Durban Dialogues Dissected

This volume provides an in-depth analysis of the work of Indian South African playwright Ashwin Singh, which, through the diversity of characters from all ethnic backgrounds, forges an inclusive South African identity. The essays in this volume show how Singh’s plays bring South Africa’s blatant prejudices and social ills to the forefront as only by confronting unpleasant realities can any far-reaching changes actually take place. The academics and cultural practitioners who have contributed to this volume approach Singh’s work from a variety of angles, ranging from history, psychology and experimental literary forms to the performance of the plays, the relevance of the stage directions and the symbiotic relationship between the playwright and the director. The contrast between the climate of optimistic political protest and the complacency and disillusion of the new democratic era is seen to reassess the actions of the past in the light of present outcomes.

A fine collection of contemporary plays by one of South Africa's leading playwrights. The plays selected, namely Into the Grey, Shooting and Swing cover topics such as social activism, the death of a friend and discrimination in sport. Described through Singh’s satirical lens, these thought-provoking plays bring us up to date with the challenges of life in post-Apartheid South Africa. They focus particularly on people of Indian origin and their relationships with other South African communities and chart the loss of ideals in the dream of the Rainbow nation. Includes: Into the Grey: A harrowing drama depicting the twenty-nine year association between two Durban activists who battle a variety of challenges as their country stumbles towards a bleak future. Shooting: A one-man play about the unchanging paradigm in Durban’s small town communities in the early years of democracy as a football prodigy’s dream is brutally shattered. Swing: A two-hander about the relationship between a mixed-race Durban tennis player and her father/coach as they confront many obstacles in a society which undervalues the girl-child. With a foreword by director Ralph Lawson and introduction by Pranav Joshipura, Associate Professor of English, Mahila College, Gandhinagar, India. A follow-up anthology of three hard-hitting plays to Singh’s successful drama anthology Durban Dialogues, Indian Voice (2013) which is now studied internationally. “Ashwin Singh’s plays, working in a contemporary idiom and style and context, become a place for us to set up house, to inhabit, a place filled with humour, compassion and insight. They categorically signal a disposition not to remain silent, not to remain indifferent, prompting us and nudging us to make choices about how we live in our world.” Dr Betty Govinden, KZN Literary Tourism “The ability to capture the lives and communities of Durban with both pathos and humour resonates in all Singh’s works. The plays pay tribute to the city’s cultural and aesthetic beauty but they also expose its underbelly of crime, corruption and racial tension.” Estelle Sinkins, Weekend Witness “As with his To House and Spice ‘n Stuff, Shooting author Ashwin Singh tackles his subjects head-on, using his considerable writing skills to blend important historical and contemporary issues with entertainment.” Caroline Smart, The Mercury About the author Ashwin Singh is an attorney, academic, playwright, director and actor. His first anthology of plays, Durban Dialogues, Indian Voice was published in 2013 by Aurora Metro Books. The book is being studied and/or referenced at a variety of universities in South Africa, India, Canada and Europe. Singh has also been published as a playwright in the collective anthologies, New South African Plays (Aurora Metro Books, 2006) and the Catalina Collection (Catalina UnLtd, 2013). He is also a published poet and academic author. Singh is a three-time national award winner via the PANSA Playreading Festival (the country’s foremost playwriting contest) with his plays To House (2003); Duped (2005); and Reoca Light (2012). He is also a respected stage and radio actor, having performed in a number of dramatic and comic productions. Singh also played a lead role in award winning UK director James Brown’s short film about child abuse, One Wedding and a Funeral.

Durban Dialogues, Indian Voice is an anthology of five engaging and eclectic South African plays by award-winning playwright Ashwin Singh. The plays selected, namely To House, Duped, Spice ’n Stuff, Reoca Light and Beyond the Big Bangs represent the complete array of Singh’s storytelling skills in drama as well as satire. Each play reflects, in different ways, on the complexities and contradictions of life in post-Apartheid South Africa, and focuses particularly on people of Indian origin and their relationship with other South African communities. The plays present a moving portrait of a unique array of characters and are also punctuated by Singh’s trademark humour. Each one is set in Durban, South Africa’s third largest and most diverse city, and they are described by renowned academic and critic Betty Govinden as ‘undressing Durban, as they take us away from the neon lights and “candy floss” to the reality of the underbelly of post-Apartheid urban and suburban existence’.

Transoceanic Perspectives in Amitav Ghosh’s Ibis Trilogy studies Ghosh’s Sea of Poppies (2008), River of Smoke (2011) and Flood of Fire (2015) in relation to maritime criticism. Juan-José Martín-González draws upon the intersections between maritime criticism and postcolonial thought to provide, via an analysis of the Ibis trilogy, alternative insights into nationalism(s), cosmopolitanism and globalization. He shows that the Victorian age in its transoceanic dimension can be read as an era of proto-globalization that facilitates a materialist critique of the inequities of contemporary global neo-liberalism. The book argues that in order to maintain its critical sharpness, postcolonialism must re-direct its focus towards today’s most obvious legacy of nineteenth-century imperialism: capitalist globalization. Tracing the migrating characters who engage in transoceanic crossings through Victorian sea lanes in the Ibis trilogy, Martín-González explores how these dispossessed collectives made sense of their identities in the Victorian waterworlds and illustrates the political possibilities provided by the sea crossing and its fluid boundaries.

A South African journalist, Karen Strydom, is in hiding in the little Indian township of Reoca, in the house once occupied by former journalist and anti-Apartheid activist, Seema Sewlal. Having witnessed the murder of a well-known political donor by successful businessman Paul Sibisi, Karen knows her life is in danger if she tries to publish her account of the incident. That's not her only challenge - the ghost of Seema Sewlal has appeared - and she's unwilling to believe that she is dead. With corruption on all sides, how will Karen survive to tell the truth, and who can she trust?

A collection of six plays dealing with the new South Africa, published in 2006 to celebrate 10 years of democracy post-apartheid. Plays about racial conflict, the impact of AIDS, power and corruption, the legacy of the past and female identity. Reprinted 2012, 2019. The Plays The Playground by Beverly Naidoo “...it floats on a haunting, echoing raft of traditional South African harmonies that make watching it a joyful experience as well as a thought-provoking one...” Time Out Critics’ Choice – Pick of the Year Taxi by Sibusiso Mamba: Edinburgh fringe first winner “a superbly written and produced play... A fine piece of work that’s refreshingly free of cliches.” Daily Mail, Pick of the Week Green Man Flashing by Mike Van Graan “...This finely crafted drama tears at the heart and soul of our democracy, and rips at the underbelly of corruption and political power through its astute writing...” Star Tonight Rejoice by James Whylie “... the cruellest irony of all is left until the end... the same one which has spelled the death of Rejoice... And millions more.” Friends of BBC Radio 3 What the Water Gave Me by Rehane Abrahams “tales that retrieve ancient magics and reveal contemporary terrors...” Cape Times To House by Ashwin Singh: Finalist in the 2003 PANSA (Performing Arts Network of SA) Festival of Reading of New Writing (the country’s foremost playwriting contest) “To House is an important piece of theatre; in it people voice opinions that are uncomfortable and edgy. The cathartic and therapeutic value of hearing these things said aloud in a public place is part of our essential healing process and proves, once again, that art has the ability to go where angels fear to tread.” Daily News, Durban

In 'Against Global Apartheid', Patrick Bond reveals the extent of the economic and human damage caused by policies implemented by World Bank and the IMF in developing countries, particularly South Africa, and argues that there is another way to more socially just economic development.