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Grootboom’s subsequent efforts to land another production at the festival’s main programme have come to naught. Cats and Dogs, an earlier version of Welcome To Rocksburg, his comicbook-inspired ode to developmental theatre, showcased on the event’s fringe programme. Rocksburg’s meagre audiences, during its brief run at The State Theatre in late 2009, are indicative of the challenges that lie ahead in the presentation of theatre to mass audiences, especially where the hook is not sensational enough to let word of mouth do all the work. It is a challenge that has not only informed the stories Grootboom has chosen to tell, but the manner in which he executes them. In the ensuing interview, conducted largely during Foreplay’s second run at the Market Theatre (in January 2010), Grootboom elaborates on his tightwalk through South Africa’s parochial theatre terrain and attempts to map out his escape route to the future. Simply put, Foreplay was an edgy sex comedy about relationships across age and class divides (although not about the colour divide since the entire cast was black). The work was loosely based on Arthur Schnitzler’s Reigen (1900), using South African scenarios and the play’s characteristically circular structure to question the libertarian values of post apartheid South Africa. Kwanele Sosibo: Much of your career as a playwright has been linked to the State Theatre. Does the role you currently play there affect the creation and presentation of your work? If so, how? Paul Grootboom: Yes, it does, I guess. It makes me have an acute sense of self-censorship. This is because I know I don’t represent myself, I have an institution to represent. That also drives one to care more about reputation than one normally would. Even though I love great, reckless artists, filmmakers and novelists, one can’t emulate that fantastical lifestyle because of the fear that I will misrepresent the State Theatre. KS: What are the class differences between the people that attend your work at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg to the people that frequent the State Theatre in Pretoria? For an international readership it is necessary to explain that Pretoria, the capital city of South Africa,
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