Introduction

I have always been fascinated by drama’s unique power to educate audiences about histories and cultures. My hope is that this anthology, one of the first to focus exclusively on the lives of black South African women through drama, will contribute to the reader’s understanding of the position of these black women. This anthology fills a major gap, since the majority of published plays on South Africa focus primarily on men. These plays, written during and after apartheid, represent the work of black South African men and women. (The term “black” in South Africa refers to Africans, and a segment of both Coloureds (people of mixed race), and Indians who identified with the Black Consciousness Movement of the 1970s; my collection reflects the work of all three groups.) The writers range in age from their late twenties to early sixties and come from diverse educational and theatrical backgrounds. This anthology marks the first publication for some, while others have already garnered national and international reputations.