to be my supervisor, Dr. David Fancy has given this project unfailing and engaged commitment. His intellectual generosity and his extraordinary patience as I wrestled my way through Deleuze’s rhizomatic writings endowed me with the confidence to pursue these concepts in greater depth, bringing an enriched dimension to the study. Our regular meetings were rigorous, always enjoyable, and left me charged with new ideas – new challenges – and renewed energy. I owe him my deepest gratitude. My committee shares in bringing this dissertation to completion. Dr. Susan Spearey’s engagement with South Africa’s contemporary literature and her familiarity with the country’s cultural milieu allowed me stay connected with that world, providing me with perceptive insights as a springboard to enhancing ideas and narratives. Dr. Ebru Ustundag’s thoughtful guidance through the complexity of thinking about space, and her encouragement to explore the ideas of feminist decolonial geographers opened up new perspectives on the issues I was exploring. I am indebted to them for their invaluable support! I enjoyed and much appreciated the warm and invigorating engagement with my external examiner Dr. Mickey Vallee, who has inspired me to explore new ideas arising out of my research, as well as with my internal examiner Dr. James Allard. Also, for their encouragement and support throughout the years of this project, I thank the faculty of 4 Brock’s Interdisciplinary Humanities program. I am particularly grateful to Dr. Christine Daigle – graduate program director for most of those years – for her guidance, and for introducing me to the posthumanist project. As well, I have enjoyed collaborating with my colleagues in the program who took me into new worlds and different ways of thinking. My dissertation is inspired by the theatremakers of South Africa. I was fortunate to have the chance to meet and speak with extraordinary people whose work is creating a dynamic theatre world in a challenging milieu. Their passion and dedication is truly heroic. I would especially like to thank Ashraf Johaardien who enthusiastically helped to facilitate my research trips, and who introduced me to many of the people I spoke to during my research, and to many of the plays I attended – including What the Water Gave Me. For generously introducing me to their world of theatre, I would like to express my appreciation to Jade Bowers, Caroline Calburn, Emma Durden, Lara Foot, Daniel Galloway, Greg Homann, Pieter Jacobs, Anton Krueger, Rosemary Mangope, Ismail Mahomed, Xoliswa Nduneni-Ngema, Morris Podbrey, Aubrey Sekhabi and Mike van Graan. Their insights and ideas are critical to my study. And, I am especially indebted to playwrights Neil Coppen and Amy Jephta for our stimulating conversations about their work, which provided rich insight for my analysis of their plays. My husband Ron deserves my heartfelt appreciation for his emotional support and encouragement during the research and writing of this dissertation. His unfailing belief in my ability to achieve anything I set my heart to – and his willingness to drive all over South Africa with me during my research – has helped to make this project a joyful experience. I dedicate this dissertation to him. 5 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ……………………..………………………………………………….1 1. Conceptual Approach …………………………………………………….…………..5 2. A Space of “epistemic nomadology” …....…………………………..…………….…15 3. Deleuze and Theatrical Spaces: “New Ideas of What Thinking is” ………….……….17 4. A Milieu of Rooted Physical and Mental Boundaries ……..……………………..….20 5. South African Theatre Spatialities ……………………………….…………….…….28 6. Terminology: Theatre, Theatrical Performance, Performance ……………...……….32 7. Complexities: Resonances and Considerations ……………………………….….….35 7.1.Deleuze and Postcolonial Criticism …………………………….…….…...….….35 7.2.Language: Assemblage of Enunciation ……………………………….……...….36 7.3.Inherited Racial Spatialities ………………………………………………..…….38 8. Refrains of Concepts and Situated Knowledge ………………..……………….……39 Chapter Summaries……………………………………………………………………....42 CHAPTER 1: A Refrain of ‘Minor’ Spatialities…………….…….……………………..44 1. Introduction …………………………………………………..…………………...…44 2. Conceptual Architecture: “a refrain of philosophical, spatial and theatrical concepts” …………………………………………….………………………...……45 3. The Current State of African Philosophy and the Usefulness of Deleuze……….….53 4. A Refrain of Spatial Concepts: A refrain is a “prism, a crystal of space-time”….... 62 5. An Assemblage of Body, Space and Time……………………………………….….69 6. Deleuze’s Thinking for Theatre ………………………………………….…...…..72 7. Spatial Ontology: “the intuition of the inhuman foldings of space” ………………...85 8. Deleuze and the Postcolonial…….………………………………………….....…....95 6 CHAPTER 2: Spatialities, Assemblages: South African Theatre’s Milieu: The Case of What the Water Gave Me and Ubu and the Truth Commission…………. .102 1. Introduction………………..…………………………………………………….….102 2. Conceptual Architecture: Minoritarian Spatiality…………………………….…….103 2.1.Chapter Architecture…..………………………...………………………….…..108 3. The South African Landscape: “embedded memories and histories; absences and silences” ……………..…………………………….……….…….…..109 4. A Deleuzian Ontological and Materialist Assemblage of Spatial and Theatre Philosophy .……………………………………………...….117 4.1. Space: “the intertwining of ‘people and earth’” …………………………………...121 4.2. Bodies: “How can one be in a place except through one’s own body?”……….…127 4.3. Bodies and Space: “sites of multiple struggles” ……………………….…….…133 4.4. Case Study: What the Water Gave Me…………………………………….…….138 5. Geophilosophy: “thinking, sensing, and willing”………………………………….. 147 6. Language: “the collective assemblage of enunciation”…………………………….. 155 7. Theatres of “flux and flow and variation of all matter” ..……………………...…….159 7.1. Case Study: Ubu and the Truth Commission……….……………...……………168 8. A Conversation: “a set of relays from one theoretical point to another” ..…..……….173 9. Conclusion……………………..……………………………………………..…….179 CHAPTER 3: Situated Investigations: Current South African Theatre Praxis The Case of Our Lady of Benoni…………………….……………………………….….181 1. Introduction: “being at a threshold”…………….……………………………….….181 2. Conceptual Approach: Theatre Histories, Themes and Minor Practice……….….…184 2.1.The Architecture of the Chapter…………………………………………….…..188 3. Histories of Territorialization, Deterritorialization and Reterritorialization of South African Theatre and Performance……………………………………...….191 7 3.1.Themes and Threads: Mobility, Identity and Language……………….……..….200 3.1.1. Movement, Mobility, Migration……………………….….……….…….201 3.1.2. Identity…….……………..……………………………………….……..205 3.1.3. Language……………………………………….………………...….….207 4. An Intersection of Thinking: “a dialogue of irreducible pluralities of imagined communities”…..……………………………………………………...214 4.1.The