Nicola Hanekom’s Land van skedels – A Remembrance of Things Past and Present
Year: 2018
Type: article
Abstract: SummaryNicola Hanekom’s Land van Skedels had its premiere at the Clover Aardklop National Arts Festival in October 2013 and this production, as well as later ones, received glowing receptions from both theatre audience and theatre critics. She was commissioned by an Afrikaans newspaper (Die Burger) and an Afrikaans television channel (kykNET) to write Land van skedels. She was requested to focus in the play on the Anglo-Boer War, as well as the role played by Emily Hobhouse in this war. The main theme is, as can be expected, in a play that works with historical material, the theme of remembrance. The play is not a realistic depiction of the war and the concentration camps where many white (and black) women and children often died after a period of drawn-out suffering. Her play is a subjective and sensory depiction of traumatic memories and makes use of both historical and literary references to evoke these memories. These references are discussed within the context of theatre memory studies. It is clear from the references to other wars and camps in this play (i.e. Rwanda, Auschwitz) that humanity seems doomed to repeat its own mistakes and that Hanekom’s play is thus emblematic of all wars and all concentration camps.
Source: Journal of Literary Studies
Author: Marisa Keuris
Language: English
Subfield: Visual Arts and Performing Arts
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $388
OpenAlex ID: W2895133409