The Shakespeare Society of Southern Africa
The Shakespeare Society of Southern Africa (SSOSA) was founded to encourage and stimulate engagement with the works of William Shakespeare. It seeks to enrich the study of Shakespeare in schools and institutions of higher education; to stimulate interest in Shakespeare among the general public by means of productions, readings, lectures, courses, seminars and conferences; to act as an information centre covering research, publications, translations, and performances of Shakespeare’s works; to publish and distribute literature on Shakespeare; and to liaise with organisations, groups and individuals with similar aims.
As a national body, SSOSA was established as a project of the Grahamstown Foundation and has previously enjoyed the administrative support of the Institute for the Study of the Englishes of Africa (ISEA) at Rhodes University. The general executive committee comprises members based in Gauteng, the Western Cape, the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. In addition, the society has an independent branch in Makhanda. Download a copy of the Society’s founding constitution here.
Shakespeare ZA is a SSOSA initiative.
Whether you’re a high school teacher, a theatre-maker, a university-based academic or an independent scholar, meeting with peers and colleagues to discuss the whys and wherefores of “doing Shakespeare” is always helpful. If you would like to let people know about productions, conferences, workshops, seminars or public events in and around South Africa, contact us.
Conferences
The Society holds a triennial – or sometimes quadrennial – congress. The thirteenth congress will be held in Cape Town from 27-30 May 2027, with additional congress-related events taking place in Johannesburg. Find out more here!
The previous (twelfth) congress was held at Spier Wine Farm from 24-27 May 2023: “Shakespeare Towards an End”, co-hosted by SSOSA and the Tsikinya-Chaka Centre. Ruben Espinosa (Arizona State University) and Jyotsna Singh (Michigan State University) were the keynote speakers. You can read the Call for Papers or download the programme.
The eleventh triennial congress took place in May 2019, and comprised three events: the academic conference, “Shakespeare and Social Justice: Scholarship and Performance in an Unequal World”; a two-day workshop for teachers, titled “my shakespeare”; and “Making Shakespeare”, a platform for theatre makers.
Details of previous SSOSA conferences are available here, and reports on other Shakespeare conferences held in recent years are archived below. A number of papers first presented at these conferences have been published as articles in Shakespeare in Southern Africa.
In addition, the Society supports and partners with other organisations and institutions hosting conferences, such as:
New Encounters. Medieval and Early Modern Orients (MEMOs), Cape Town, 11-14 December 2025. See the conference website including the full programme.
Moving Shakespeare. Market Theatre Foundation / University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 19-20 October 2017. Report by Chris Thurman. The conference programme can be dowloaded here.
“Decolonising Shakespeare?” Contestations and re-imaginings for a post-liberation South Africa. University of KwaZulu-Natal (Howard College Campus), 30 September and 1 October 2016. Report by Lliane Loots. The conference programme can be dowloaded here.