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Female bodies as text : disobedient representations of the witch
Bibliography: leaf 40.
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| Main Author: | |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Drama
2015
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| _version_ | 1867613294635778048 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Berk, Anita |
| author2 | Mills, Liz |
| author_browse | Berk, Anita Mills, Liz |
| author_facet | Mills, Liz Berk, Anita |
| author_sort | Berk, Anita |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Bibliography: leaf 40. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/13895 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:33:51.607Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publishDateRange | 2015 |
| publishDateSort | 2015 |
| publisher | Department of Drama |
| publisherStr | Department of Drama |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/13895 Female bodies as text : disobedient representations of the witch Berk, Anita Mills, Liz Theatre Making Bibliography: leaf 40. This paper is an exploration and explication of the ideas and theories that served to fire the journey of my thesis production, Hex, from conception through to performance. As a Masters student in Theatre-making with a leaning towards performance, my particular area of focus is the physical: female bodies as text. To delineate this further, I concentrate on disobedient representations of the witch: what are these; what do they mean and effect in our world and within women themselves? Since as Theatre-maker I variously switched mode from director (in the initial conceptual stages) to designer, writer and actor within the process, this written explication will similarly switch perspective as I weave through the issues at hand in the creation of Hex. I begin the paper with an introduction to the figure of the witch. A selection of examples of stage and screen portrayals of witches is given. I then describe the salient features of the witch's journey as represented from past to present, in order to shed light on the choice of witch characters which eventually formed the collage of Hex. This is followed by an exploration of the goddess I witch dichotomy, with specific reference to the presence or absence of her physical form as theatrically manifested in Hex. I delineate, define and exemplify the concepts of obedience and disobedience in witch representations. This leads to an in-depth look at the physiognomic I gestural language of the witch's body in performance, noting in particular its relation to a male gaze. The third and final section of the paper centres on the marginalisation of various witch figures. This serves to explicate the presence and meaning of certain key figures that appeared in various forms in Hex, such as the absent crone-wise-woman, and the happy childless mother. I conclude with a statement of my personal position in relation to the topic that inspired the explorative journey of Hex. The purpose of Hex was to imaginatively crack open the realm of the witch for the audience. For it is out of such pinholes that truth has a tendency to loom out, in her infinite number of gorgeous and appalling forms that, together, dance the jig of Life. 2015-09-14T18:07:01Z 2015-09-14T18:07:01Z 2001 Master Thesis Masters MA http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13895 eng application/pdf Department of Drama Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Theatre Making Berk, Anita Female bodies as text : disobedient representations of the witch |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Female bodies as text : disobedient representations of the witch |
| title_full | Female bodies as text : disobedient representations of the witch |
| title_fullStr | Female bodies as text : disobedient representations of the witch |
| title_full_unstemmed | Female bodies as text : disobedient representations of the witch |
| title_short | Female bodies as text : disobedient representations of the witch |
| title_sort | female bodies as text disobedient representations of the witch |
| topic | Theatre Making |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13895 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT berkanita femalebodiesastextdisobedientrepresentationsofthewitch |