ADAM SMAL

BACKGROUND OF PLAYWRIGHT:

• Born: 1936 in Wellington, Western Cape.
• Died: 2016
• Mother was Muslim, father was Dutch and was a school principal, this meant that he was exposed to many cultures, therefore his plays were very diversified.
• Raised on farm outside Robertson.

EDUCATION:

• Studied at University of Cape Town and obtained a degree of language & philosophy.
• He went to such a prestigious university but he still remembers the poverty around him.

INVOLVEMENT IN APARTHEID:

• He is known for helping to lay the philosophical basis of the first Black Consciousness expression in the 70s.
• He used his writing ability to highlight the oppression suffered by the majority during apartheid.
• The Black Consciousness Movement tried to restore dignity for all people of Colour, and said that black is beautiful.

INVOLVEMENT IN APARTHEID:

• Smal was an important campaigner; he testified that Coloureds were part if a greater black community.
• During this time he wrote the first of a number of English works but most aren't published.
• Smal was involved in the Black Consciousness Movement and other activism.
• Smal is a Coloured writer who wrote his works in Afrikaans, therefore he dealt with racial discrimination.

SMAL'S PLAYS:

• Don't feature many actors.
• Focused more on darker themes.
• His works focus more on the oppression people suffered during apartheid.
• He criticized apartheid politics and racial discrimination in his plays.

Untitled Slide

JOANIE GALANT HULLE

• Is about the Forced Removals that occurred during the apartheid era.
• The story follows a family that was forced from their home in Woodstock and had to move to the Cape Flats.
• Main characters: Joanie Galant, her husband, Joseph and her brother, Davy.

JOANIE GALANT HULLE

• The family went through so much that Joanie found herself in an institution and her brother then felt that his sister was finally safe and could not be evicted.

ADAM SMAL'S AWARDS

• Honorary Doctorate from the University of Natal (1981)
• Patrick Peterson Prize (2000)
• Honorary Doctorate form the University of the Western Cape (2001)
• Hertzog Prize (2012 )
• Adam Smal has been awarded many more awards, but these are just some examples from over the years.

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