Woza Mandela In South Africa

1133 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Poor theatre in south africa athol fugard

Woza Albert! was workshopped in the 1970’s in South Africa, first performed in 1981. Apartheid, a system of racial segregation, was at it’s height at that time. It was written by Mbongeni Mgema and Percy Mtwa, with the help of Barney Simon, as a piece of Protest Theatre, aiming to create awareness and eventually incite action around the Apartheid regime.
The African National Congress (ANC) was a political organisation in South Africa. It was an anti-Apartheid organisation. The Nation Party (NP), the party responsible for Apartheid, came into power in 1948. Soon after that, in 1949, the ANC became radicalised and undertook direct protest action against the Apartheid government. Albert Luthuli, to whom the title of Woza Albert! is referring to, became the leader of the ANC in 1952. During the 1950’s the ANC mobilised thousands of people to protest. After the Sharpeville massacre, the ANC was banned in 1960, along with Albert Luthuli, after which it launched it’s armed struggle. There was a repression within South Africa for over a decade. In the early 1970’s there an awakening of political opposition, starting with the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) led by Steve Biko. In 1973 there was a series of strikes in Durban, followed by the 1976 uprising, which started in Soweto and soon spread throughout the country. During this time the cultural anti-Apartheid movement gained momentum. Woza Albert! was apart of this movement, it also conscientised it’s audience of the BCM . The title Woza Albert! is calling for Albert Luthuli to rise and unite the people against Apartheid. “Woza” means rise. The exclamation point highlights the urgency for unification through a strong leader.
Woza Albert! is Protest Theatre. It is apart of the anti-Apa...

... middle of paper ...

...stice were prevalent to South Africa at the height of Apartheid, the oppression towards the black people and the injustice of the oppression and lack of humanity with which they were treated. This is clear in Woza Albert! in scene sixteen when Bobbejaand and Zuluboy are expected to load ten thousand bricks a day.
This communicates a message to the audience and enlightens them of the current issues, it creates awareness about the priorities which they must hold and sends them a didactic message.
The anti-Apartheid nature of Woza Albert! is clear in the style of Workshop Theatre, Poor Theatre, and Protest Theatre, as well as in economically constrained staging and themes of oppression and injustice. The intention of Protest Theatre, shared with the intention of Woza Albert!, of creating awareness and inciting action is also clear in all of those areas of Woza Albert!.

Show More
Related

  • Kaffir Boy

    490 Words  | 1 Pages

    “ Sirens blared, voices screamed and shouted, wood cracked and windows shattered, children bawled, dogs barked and footsteps pounded”(7). This scene is from the autobiography Kaffir Boy written by Mark Mathabane. That is one of the scenes he had to live through every morning in apartheid South Africa. Apartheid is a policy of segregation and economic discrimination against non-whites. Apartheid system affected every black person living in South Africa during that time. It forced blacks to become slaves in their own country. The system forced blacks to live in unsanitary environments, work-degrading jobs and carry passes, and receive limited education. Blacks and whites were living in different sections during apartheid.

    Read More

  • Hope Despair And Memory By Elie Wiesel Rhetorical Analysis

    635 Words  | 2 Pages

    By stating, “racism itself is dreadful, but when it pretends to be legal, and therefore just, when a man like Nelson Mandela is imprisoned, it becomes even more repugnant” and “one cannot help but assign the two systems, in their supposed legality, to the same camp” (Wiesel, p.1), the Holocaust survivor is creating solidarity within two separate decades that are connected by the government’s tyranny. The rationale behind constructing a system of unity is to ensure the lives of the oppressed, regardless of their personal beliefs and cultures. Mandela is not affiliated with the Holocaust, nor is he a Jew – rather the former President of South Africa who stood up against anti-black movements – but he is still bound by a common

