The Segopotso Project aims to develop an electronic archive of South African theatre from 1976 to 2016. The archive will consist of synopsises of political and community plays, the history of venues where theatre has taken place over the past four decades, and profiles of people who have made theatre happen across the provinces. The archive will include photographs, interviews, and audio and audio-visual recordings.
There will be several volumes of play-scripts published over the years, looking at mainly but not exclusively at plays that have never been published. These publications will be presented free of charge to universities, colleges, and NGOs dealing with theatre studies, as well as libraries and archives, free of charge.
The Segopotso Project has been supported, in part, by the Department of Arts and Culture – Mzansi Gold Economy, and will be engaged in fundraising to continue with the project. Their aim is to run over a number of years and to create as comprehensive an archive as possible.
The team is also keen to meet people in the industry and will be visiting existing archives and theatres to discuss ways in which they can collaborate. Contact them at archives@segopotso.co.za or admin@segopotso.co.za with ideas, plays, comments, discussion, request for a meeting, etc.