Setting the (blue) stage: Oceanic and littoral South African Shakespeares

This article notes the largely land-bound imagination that has guided post-apartheid Shakespearean performance in South Africa – albeit with some significant exceptions – and considers how creative practice might be spurred or enabled by the application of a 'blue' paradigm. Given its lengthy coastline, South Africa is particularly exposed to the oceanic consequences of climate change. While the country's history has been shaped by sea crossings and maritime encounters, and while many sub-fields within the Oceanic (Blue) Humanities have made productive use of this scholarly framework to address both shared colonial histories and present/future catastrophes facing countries across the global south, it has remained largely underutilised in terms of South African Shakespeares. Taking his cue from the Decentred Shakespeares Network's Pericles on the Seas initiative (which emphasised site-specific, digitally-shared performances, facilitating collaboration between scholars and creative practitioners in Scotland, Ghana, India and Brazil), the author reflects on what a South African contribution to such a project might include and, shifting from Pericles to another of Shakespeare's watery late plays, The Tempest, he identifies two 'littoral' sites with significant historical and Shakespearean resonances. The final section of the article discusses three case studies – a music ensemble, a poetry collection and an experimental radio play – that indicate future possible directions for Blue Shakespeares in South Africa.