'The Complete S'ketsh'' is a facsimile edition of the seven issues of a theatre and entertainment magazine that was published in South Africa between 1972 and 1979 and which reflected the ideas, debates and practice of those excluded from segregated white culture and which flourished against all the odds. The 1970s were an extraordinary decade in the history of South African theatre and S'ketsh' Magazine has proved to be an extraordinary record of it. The pages of S'ketsh' are a window into the arts and, in particular, the theatre of a unique period in the history of South Africans' heroic struggle to survive with dignity, achieve wonders, express their hopes and fears and lay claim to their shared humanity in the dark days of apartheid. At last theatre and visual and performing arts practitioners, scholars, students and anyone interested in what was going on in the unsegregated arts activity of South Africa in the 1970s can access the hugely informative pages of S'ketsh' Magazine, which described itself as 'South Africa's magazine for popular theatre and entertainment' [first five issues] and 'South Africa's magazine for theatre and entertainment' [last two issues]. A number of researchers and authors have published on or included a study of the theatre and performing arts of the 1970's but hitherto the treasure trove of information contained in the pages of S'ketsh' has been literally a closed book to them. This should now change as at last that book can be opened in the form of this facsimile edition. In addition to the texts and graphics of the seven issues, 'The Complete S'ketsh' includes a Reading List at the end of the book for those who wish to find out more about the theatre personalities, developments and works referred to in S'ketsh' Magazine. There is also a Consolidated Contents and a list of contributors.
About the Author: Robert Mshengu Kavanagh [founding editor of S'ketsh' Magazine] is a fourth generation African, conversant in six African languages, published author, cultural activist and academic in South Africa, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe. He has lived in Zimbabwe from 1984 to the present. He has degrees from Cape Town, Oxford and Leeds and has published a number of books on theatre and arts education. His most recent publication is 'Zimbabwe: Challenging the Stereotypes [Themba Books, 2015]. He plans to launch a major study of the theatre of the South African playwright and entertainment entrepreneur, Gibson Kente, in November 2016.