Theatre, film and TV in South Africa

The theatre, film and television sectors are becoming more and more interwoven, with the creative talent and digital technologies moving from one medium to another.

Here is a glance at the three disciplines in South Africa.

Theatre

South African theatre suffered several upsets in its recent history. The advent of democracy left it without its main subject theme, apartheid. The high crime rates drove its audiences out of the city centres, where theatre houses are traditionally located. The appeal of TV soapies deprived it of some of its talent.

South African theatre is only now regaining its voice, thanks to many young artists who are bringing their energy to this old art form. Social issues such as domestic violence, crime, unemployment and alcoholism, urban youth culture, women's continued oppression by society's patriarchal assumptions, which would have been deemed irrelevant during the era of "protest theatre," are being explored afresh. There are over one hundred spaces offering everything from indigenous drama, cabaret and satire to West End and Broadway hits. Venues range from classic theatres to converted fruit market, country barns and urban holes-in-the-wall.

Film

South African feature-length films are few and far between, compared not only to Hollywood, but also to countries like Australia, Canada, Egypt or India. South African public is more likely to recognise American movie stars than local actors. However, several notable exceptions may be pre-cursors to a brighter future: 

• The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980), written and directed by Jamie Uys, enjoyed international success.
• Yesterday (2004), written and directed by Darrell Roodt, was nominated for best foreign language film at the 77th Academy Awards and won several prestigious international awards.
• Tsotsi (2005), based on the novel by Athol Fugard, written and directed by Gavin Hood, won the Academy Award as best foreign language film.
• U-Carmen e-Khayelitsha (2005), an adaptation of Bizet's opera Carmen, directed and produced by Mark Dornford-May, won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival.
• District 9 (2009), directed by Neill Blomkamp, written by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, was released in August in North America to positive reviews; the film earned a profit on its opening weekend.

TV

South Africa was one of the last countries to introduce a television service, in 1976. Until recently, the state-controlled South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), which currently has three channels, was the only broadcaster. The monopoly was dented in 1986, when the subscription-based MNet was launched. Several years later, in 1998, the first commercial free-for-all TV station, e.tv, came into existence, and in 1995 MNet launched DSTV, a digital subscription-based satellite service. In October 2008 Cape Town TV was launched, a community television channel.

SABC is funded through both license fees and advertising. The SABC broadcasts on three domestic channels, with a mixed entertainment and public service mandate, with programmes in all eleven official languages.

Both SABC and DSTV channels can be viewed all over Africa.

Image: Poster for The Last Kick of a Dying Horse, the 2009 production of Durban's The Playhouse Company.