Introduction

Matsemela Manaka was bom in Alexandra, a black township just to the north of Johannesburg, on 20th June 1956. The conflagration ignited in Soweto spread rapidly to townships throughout the country and was met with brutal police repression, so much so that by the end of the year 618 people had been killed in the disturbances which followed, mainly as a result of police action. Conceived as a communal enterprise, the magazine was run by an editorial collective. Since 1986 Manaka’s plays have displayed more formal experimentation and a more pronounced African orientation. European culture is represented by Oba's playing of the violin and Nomsa's dancing of ballet and of the supposedly African dance movements taught her by the somewhat awkwardly named Mrs Daffodils. Manaka has always been acutely sensitive to the impact of European civilisation on African culture and society. .