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Summary Tshepang: The Third Testament notes
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A comprehensive set of notes on the play "Tshepang: The Third Testament" by Lara Foot-Newton.
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By: miralipman • 1 year ago
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1 of 23TSHEPANG
— Lara Foot-Newton
☆ Playwright’s Philosophy & Intention/ Purpose:
re ect on SA society — “commentary on su ering”
Re ect human condition
Engage audience w/ notion of taking responsibility for their choices and actions —
suggest we should take responsibility for our society
Re ect community’s disempowerment — nothing changed for them post-
apartheid
Raise audience consciousness level w/ regard to issues in SA — AIDS epidemic
— addiction
— poverty etc.
Raise awareness abt GBV & analysing pro le of SA male abusers
☆ In uences:
• Grotowski
- Stage theories
- Poor theatre
- avoids technical e ects
- minimal spectacle
- actor centred
• Beckett
- WFG — notion of waiting — “nothing ever happens”
• Sha er
- Equus
- Use of narrator gure re ecting on event that already took place
• Realism
• Foot-Newton’s past
- All chapters based on ppl from her live BUT ctionalised versions
☆ Title:
Tshepang: The Third Testament
o Tshepang = hope/ salvation
o Testament — testimony, witness/ provide evidence
o Failure of conventional religion to meet their needs — new testament
(addendum) added to Old & New Testament of bible
o Alfred says: “Jesus has abandoned us”
o Siesie = Jesus’ sister — sent to save us ‣‣ need for female saviour in
male dominated world
☄︎ flfl
fl ff fi ff fl fi fffi
, 2 of 23
☆ Socio-Political Context & In uences:
⇢ Written 2005
⇢ Loosely based on story of Baby Tshepang — raped @ 9yrs by her teen mom’s ex
(2001)
⇢ Interrogation of how something so terrible could happen
⇢ 2001 incident placed broader context of society where poverty, alcoholism &
general disillusionment w/ life prevailed
⇢ Inspired by “20 000 true stories”
⇢ Post-apartheid SA
- Written 11yrs after apartheid
- Not much changed for those living in rural areas
- Unemployment
- Poverty
- Education
- Alcoholism
- General impacts of apartheid
- Social
- Economic
- Cultural
⇢ 2015 - 2018
◦ 124 525 reported rapes — 41% perpetrates against children
⇢ 2019
◦ 42 289 cases reported
◦ +/- 116 rapes per day
◦ +/- 1 in 9 rapes actually reported in SA
⇢ Disadvantaged & forgotten community
⇢ Foot-Newton argues:
}
: Social & political landscape “bred a rapist”
Violated people’s
: E ects of apartheid humanity
: Colonialism
: Dop system
⇢ Quotes:
◦ “ Dewaal, they say, is very clever. Apparently he got a distinction in matric
for mathematics. [pauses to re ect on the impossibility]” (pg 23)
◦ “ But de Villers doesn’t pay with money, he pays with vaalwyn. The dop
system. All the wine that is too oak to sell, de Villers gives it to the workers
as payment. It’s been happening for years. My father’s father was paid like
that, and so was my father.” (pg 28)
◦ Wake, wipe, eat, drink, naan, sleep. I know because I also used to be like
that. Sometimes you can leave out the wipe, or maybe the naan, but never
the drink.” (pg 28)
ff fl fl
, 3 of 23
☆ Process of Playmaking:
❏ Sent actor to township to do research → sent Foot-newton tapes & voice
memos (+/- 20 cassettes accumulated) — “Nothing ever happens here”
repeated
❏ Foot-Newtown wrote from personal experience
❏ Did not wish to focus on particular incident — NOT interested in creating factual
story → wanted to write bat all children in SA
❏ FN calls play “commentary on su ering”
☆ Genre & Style:
→ Genre:
- Postmodernism
◦ Many voices/ stories
◦ Post 1970 → not linear
◦ Pastiche = borrows from several genres
◦ “Supermarket of styles”:
a. Expressionism
• Theme: love & family
• Images = distorted (eg. Miniature village & bed strapped to
Ruth’s back)
b.Brechtian
• Storyteller
• Demanding action from audience
• Minimalistic set
• Selective realism
• Storyteller becomes character
• Episodic = each story can stand on its own
c. Poor Theatre
• Minimalistic set
• Actor — Simon can only use voice & body to tell this
compelling story
• Spiritual connection w/ audience
• ‘Holy actor’
• Audiences’ imagination = far more active in Poor Theatre
◦ No conclusive resolution — many interpretations
◦ Interpretations
◦ Deconstructs truth → sense of many uncertainties
◦ Audience (not actor) creates meaning
- Various genres — present context & action
- Oral tradition (storytelling)
ff
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