Exploring children's experiences in a temporary relocation area through theatre and performance

Efua Prah

pp. 271-290

in: John Clammer, Ananta K. Giri (eds), The aesthetics of development, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2017

Abstract

Symphony Way Temporary Relocation Area is situated on rented airport land on the outskirts of the city of Cape Town, South Africa. It is home to a growing number of internally displaced people waiting for government subsidised housing, refugees and asylum seekers. These formalised tin shelters form part of a wider government-led housing development plan that is riddled with infrastructural set-backs and corruption. What is presented in this chapter is an articulation of children's experiences within the camp enclosure. Through their narrative voice and the staging of theatrical performance, a tragic tale of kinship, love and loss is explored against a backdrop of violence in an imaginary community in South Africa. Themes explored within this play include gangsterism, drugs, teenage pregnancy, multiple partners and generational conflict. The children called this play "Neighbourhood" and reflected upon it as a descriptive performance about their daily lives.