Glasgow Theatre Seminar Series
Date: Friday 21 February 2025
Time: 15:00 - 16:30
Venue: James Arnott Theatre, Gilmorehill Halls, 9 University Avenue & online https://uofglasgow.zoom.us/j/89200792887?pwd=prgmvCAskefL9dEvagtsUehlaNhFXE.1
Category: Public lectures
Speaker: Hamish Mabala Neill

South Africa is a regional key point in terms of economic grounding, cultural exchange, media influence, and theatre. In tracing the historical pathways across lands, that later became labelled as ‘countries’, these same ancient routes appear to still be followed as the flow of ideas, practices, and topics of interest propel the regional arts and culture sector. 

While this connection between the socio-geo-political discourses and the arts and culture sector is not unique, what is distinct is the way South Africa’s 20th century political history has so drastically (and relatively rapidly) shaped the sector, both in terms of praxis, methods, content, and structure. 

This lecture will demonstrate how using lens of socio-geo-political (maybe ethnographic even) analysis allows artists, practitioners and researchers to both locate contextually, but also, potentially, align across their respective professional endeavours.

Co-delivered with the Centre for Medical Humanities. 

Hamish Mabala Neill is an Applied Drama/Theatre lecturer, project leader, and current Director of the Creative Research Hub (CRH) at Drama for Life, of the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in Johannesburg, South Africa. He has worked on multiple, diverse, award winning (industry and civic) theatre-for-social-change projects including Through Positive Eyes (2012-13), AfriQueer (2015-17), and as initiator and lead of the celebrated applied theatre and public health project, Knowledge UNZIPPED (2016-2024).