Mthulika Shezi and Safdar Hashmi: Resistance Theatre and the Politics of Communal Conflict in South Africa and India (1970-1990)

Abstract

In December 1973, at the Germiston Railway station in Johannesburg, South Africa, the young black political activist and playwright Mthulika Shezi was thrown in the path of a moving train after defending the rights of a group of black women. On January 1, 1989, in the industrial township of Jhandapur in India, the rising young street theatre practitioner and advocate for the progressive left movement, Safdar Hashmi, was fatally beaten at the performance site of a street play he was performing to local workers. This thesis will discuss the role of resistance theatre amongst oppressed communities, during a time of volatile communal conflict. Using the experiences of Shezi and Hashmi as a context, this analysis examines the environment of those willing to risk their lives for the liberation of an oppressed community and how theatre becomes a mechanism in which to incite ideals of revolution and radical change. The framing questions in this discourse are: What function/role does Resistance theatre play in the oppressed community? Why does Resistance theatre pose a threat to the oppressive order? Can Resistance theatre survive beyond the environment and context it was created in? The discussion will examine the broader contexts of the subject, specifically: an explanation of the concepts of communal conflict, resistance, power and liberation, an overview and analysis of the Political theatre movement, an examination of the Political theatre traditions amongst oppressed communities in both South Africa and India, specifically focusing on the period 1970 -1990 and an analysis of the political movements linked to the two case studies - The Black Consciousness Movement and the Communist Party of South Africa (Marxist Division) This thesis explores the idea that the function of resistance theatre is entirely dependent on the aim of the theatre creator(s), the worldview of its target audience and the environment in which the theatre was conceived and performed in. When this context or environment is removed, the reception of that piece will not be as desired or will indeed contradict the intention for that piece, thus not functioning in its intended role.