Browsing by Author "Weare, Chris"

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    The docu-comedy : towards a new genre in the expression of social commentary through comic performance, using documentary film techniques and reality television discourse
    (2006) Gilliam, Eva; Weare, Chris
    A 26-minute docu-comedy product of my studies in film and television production, The Traveling Jewish, captures improvised moments of social interaction through documentary filming style. Through filming, editing, animation and music, it becomes an entertaining half-hour of television and social commentary. It is with each cut, layer, added graphics, omitted sound or musical accompaniment, that the viewer is guided into the cultural understanding and comedic inclination of the creator of such a piece. In doing so, I believe we are opening up a new genre of Television, the Docu-Comedy, which aims to explore comedy in site-specific landscapes, through primarily improvised scenes, using the discretion of the director to do otherwise when narrative comprehension is at risk. In this way humor exists in a way not often exploited on television. As humor serves as a forum to bring to the attention of society activities, beliefs, morals, etc., at the same time challenging their validity or even ethical realities, its mere existence is often seen as a sign of the health of a society. This paper looks at all the technical and theoretical elements of such a proposal.
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    House of shadows as text and performance : structural and conceptual considerations of/for the contemporary musical play
    (2005) Fick, David; Weare, Chris; Hyland, Geoffrey
    This paper is an explication of my thesis production House of Shadows, which was presented in November 2004 towards the fulfilment of the degree of Master of Arts in Theatre and Performance (Theatre Making) at the University of Cape Town. The explication focuses largely on the structural and conceptual processes in the creation of a new musical. As a theatre-maker, my research was driven by a need to {re)consider the musical as a compelling art form. The first chapter considers the contemporary South African theatrical landscape, creating the context in which House of Shadows was created. I have also discussed aspects of the play that make it distinctively South African, despite the American roots of the musical as a popular form of theatre. In the second chapter, House of Shadows is examined within the context of the (contemporary) musical play. The aspects of the musical play that found expression in the text and performance of House of Shadows are given individual attention. These include: the book, the score, the design and the direction. A significant focus is placed on the way these individual elements are integrated to form a unified and unique whole. The third chapter proposes a conceptual framework for reading musicals by examining the validity of the musical as festive theatre. The four key structural elements - display, contest, celebration and ceremony - and the objectivecommunal renewal - of festive theatre are discussed in the context of House of Shadows. This chapter concludes with an opinion of using this framework for analysing musical texts and performances.
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    "Thoughts that think in straight lines cannot see round corners ... ": transgressing the realist narrative form
    (2001) Ravengai, Samuel; Fleishman, Mark; Weare, Chris
    [.˜BUT copy accompanied by videocassette with title: Trauma Centre.˜] The present study is a theoretical explication of the production Trauma Centre written and staged by the author in December 2001. This production set out to critique traditional ways of thinking, writing and perceiving reality in Zimbabwe. These 'traditional ways' manifest themselves as nineteenth century British realism, nationalist realism and socialist realism, which are denounced, in Marechera's apt phrase, as 'thoughts that think in straight lines .. .'. These creative methods were inculcated into the Zimbabwean psyche through the dual processes of persuasion and coercion, in fl order to serve political and cultural goals of the political dispensations which promoted them. The argument is advanced that all of these forms of realism have a specific and privileged way of depicting reality which they exclusively promote. They all disqualify alternative versions and on that basis they are despotic. The production of Trauma Centre attempts to circumvent the stated problem by discarding the rationality, linearity, and monoculturalism of the realist text. In chapter one, the argument against realism is presented and explored and a theoretical proposal outlined. Chapter two explores Dambudzo Marechera's theory of discontinuity and fragmentation as well as Wale Soyinka's version of theatre of the absurd as performance historical context for the present study. Chapter three examines the creative method applied in writing and directing Trauma Centre. This creative method is largely influenced by the chaotic political events in Zimbabwe dating back as far as the seventies. An attempt is made to explicate the representation of the architecture of chaos, absurdity and bondage in the text and performance.