SA playwright receives top French award
SOUTH African playwright Brett Bailey was awarded France’s prestigious Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres (Knight in the Order of Arts and Letters) at a ceremony at the Granger Bay Hotel School in Mouille Point this week.
France’s ambassador to South African, Christophe Farnaud, bestowed the award on behalf of President Emmanuel Macron. The Order of Arts and Letters is a French order established in 1957 and awarded by the French Ministry of Culture in recognition of significant contributions to the enrichment of the arts and literature in France and abroad.
There are three degrees: knight, officer and commander.
South African citizens who have been awarded the order are Johnny Clegg (1991), William Kentridge (2013), Gregory Maqoma (2017) and Zanele Muholi (2017). In his commendation made before a capacity crowd of dignitaries and special guests, Farnaud lauded Bailey’s pivotal work.
“Brett Bailey is not only a playwright. In his works there are different styles, but there is always one obsession: he wants to break boundaries and has a strong commitment to political actions, social messages and economic questions. He is really a major character, not only of the South African theatre scene but also of the world theatre scene, to whom we paid tribute.”
Bailey is the artistic director of Third World Bunfight.
The company’s diverse theatre productions, installations, operas, house music shows and site-specific performances have been presented in Europe, Australia, Africa and Latin America, and have won several awards, including the gold medal for design at the Prague Quadrennial (2007).
“My work takes on rampant capitalism, ruthless exploitation, careless power, greed, bigotry and cruelty and shines light on the shadows of prejudice that are encroaching across the globe,“Bailey said in his acceptance speech. His newest work, Samson, premieres at Woordfees between March 8 and 10.