In 1980 the Republic of Zimbabwe became recognized internationally as an independent state. This independence marked a shift from white minority rule to black majority rule in the form of ZANU–PF in a transition in government that was fraught with brutal violence, tense negotiations and tremendous hope for the democratic state that would emerge. This article begins with a brief overview of key political-theatre and public-arts funding practices that emerged in the newly independent Zimbabwe in the 1980s and continues with an examination of an influential political play from the era by Cont Mhlange entitled Workshop Negative (1986). This article's analysis of Workshop Negative considers how the economic pressures explored in the play mirror the precarious working conditions that arts-funding models placed on political-theatre practitioners in Zimbabwe at the time.

中文翻译：

---

负面研讨会：1980 年代津巴布韦的政治剧院

1980 年，津巴布韦共和国成为国际公认的独立国家。这种独立标志着从白人少数统治向黑人多数统治的转变，以 ZANU-PF 的形式出现在一个充满野蛮暴力、紧张谈判和对即将出现的民主国家的巨大希望的政府过渡中。本文首先简要概述了 1980 年代新独立的津巴布韦出现的主要政治戏剧和公共艺术资助实践，并继续考察 Cont Mhlange 题为该时代的有影响力的政治戏剧车间负面（1986 年）。这篇文章的分析车间负面考虑戏剧中探讨的经济压力如何反映当时艺术资助模式对津巴布韦政治戏剧从业者施加的不稳定的工作条件。