Summary In this article a discussion on migrant theatre in South Africa is given, with special reference to Mike van Graan’s play When Swallows Cry (2017). In the introduction a short background is given in terms of migration statistics and issues (notably xenophobia) pertaining to the South African state and society. Against the background of an international and national upsurge in migrant theatre the view is expressed that though we have had migrant theatre pre-1994 during the heyday of Nationalist apartheid ideology, a change has occurred since 1994 when the political dispensation changed in South Africa and the African National Congress (ANC) came into power. The situation today is more complex where intra-continental and cross-continental migrancy is now part of everyone’s lives, as portrayed in Mike van Graan’s When Swallows Cry. Van Graan’s play thus reflects a changing focus in migrant plays in South Africa: from the very early plays concerned with internal migration in the country to plays that today reflect a more complex world (i.e. the often violent and xenophobic experiences of African migrants – also within a so-called new South Africa, but also in the rest of Africa and the bigger world).

中文翻译：

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南非的移民剧院参考迈克·范·格拉恩的《当燕子哭泣》

总结 本文讨论了南非的移民戏剧，特别参考了迈克·范·格兰 (Mike van Graan) 的戏剧《当燕子哭泣》(2017)。在引言中，简要介绍了与南非国家和社会有关的移民统计数据和问题（尤其是仇外心理）。在国际和国内移民戏剧热潮的背景下，有人表示，尽管在民族主义种族隔离意识形态的鼎盛时期，我们在 1994 年之前就有了移民戏剧，但自 1994 年南非的政治分配发生变化和非洲人国民大会（ANC）上台。今天的情况更加复杂，大陆内和跨大陆的移民现在已经成为每个人生活的一部分，正如迈克·范格兰 (Mike van Graan) 的《当燕子哭泣》中所描绘的那样。