Angelique Rockas

Angelique Rockas (born in Boksburg, South Africa) is an actress, producer and activist. Rockas founded Internationalist Theatre in the UK with patron Athol Fugard. The company featured multi-racial and multi-national productions of great European classics starting in 1981. "a historic example of theatre work addressing representation in the most valuable manner"  As an actress Rockas played roles that challenged casting cliches.

Career

Stage
"Rockas attracted admiration as an actress for her strong interpretation of roles".,'Medea' with Theatro Technis 'Miss Julie' with her own company Internationalist Theatre. Other key performances are: Emma in The Camp by Griselda Gambaro and Annabella in 'Tis Pity She`s a Whore' which was also Rockas`s first theatre production under the banner of 'New Theatre' directed by Declan Donnellan  ,and now listed as one of the major productions of Tis Pity for the decade of the 1980`s in the 20th century  

Further stage roles include Carmen in 'The Balcony' , Yvette in 'Mother Courage ' ,Miriam in 'In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel' ,  Lady Macbeth , Tatiana in Gorky`s 'Enemies'. 

Work at London`s Theatro Technis under the name of Angeliki : Io in 'Prometheus Bound', Myrrhine in 'Lysistrata', Paphlagoonia in the adaptation of Aristophanes 'The Knights' 'Oh Democracy', 'Dowry with 2 White Doves', and Kyproula in 'The National Engagement', all directed by George Eugeniou.

At the British Library
    Angelique Rockas British Library archive at Western Manuscripts

The National Archives (United Kingdom)
  Angelique Rockas

Film and Television 
She played Ms Ortiki in Thodoros  Maragos TV Film 'Emmones Idees' on Greek television ERT.

Films: 
 'OH BABYLON' directed by Costas Ferris roles of Nereida, and party reveller 
 'The Witches' directed by Nic Roeg , role of Henrietta,
 'Outland' directed by Peter Hyams, role of Maintenance Woman.

Prelude 
As stated in the British Library archives Rockas first production was  Ford`s `Tis Pity She`s a Whore ` under the name of New Theatre in 1980 and was  a prelude to her creating Internationalist Theatre.  Declan Donnellan was commissioned to direct the play. "it is something of a triumph. Naked passion is as raw under a three piece suit as draped in Renaissance brocades". She herself portrayed  Annabella as a sinister teenager and not the compliant passive beauty. Various accents from a Scottish, American and South African cast mixed seamlessly in this production as a start to the challenge of contemporary  theatre mores

Productions of Internationalist Theatre 
The company was first named New Internationalist Theatre then changed to Internationalist Theatre
In May 1982 at London`s Theatre Space Internationalist Theatre staged a multi-racial production of `Mother Courage and Her Children` by Bertolt Brecht
", , whose attack on the practice of war could not— with South Atlantic news filling the front pages— have been more topical.." "The cast ..is made of experienced actors from all over the world and perhaps their very cosmopolitanism helps to bring new textures to a familiar dish ."  Breaking racial casting barriers: Why  is a Pakistani actor playing the role of the Pastor ? was the question posed by Time Out Magazine critic Malcolm Hay 
In October 1981 Internationalist Theatre mounted a multi-racial staging of the 'The Camp' by Griselda Gambaro 
In July 1982 in London`s Bloomsbury Theatre  Fabio Perselli directed the first English language performance of 'Liola' by Luigi Pirandello. with Internationalist Theatre`s multi-racial cast  "It opened with a satiety of womens` gossip. some of it not very easy to follow with the various accents of the New Internationalist Theatre. But it picked up wonderfully. The pleasures of the performance with its occasional songs based on ballads and tarantellas , lay in the village vitality, the lusty folk element. .and the children romped about deliciously. A very  good evening of an unusual kind."
In June 1981 Internationalist Theatre revived 'The Balcony' by Jean Genet in London`s Theatre Space with a multi-racial cast .  Ellen Thomas played Irma and Angelique Rockas Carmen  
 In January 1984 the  Internationalist Theatre`s production  of August Strindberg`s 'Miss Julie'  was characterized by the disruption of ethnic preconceptions with a "small,dark" Angelique Rockas depicting the title part  in a performance of great depth
 In March 1983 Internationalist Theatre presented a multi-ethnic  UK premiere of Tennessee Williams` 'In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel' at London`s New End Theatre .
 In March 1985 Ann Pennington directed a multi-national production of Maxim Gorky`s 'Enemies' in association with Internationalist Theatre , in London. One critic saw a parallel between the workers uprising in Enemies and the Miners Strike that had been running in the UK since 1984 " it is about the miners strike " UK miners' strike (1984–85). Gorky`s "pseudo-populism" is done away with in this production by the actors speaking "without distinctive accents and consequently without populist sentiment" .Designed by Paul Brown , the cast included Madlena Nedeva, Nick Ellsworth, Angelique Rockas and Marilyn Flynn

Personal life
Rockas is a Greek Orthodox Christian. She continues her activism on several internet websites where she counteracts attacks on Christianity,  offers free online education material ,  defends womens`, Palestinian and Greek rights

References

Other websites 

Angelique Rockas on the British Film Institute website
Angelique Rockas on IMDB
 Angelique Rockas: bold theatre pioneer | The South African
Angelique Rockas and Internationalist Theatre  London Theatre Archive 
Angelique Rockas on Pinterest
Vogue Mexico Interview with Angelique Rockas 
The South African Interview with Angelique Rockas
 The Complete Unpublished Extract Of Angelique Rockas` South African Journey Used As Basis For Interview With The South African"

Actors from London
British movie actors
British stage actors
Greek actors
Living people
South African actors