    Read More

  • African American Theater

    1967 Words  | 4 Pages

    Over the course of approximately one-hundred years there has been a discernible metamorphosis within the realm of African-American cinema. African-Americans have overcome the heavy weight of oppression in forms such as of politics, citizenship and most importantly equal human rights. One of the most evident forms that were withheld from African-Americans came in the structure of the performing arts; specifically film. The common population did not allow blacks to drink from the same water fountain let alone share the same television waves or stage. But over time the strength of the expectant black actors and actresses overwhelmed the majority force to stop blacks from appearing on film. For the longest time the performing arts were the only way for African-Americans to express the deep pain that the white population placed in front of them. Singing, dancing and acting took many African-Americans to a place that no oppressor could reach; considering the exploitation of their character during the 1930's-1960's ‘acting' was an essential technique to African American survival.

    Read More

  • Nonviolent Resistances to South African Apartheid

    1663 Words  | 4 Pages

    The apartheid era in South Africa began shortly after the Boer War as the Afrikaner National Party overtook the government following the country’s independence from Great Britain. The Afrikaners, or Dutch descendants, won the majority in 1948 in the first election for the country’s government. Only a short time after were apartheid laws initiated by the minority white descendants. In the Afrikaans language, apartheid’s literal meaning is “separateness,” which is exactly what the laws were designed for. The Afrikaner National Party initiated the laws to ensure their dominance of economic and social powers, but more importantly to strengthen white people’s preeminence by segregating whites and colored peoples. In order to do this, the Afrikaners limited the freedom of colored people in various ways. First, t...

    Read More

  • End of Apartheid

    726 Words  | 2 Pages

    Around the 1970s, due to South Africa’s internal contradictions with its economy and people, the Apartheid began its slow demise. Soon the united nation began to take notice of South Africa and began to get involved. With South Africa now in the spot light, Prime Minister P.W Botha left office due to his belief that he had failed to keep order in the country. After the reassignment of P.W Botha, F.W Klerk had taken office. The final stage of the demise of the Apartheid began when Klerk lifted the ban off the ANC and other African political parties. The last blow was the release of Nelson Mandela after 27 years in prison. Now that South Africa’s hope was out of prison he continued to ...

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Nelson Mandela's Speech

    500 Words  | 1 Pages

    Mandela then proceeds to use language that is filled with pathos in order to help better connect with his audience

    Read More

  • The Apartheid of Music in South Africa

    724 Words  | 2 Pages

    The question presented, concerning the South African apartheid and the music that was involved with the movements, debates whether the music came from the people’s desire to over come apartheid or if the music was a catalyst to the movement. As explained in the movie, the people used music for different aspects of the music, fundamentally a different song for every part of the movement. The music was a way in which the people could express themselves in a way that was noticed by their over rulers and which included all people taking part in the revolution.

    Read More

  • An Essay About Nelson Mandela

    1503 Words  | 4 Pages

    Human history has been marked with long and painful struggles that fought for human rights and freedoms. Discrimination and racial oppression has always been one of the most controversial struggles for mankind. For South Africa, it was a country where black people were oppressed by the white minority. The colonization of South Africa began in the 18th century by the Dutch empire after Dutch trading companies started using its cape as a center for trading between Asia and Europe (sahistory.org.za). Soon after, the British took over the country and declared it part of the British Empire (sahistory.org.za). Decades after, Afrikaners, who descended from the original Dutch settlers that occupied South Africa, started working on creating a state that separates between black people and whites. Their plans were to create a separation between black people and whites that involved excluding blacks from all types of social, economic, and political activities within the country. All South African natives knew the bad conditions that their people were forced to live in but only a few of them took the responsibility of sacrificing their lives and freedom for the rights of their people. One South African citizen, Nelson Mandela, can be considered the main hero for the South African freedom revolution and the hero for millions of people fighting for their freedoms worldwide. Mandela’s long walk for freedom defined South African history and entered world history as one of the most influential fights for freedom and human rights in the world.

