Born and raised in South Africa, Ian Fraser had no formal training as a writer or playwright. In fact, he didn’t even finish high school. Nevertheless, he went on to become a successful voice of anti-establishment, protesting against Apartheid and in favour of democracy, and he is one of South Africa’s top contemporary playwrights.
In 1985, following a two-year stint with the, then named, ‘African Defence Force’, Fraser felt compelled to write and began to produce and perform his own material.
The Iconic Plays of Ian Fraser
Ian Fraser has written a number of full-length and short plays. They range from solo, monologue works to much larger casts. As a social agitator, one thing all of Fraser’s works have in common is that they are acerbic, scathing attacks on a variety of subjects, which he offers his own unique brand of anarchic twist.
Bring me Gandhi
Penned in the 80s, Fraser describes Bring me Gandhi as a “…response to the widespread genres of Protest Theatre, it's a step into the dark reality of South Africa, and repression of Apartheid, that few plays ever tried to approach head-on.” Ian Fraser Live.com
The Sugar Plum Fairy
And examination of the nature of religion, The Sugar Plum Fairy was awarded a ‘Pick of the Fringe’ at the Grahamstown Arts Festival in South Africa. In 2008, it was performed at the University of Wisconsin’s Oshkosh Theatre.
Charles Manson
A solo piece, Charles Manson was nominated for the Amstel Playwright of the Year award. The play imagines the notorious murderer as an acutely self-aware individual, who attempts to justify his actions and motives to the audience.
Dogs of The Blue Gods
The actors in Dogs of The Blue Gods play police dogs, who are depressed, and increasingly questioning their existence and purpose. The piece won three awards: the Tonight-AA Life Vita Award For Comedy, Pick of the Fringe at Grahamstown Arts Festival in South Africa and First Place in the 1999 Wisconsin State AACTFest. in the United States.
Ian Fraser’s Recent Work
In 2006, Fraser moved to the United States and is now a legal citizen of the country. However, he has not shied away from criticising his new country of residence, with as much zeal as he did South Africa. Putting the Fun Back into School Shootings being a fine example.
“These are carefully reasoned arguments and justifications for the imminent violence, from the point of view, of one of the foot soldiers of a nationwide movement, about to enact a coup in modern America, and change the face of politics forever. The killing fields have arrived on American soil.”
This ruthless anatomisation of modern America, won the AcidTheatre’s Freedom of Speech Play Competition in the U.K.
Ian Fraser is currently still residing in the United States, where he is writing books, screen and stage plays, and, occasionally, blog posts on his homepage.
Sources and Further Reading
- Ian Fraser Live.com (accessed January, 2012)
Samantha Markham - Samantha Markham is a professional freelance writer with a particular passion for literary and theatrical subjects.
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