Rainbows and Spider Webs: new challenges for theatre in a transformed system of education in South Africa[1]

Abstract South African society has undergone immense change in recent years and arguably one of the most fundamental challenges has been transforming the education system from one that was strongly authoritarian, subject‐centred and based on political indoctrination, to one which embraces notions of child‐centredness, diversity, multicul‐turalism and multilingualism. The key idea of this article is ‘intervention’, exploring the ways in which theatre ‘intervenes’ in the South African education system. Three areas of intervention are highlighted: firstly, through introducing drama as a formal subject of school study; secondly, as a methodology for teachers across the curriculum, and thirdly, as an intervention from the outside, through, for example, visiting theatre companies, and in this case, the DramAidE company which focuses on HIV/AIDS and lifeskills education. Whilst these areas of dramatic engagement are not new, it is unlikely that drama will automatically become part of the transformed system witho...