ABSTRACT
What is theatre? What was our theatre before the coming of the white man? How does experimental theatre differ from conventional theatre? With whom is our theatre communicating—the dispossessed, the dispossessor or both? A class distinction must be made between the dispossessed and the dispossessors. What is the theatre of the dispossessed? Is it aiming at being popular or literary? My definition of “literary” is intellectual, and “popular” is fashion, though by fashion I do not necessarily mean sensational bullshit or non-committed entertainment. As a dramatist, there is a constant dramatic spiral of such questions challenging our creative abilities. Now that we are suffering from cultural malnutrition on this confusing colonial platform in search of our true selves, we shall constantly talk to those who tasted the colonial era before us. James Mthoba, an actor and director who appeared in a variety of plays since the fifties is still actively involved in the theatre arts.
