'I knew her, Horatio' : legacies of Shakespearean performance in South Africa

Abstract

This article argues for the importance of recognizing the various histories reflected in performances of Shakespeare, and for the critical work this requires. South African productions have often illustrated the bedevilments of Shakespeare as a product within a neo-colonial cultural economy. However, despite the prominence of productions staged locally and abroad in collaboration with British theatre institutions, they should not be understood as representative. I suggest that a more expansive account of local productions is needed, using a virtual production of Hamlet (2021), adapted and directed by Neil Coppen and staged for the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (KKNK), as a starting point. Within a broader history of Shakespeare on post-apartheid stages, Hamlet (2021) is one of several local productions that have, formally and thematically, undermined the symbolic, spectacular and general in favour of the personal, ordinary and specific. To illustrate, I provide a list of productions staged between 1994 and 2021 along with analyses of productions of King Lear (2002) and Julius Caesar (1994, 2001–2002). My discussion demonstrates that the generative complexities of Hamlet are not new, but resonate with existing, overlooked legacies of local performance. To further develop the perspectives afforded by such legacies, I argue that scholarship must pursue more detailed theatre histories that engage with and expand existing archives.