Review by Ronald Kasebidile
Protest theatre in South Africa still remains at its peak and prominent. With a constant change and development of theatre, Theatre Duo and Market Theatre presents a new age protest theatre with originality of South African Protest Theatre elements. An embodied experience of those who were in the forefront of Rhodes must fall and Fees must fall movement. Not only does it take us through the WHY it all occurred but the HOW it transpired, the questions, conflicts, conversation, doubts, strategies and tactics that the young fearless leaders had to face.
The Fall is an honest and open adda of what it means to be young and passionate.
Protest theatre History in South Africa emphasizes the use of ‘workshops, involving collective creation and collaboration between actors, writers, technical and directors. The Fall brings to life the collaboration or rather the workshop of the events to attain the #Rhodesmustfalland #Feestmustfall movement. A story told through physical acting style, Music, dancing, and singing to convey the narrative.
South African Protest Theatre had always been “considered as a form of provocative theatre, as a theatre with a definite agenda: a tool for social change as a response to the negative injustices and conditions of apartheid”
THEATREDUO used theatre in this case as a tool for social change as a response to the negative injustices and conditions of universities in South Africa and a lecture to understand the importance of those movements.
The Fall is an award-winning and internationally acclaimed collaborative protest theatre play that reflects on experiences of student activists within the #RhodesMustFall and subsequent student-led movements, as they fearlessly advocate for a free decolonized education.
Images: @markettheatre
