PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
TYLER FLEMING is Associate Professor in the Departments of History & Pan-African Studies at the University of Louisville in Louisville, KY. He received his PhD in African History from the University of Texas at Austin in 2009.
Fleming examines every aspect of the play, from its sonic genesis in the cultural ferment of Sophiatown - the area of Johannesburg where a rich musical, social and literary world blossomed until the district was bulldozed to make way for a white suburb called Triomf (Triumph) - to the fates of the musicians and actors who chose exile, and its ill-fated and forgotten restaging in 1979. . . . As Fleming makes abundantly clear, the story of King Kong is about much more than just musical theatre. * THE WIRE * Fleming's exposition is an opportunity to explore the history of prize fighting, racial discrimination with the rise of apartheid, urbanization, cross-racial artistic collaborations, and exile. This is an extraordinarily rich and ambitious work, and quite unlike anything in recent African historiography. . . . Opposing Apartheid on Stage is a spectacular achievement and a pleasure to read. -- Benjamin N. Lawrance * AFRICAN STUDIES REVIEW *
