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David Peimer (editor). Armed Response: Plays from South Africa. New York: Seagull Books, 2009. xviii, 216 pp.
Editor and playwright David Peimer's selections in Armed Response: Plays from South Africa offer an insightful look at theatre in post-apartheid South Africa. Peimer's introduction situates apartheid in his discussion of the different styles and techniques used in resistance and reconciliation theatre. This approach provides new readers of South African drama with valuable examples of both apartheid and post-apartheid theatre productions. Specifically, Peimer focuses on Woza Albert! and The Island, canonical apartheid-era works, to explain the relationship between older anti-apartheid productions and the anthology's newer selections. Peimer's introduction immerses his readership in township culture, identifying the fundamental styles and approaches that define township theatre.
Relativity: Township Stories (premiered 2005) by Mpumelelo Paul Grootboom and Presley Chweneyagae explores physical violence, both police and domestic, in a township. Set in a community terrorized by a serial killer, dubbed the G-string Strangler, it revolves around a police investigation into the latest victim's life prior to her death. The inquest reveals a complex history of domestic violence that outlines problems of police corruption and sexual abuse in South Africa. The play also looks at the way destitution creates an economy...