The life and work of Yvonne Bryceland : an arts-based investigation

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation spotlights South African actress and theatre practitioner Yvonne Bryceland, who earned respectand admiration during her lifetime but has largely been marginalised in South African theatre history. ChapterOne addresses the motivations and methods for the study, offering an explanation of my context as an artisticresearcher/educator. A brief biography of Bryceland is provided followed by a description of the extensiveprocess of gathering information from a variety of sources, including personal communications and interviewswith friends, colleagues and family members, as well as archival material and documented footage of staged andfilmed performances. The various approaches taken in discussing Bryceland's quality of acting are explained,and reasons for how and why new discoveries and adaptations were made during the research process.In Chapter Two, Bryceland's life story is captured and distilled in an arts-based research artefact, Dancing withDarkness. The screenplay as heuristic was used to reveal Bryceland as the central character in a dramatic periodof South African theatre history. From this focal point, further discussion about Bryceland is offered exploringthree distinct, but overlapping, aspects, namely: the extraordinary quality of her acting work; her collaborationswith well-known playwright Athol Fugard; and her establishment, with Fugard and her husband Brian Astbury,of The Space as a radically alternative theatre.Chapter Three discusses how the quality of Bryceland's acting work often led colleagues and audiences todescribe her performances in words that capture a sense of magic and awe. In attempting to describe Bryceland'sacting techniques and position her as an exemplary South African actress, this chapter reveals how the discussionwas broadened and deepened to incorporate metaphysical notions for which the Spanish concept of duende wasapplied and adapted as a potent symbol for Bryceland's artistry.Together with Fugard, Bryceland contributed some outstanding plays to South Africa theatre history, which offertraces of the country's social and political evolution from the 1970s to 1990s. Chapter Three explores theintensity of the artistic symbiosis between Bryceland and Fugard, and their focus on their theatre art as a meansto express truth.Chapter Four describes what led to the establishment of The Space theatre by Bryceland, Fugard and Astbury;to what extent the theatre work being done at The Space was different; and Bryceland's determination that thetheatre remain open to casts and audiences of all races. This chapter in particular reveals The Space as a veritablehothouse for new talent, providing well-known actors, writers and directors their first opportunities in theatrepractice, as well as serving as a catalyst for the establishment of similar theatres in South Africa.The concluding chapter highlights the significant impact that Bryceland has had on the nature and voice of SouthAfrican theatre, by her contributions to the philosophy and practice of diverse practitioners, and as such positionsBryceland as deserving consideration as one of the key figures in South African theatre history.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University