HALF ART
CHRIS THURMAN: Academic rigour meets creative practice in Lifescapes
'Academic politics' can, after all, be 'creative'
Some years ago, I interviewed director Janice Honeyman while she and her cast were rehearsing the African Tempest, a co-production of Shakespeare’s play by the Baxter Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Antony Sher was colonialist-mage Prospero, and John Kani was slave-turned-revolutionary (turned forgiving Madiba) Caliban. I had an inkling of the conceptual framing of the production, and — putting my postcolonial scholar’s hat on – ventured to Honeyman that there was a risk that her production, by fitting the play into a paradigm in which African belief systems can accommodate magic and a spirit world lost to secular Westerners, would reinforce the "rational Europe vs irrational Africa" binary. Her reply was not antagonistic, but struck me in its directness: "Academic politics can be anticreative." Sher echoed this view when I pressed him on the topic. "It’s all very well for scholars to comment on these issues, but we’ve got to make the plays work," he said. When the Africa...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.