    Read More

  • Hendrik Verwoerd And The Apartheid Essay

    411 Words  | 1 Pages

    Apartheid as defined by Hendrik Verwoerd is a policy in which one can do in the direction of what one regards as an idea . Apartheid is the form of a systematic segregation where people are isolated by social-economic status, race, gender and other classifications. Race is a coined modern term in which people are classified upon their distinct physical characteristics. Oxford dictionary explains that racism is prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior. In South Africa, the Apartheid legislation began in 1856 beginning with the Masters and Servants Act of 1856 . Over the years, multiple prime ministers up held this act and added even more to the Apartheid legislation. In the constant reinforcement of the apartheid, South Africa elected J.G Strijdom as the Prime Minister in November of 1954. He was a firm believer of segregation and he believed that the country should be full of pure white bred people . After he died,

    Read More

  • What I Learned In Public Speaking

    802 Words  | 2 Pages

    I have also learned about different types of audiences and speeches including persuasive, informative, entertaining and delivering special occasion speeches. It came to my attention that whenever I was making these presentations or speeches, I needed to do so with confidence, consistence and practice before the actual presentation and completely eliminate the element of panic. It was also clear that capturing the attention of the audience and engaging them in the whole process, it was necessary to have a very strong introduction and also try and use visuals to deliver the message. It was therefore vital to respect each person’s diversity and cultural values (Lucas, 2011).

    Read More

  • South African Apartheid

    1513 Words  | 4 Pages

    South Africa really began to suffer when apartheid was written into the law. Apartheid was first introduced in the 1948 election that the Afrikaner National Party won. The plan was to take the already existing segregation and expand it (Wright, 60). Apartheid was a system that segregated South Africa’s population racially and considered non-whites inferior (“History of South Africa in the apartheid era”). Apartheid was designed to make it legal for Europeans to dominate economics and politics (“History of South Africa in the apartheid era”).

    Read More

  • Nelson Mendela: A Promiment Hero

    765 Words  | 2 Pages

    Apartheid was a system of classified inhabitants and visitors into racial groups. Nelson Mandela is most known for his heroic efforts to end Apartheid in South Africa. During the apartheid era, the blacks were subjected to the worst forms of discrimination by the white minority. They were restricted and forced to live in townships, whereas whites were allowed to enjoy unlimited freedom. Blacks were stripped of their right to vote, own property, marry whites, work with whites, and even travel anywhere without carrying proper documentation. The whites wanted to make sure that no blacks were considered citizens. Mandela’s reaction to the inhumane social conditions was to team up with the ANC, African National Congress, and stop racial discrimination. While others wanted to seek violence in making a d...

    Read More

  • Theme Of Apartheid In J. M. Coetzee's Disgrace

    995 Words  | 2 Pages

    When reading J. M. Coetzee’s Disgrace, before delving into the character studies interwoven in this novel, it is essential to first understand the backdrop of Apartheid as an institution. Apartheid had a socioeconomic effect on the different cultural groups in South Africa that eventually affects the main protagonists in this novel. Disgrace, a novel by J.M. Coetzee, implies that David Lurie embodies the pre-arpartheid era, while Lucy represents post-apartheid.

    Read More

  • Essay About Nelson Mandela

    1117 Words  | 3 Pages

    In class we have been learning about the death of Nelson Mandela. Apartheid? Have you ever wondered what that means, well if you haven’t I will tell you. It means a policy or system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race. Nelson Mandela was famous for freeing the black majority in South Africa. He was a freedom fighter never giving into the oppressors.

    Read More

  • Acting and Identity in Sizwe Banzi is Dead and in Death and the King's Horseman

    1294 Words  | 3 Pages

    "Swize Bansi is Dead" tells the difficult reality of Africa under apartheid (1950s), analysing the complex issue of identity in that time. The rules of Apartheid meant that people were legally classified into a racial group, mainly Black and White, and separated from each others.

    Read More

More about Woza Mandela In South Africa

Open Document