Gender dynamics and the role of participatory/development theatre in a post-apartheid South Africa: the example of DramAidE.

Abstract

Participatory education (Friere 1972) and by extension participatory drama/theatre (Boal 1979, Mda 1993) has been regarded as particularly appropriate for oppressed communities, since participatory theatre for development - which involves the active participation of both spectator and actor - encourages disempowered communities and individuals to view change as possible (Mda 1993). However, taking DramAidE (Drama in AIDS Education) as a case study this dissertation argues that in a post- apartheid South Africa the tendency with development/ participatory theatre has been to marginalise questions of gender in the focus on race without an awareness that it is the interconnections between race/ class and gender oppressions which characterise a society (Davis 1984). This coupled with the fact that theatre for development has a tendency, if not effectively facilitated, to allow for the reinforcement of dominant [patriarchal] values (Kerr 1995) makes an awareness of gender dynamics in participatory theatre projects particularly relevant.