Woza Mandela In South Africa

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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...

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...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!.

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