Physical Theatre consumption and the advent of the ‘Festivore’: A case study of audience attendance at the South African National Arts Festival

Abstract

Coupled with a decline in government and consumer support and disparity between value and funding of the arts, theatre companies in South Africa can no longer rely on external subsidies to finance productions (Visser 2005; Snowball & Willis 2006). Despite this apparent dilemma, the proliferation of festivals has provided a new means to support and even promote theatre in South Africa, reaching a newer audience that has extended from a small, loyal theatre-going exclusive to a vast, eclectic festival public. If one wants to find a cultural democratisation of theatre and the arts in South Africa then, one should not look at the old theatre establishments of the past, but rather look to festivals as a new and dynamic way theatre is being democratised and brought to the people - to the festinos (Van Graan 2007; Mahomed 2009).