The state of professional drama in the Free State: an investigation into professional drama more than 10 years post re-structuring of the Free State Performing Arts Council (PACOFS)

[摘要] English: The Drama Department of the Performing Arts Council of the Free State (PACOFS) represented,for many years, the Professional Drama Company in the Free State. This department was closeddown on the 30th of March 1997 as part of the restructuring of the Performing Arts Councils inSouth Africa in accordance with the stipulations of the White Paper on Arts and Culture of 1996.The major reason for the necessity of this restructuring was the public and government perceptionof the resident companies within Performing Arts Councils being predominantly white, and beingconcerned with predominantly Euro-centric productions to the exclusion of other cultural andartistic groups in South Africa. The White Paper proposed a dismantling of resident companies infavour of individual artists and companies applying to a National Arts Council for funding forprojects and performing arts initiatives (including funding for private Drama Companies asinstitutions), then approaching the Performing Arts Councils for assistance with the staging of theseprojects, where the Performing Arts Council's role would be one of facilitating projects rather thanproducing them itself - as had been the case with the old Performing Arts Councils.The aim was for the Performing Arts Council to be more accessible to a wider base of artists and inso doing allow for a greater diversity of work to be produced and subsequently staged through thePerforming Arts Council's facilitation of this work.This study investigates primarily what has happened in terms of Drama Companies inBloemfontein (as representative of Free State trends) and compares them in nature and worksundertaken to the former PACOFS Drama. The study attempts to provide a modest contribution tothe activities of Professional Drama Companies in the Free State after dismantling of thePerforming Arts Council resident Drama Company and proposes to render insights andrecommendations for the future sustainability of Drama Companies as regards their current andfuture functions, activities and existence.Findings pertain to activities of Free State artists more than ten years after closure of the PACOFSDrama Department and provide insights into the accessibility of new funding structures and thePerforming Arts Council to these artists. Qualitative findings pertaining to perceptions on the partof professionals, students and companies involved in the Free State Drama industry regarding Artstransformation render insights for possible change and redression.The following findings emerge:Drama productions continue to be staged by private companies in the Free State who make use ofboth local and outside professional artists as required by the production.Funding for these projects is secured from the National Arts Council, but to a lesser degree thanother private and corporate sources or from the National Lottery.White Paper stipulations for transformation of PACOFS were followed and mandates seem tohave been adhered to, but the greater accessibility of the facilities and services of the Playhouse isnot perceived by artists as having had a beneficial effect on Free State Drama.The development of Arts festivals, most notably Volksblad Kunstefees, has become the most viableplatform for presenting local work, and artists' only involvement with PACOFS is the extent towhich PACOFS services and facilities are utilized by the festivals.Perceptions on the part of role-players in Free State Drama is that generally a redression of existingstructures and Arts policy is required.

[发布机构] University of the Free State