Liezel’s story – #NotInMyName: Playback Theatre in Post-apartheid South Africa

Abstract

This chapter explores a stop moment in light of a story told during a Playback Theatre performance (PT) in South Africa. The inquiry guiding this chapter asks: How may diffractive encounters through a stop moment in PT illuminate possibilities for dissensus? The stop moment is examined to reveal how the distribution of the sensible has impact on women’s lives in post-apartheid South Africa, through the eyes of two Drama for Life Playback Theatre members: Kathy as conductor and Cheraé who was one of the actors. It argues that for PT performers to redistribute the distribution of the sensible and to stage dissensus requires a recognition and understanding of power on multiple levels.