Connecting memories: Using playback theatre to stimulate dialogue on the origins of people living in Hammanskraal

Abstract

Hammanskraal is a peri-urban/ urban area that has little to no reference of its history and origin written in history books and other books of knowledge. It is one example of the South African reality, where places with missing links in history and origin exist in this country. With no recorded knowledge, this research study attempts to recover parts of history from Hammanskraal using oral tradition found in the discipline of Applied Theatre. The research study made use of Playback Theatre, a spontaneous and improvisational theatre where the audience tells a story and the actors re-enact it on the spot, as the method of inquiry to excavate and archive the memories recalled by residents of Hammanskraal. This method of inquiry allowed participants to share their narratives in their community and witness each story performed in the ritual of Playback Theatre. These performances were recorded and later used to analyze the data (in the form of stories shared by audience members who attended the performances), these findings are presented in the research report. There is still a gap of knowledge when it comes to historical origin and a huge divergence into what history has done rather than what was. This research report hopes to fill parts of this knowledge gap and hopes to inspire future research investigations that intend to make use of creative methodologies as research tools. The researcher finds it important to continue this kind of research as its findings add to South African heritage and our memories of historical origin. As the old saying goes “you cannot know where you are going until you know where you come from”.