The Encyclopaedia
of South African Theatre and Performance (ESAT) is a new reference publication
for theatre and performance researchers compiled by the Centre for Theatre and
Performance Studies at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, over the
past 15 years, with the help of many researchers from the South African theatre
community.
ESAT is
an open-access, internet-based interactive resource for theatre and performance
researchers interested in the evolution, history and forms of drama, theatre
and performance in South Africa. Deriving from the University of Stellenbosch's
Libopedia, it uses the Wiki format and programmes and is published on the web
with the assistance of the Drama Department (http://www.sun.ac.za/drama) and
its Centre for Theatre and Performance Studies), the J S Gericke Library and
the division for Information Technology at the University of Stellenbosch (http://www.sun.ac.za/index.asp)
The aim
of the ESAT encyclopaedia is to create a comprehensive database on the history
and nature of South African drama, theatre and performance (including dance,
oral performance and similar forms), and to make it available as a general
reference work and resource for the use of researchers, students, artists,
journalist and all other interested parties.
The
intention of ESAT is to "publish" that material online, as it is,
incomplete as it may be at this stage - with lacunae and even possible errors -
and then to invite the academic and artistic community to help in expanding and
improving on this material in order to make the results of all existing and
emerging academic and other research more readily accessible to the general
reader and the theatre enthusiast nationally and internationally.
In this
sense the basic aim is rather to condense and collate available information on
all South African theatre and performance forms (as far as they have been
documented) in one place and in a handy and accessible digital format, rather
than to undertake any comprehensive new research.
Right from
the start however, the General Editor and founder, Temple Hauptfleisch, and the
Editorial team want to emphasise that this is simply the first version of what
is - and must necessarily be - an ongoing and longer-term project, and that
readers should be aware that virtually everyone using the Encyclopaedia's ESAT
database will inevitably be disappointed by something in the work.
“However,
we accept this as part of the process,” says the ESAT team. “It is unavoidable
that the entries will vary vastly – from exceedingly complete to very scant,
since often only partial information could be found in the sources available.
Dates of birth and death, for example, are sometimes difficult to find, while
details of an organisation’s structure and history are frequently unrecorded.
At times we only found the names of people or theatres involved in a particular
production. However, in view of the basic aims of this publication, we felt
that even the slightest bit of information, a mere mention of a name or a
place, is ultimately more useful than none at all, so we have used the entries
anyway. In some cases we have indicated that the data are incomplete by
inserting an asterisk (*).”
For more
information, see the main page of the publication. Any specific or more complex
enquiries regarding the project, the database or ESAT, however, can be directed
to the general editor, Temple Hauptfleisch at satj@sun.ac.za
or to the editorial assistant, Miriam Terblanche miriamt@sun.ac.za
Readers
and researchers are invited to help ESAT expand and improve. Update and correct
ESAT by sending any information, contributions, relevant comments, material or
information the Editor: ESAT at the Department of Drama, University of
Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7602, South Africa. E-mail address: satj@sun.ac.za; Fax 021 882 9141 (See Updating
ESAT on the website itself for more information.)
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