Five African companies were invited to perform and there are articles on four of these productions, examining issues of interculturalism, postcolonialism, language, interpretation and reception. This volume takes as its starting point an interrogation of the African contributions to the Globe to Globe festival staged in London in 2012, where 37 Shakespeare productions were offered, each from a different nation. Those familiar with William Shakespeare’s tragic play on which Soweto Story is loosely based can guess the star-crossed lovers’ fate - but similarities to the 16th century English romantic classic stop there.A key volume for Shakespeare, African theatre and postcolonial cultural scholars, promoting debate on the role of Western cultural icons in contemporary postcolonial cultures. The plot thickens when Thandi sees her lobola - the money a groom must pay for a bride - negotiated for an arranged marriage but instead rebels against her parents to join Vuyani, then on the lam for murder. The story follows Vuyani Kheswa, the contemporary Romeo, a poor young man from the Xhosa tribe whose love affair with the well-to-do Thandi Thwala, his Zulu Juliet, was doomed from the start because their families are taxi industry rivals. The adaptation takes place in the storied Soweto township - once a hive of anti-apartheid activity that has grown into a mix of tidy suburbs to serve a growing black middle class next to tin shacks for the poor majority. Soweto Story, a new musical version of Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet set in a present-day Johannesburg ghetto, underscores the deep rich-poor divide that dogs post-apartheid South Africa.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |