The aim for this essay is to unpack Christopher Balmes quote in relation to the notion of what theatre is in the

post-modern world. The statement thus declares:

The programmatic formulation of an indigenous theory of syncretic theatre reveals a struggle against the normative Western discourse of what constitutes theatre and drama. For the practice of syncretic theatre requires the freedom to adapt a wide range of performance forms which may not appear to conform to narrow definitions of dramaturgy (Balme 1999; 24).

With the quote stated, there will be an evaluation of the citation by working on theories made by Balme, Augusto Boal and the India Sage Bharata.

Cardullo states that Postmodern drama remains a theatre of theory, with fundamental interest in the transformative processes of observation [regarding to] how drama and theatre are created and presented on stage (2004). The term postmodern theatre had officially been established in the 1970s as the theatre of self-destruction. Self-destruction as a term is used along other descriptions of the postmodern theatre, including temperaments such as ambiguity; discontinuity; multiple codes; all sites; gestuality; rhythm; decolonization; tone; [etc] (Lehman 1999: 25). The main aim for postmodern theatre is to strive for a reaction from the audience, even if it means it is in jeopardy of the scripts original intention. Boal supports the argument by looking at theatre forms which specifically confront the destruction of boundaries created by western theatre (Boal 2000; x). He further mentions through the Joker system that the barrier between actor and spectator [must be] destroyed (ibid) in a proposal of it being essential to the development or rather the transformation of a bigger society.

With effect to more understanding, syncretic theatre or syncretism is a very effective way of decolonizing the stage [since] it utilizes the performance forms of both European and indigenous cultures in a creative recombination of their respective elements (Balme 1999; 02) without questioning an intended devotion from one tradition or culture to the other. The term syncretism originated in between the 1500s and 1600s when European churches started comparing and even merging religions during the Age of Exploration in countries that had been colonized. The shift to theatre works especially in South Africa as one of the post1

colonial countries - became visible through the works studied by Hauptfleisch in his book Theatre and Society in South Africa (1997). Theres a visible trend through the playtexts by Mtwa, Ngema, Simon, Sonyika, etc when it comes to play texts that include performance influences from cultural rituals, forms of dances, Western theatre, and other structures of theatre. It was acknowledged as a start of a new era during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s when the interaction between indigenous and a Western tradition (Balme 1999; 11) was established and utilized to create new works. Sophiatown (1986) for example is characterized as the melodramatic township musical (Hauptfleisch 1997; 62). This is because the play uses the same structure of a Western musical in terms of construction, though the story is about South Africa, told by South Africans with context as a region in Johannesburg called Sophiatown. Under the forms of South African theatre, Hauptfleisch categorizes the play under the term Indigenous, hybrid.

Plays that form part of the indigenous, hybrid are thus particularly known as performances using formal and thematic elements from all the foregoing traditional and imported forms (Hauptfleisch 1997; 49). For this reason he references Coplan with regards to intergrated forms of theatre that he calls the hybrid. Coplan uses the word syncretism in replacement to hybrid when looking at the same trends, which in his case dont only happen in theatre, but also in literature, dances and music. The term hybrid synonymous to syncretism further emphasizes on the notion that though there are new playtexts and more to be constructed, so far it still remains misunderstood and uncovered. With the structure of the play, it becomes simply alienated to the western form of theatre in a sense that [the plays are] set up in opposition to the elitist theatre challenging its hold over the paradigm, particularly under the restrictive and repressive Apartheid regime (Hauptfleisch 1997; 59).

The western theatre that is opposed by fourth world writers and critics has its set of conventions such as plot, character, fourth-wall, and more with great emphasis on giving a sliceof-life on stage, particularly with Naturalist plays. Although popular Western theatre strives to tell a truth on stage, the problem with the form is that to begin with, there is no truth because
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the story is always fictional, it is staged, and every actor takes a character and relives the character given on stage. Balme sees this kind of theatre as a condition that suffers from an excessive fixation on and desire for perfect iconicity (Balme 1999; 02). In continuation to the latter, syncretic theatre refuses to only look at the aesthetic of the piece, therefore it rather focus on a binding of cultural forms in order to create meaning whilst moving away from western conventions of theatre making.

Western theatre is also supported by the Aristotelian model whereby Aristotle sees the mimicry as a human impulse. He further mentions that The instinct for imitation is inherent in man from its earliest days; he differs from other animals in that he is the most imitative of creatures, as he learns his earliest lessons by imitation (Aristotle in Harland 1999; 10). Balme, also with reference to western theatre uses the word inheritance. He mentions the ideas of hierarchy in western countries, hence the similarities in Naturalist plays that deal with world occurrences by means of politics, religion, etc, though it is mostly told in subtext. For example, even in the period of tragedy (Renaissance era), Shakespeares plays used to favour those in hierarchy. An example that can be given is Romeo & Juliet in which Romeo and Juliet had to die because authorities believed they were not meant to be together.

Though this is the case with western theatre, South African theatre under the apartheid law undertook form by challenging the laws of the apartheid system, as well as having a form of protest towards the system. Since this was during the apartheid era, it was also the time of syncretic theatre since the characteristic feature of syncretic theatre is the incorporation of rituals and myth-based material into a theatrico-aesthetic context (Balme 1999; 66). This therefore moved theatre works to being about the emotion invoked towards the audience by the play, rather than the truth imitated from world politics into plays.

In conclusion, one of the conventions of syncretic theatre is to appeal to the emotion of the spectator rather than to focus on the aesthetics of what the play can recreate from real life. Balme
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further emphasizes the meaning of syncretic theatre about not being about characterization but the illustration of certain issues, so it is the total effect of the energy and the conviction that strikes the audience rather than the truth (Balme 1999; 62). It is through this meaning that syncretic theatre forms an important part of South Africas history by looking at pieces such as Sophiatown and Woza Albert (1986) as theatre forms that reject the western ideology of storytelling.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
BALME, C. 1999. Decolonizing the Stage: Theatrical Syncretism and Post-Colonial Drama. London: Claredon Press. BOAL, A. 2000. Theatre of the Oppressed. Australia: Pluto Press. CARDULLO, B. 2009. What is Dramaturgy? United States of America: Peter Lang Publishing. HARLAND, R. 1999. Literary Theory from Plato to Barthes: An Introductory History. New York: St. Martins Press. HAUPTFLEISCH. T. 1997. Theatre and Society in South Africa. Pretoria: J. L Van Schaik Publishers. LEHMAN, H. 1999. Post-dramatic Theatre. London and New York: Taylor & Francis Publishers.