African Theatre for Development

Description

African Theatre for Development acts as a forum for investigating how African Theatre works and what its place is in this postmodern society. It provides the subject with a degree of detail unmatched in previous books, reflecting a new approach to the study of the performing arts in this region. The collection:

• reveals the dynamic position of the arts and culture in post-independent countries as well as changes in influences and audiences,
• shows African theatre to be about aesthetics and rituals, the sociological and the political, the anthropological and the historical,
• examines theatre's role as a performing art throughout the continent, representing ethnic identities and defining intercultural relationships,
• investigates African theatre's capacity to combine contemporary cultural issues into the whole artistic fabric of performing arts, and
• considers the variety of voices, forms and practices through which contemporary African intellectual circles are negotiating the forces of tradition and modernity.

The book provides an opportunity to discover contemporary material from experts, critics and artists from across the world. The contributions are in a language and style that allow them to be read either as aids to formal study or as elements of discussion to interest the general reader.

Sujets

• African
• Performing Arts
• Sociologie, société et politique
• Theatre
• African people
• General officer
• Cultural studies
• General

Informations

• Publié par: Intellect Books
• Date de parution: 01 janvier 1998
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781841508689
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

African Theatre for Development
Art for self-determination
Edited by Kamal Salhi
First Published in 1998 by Intellect Books, PO Box 862, Bristol BS99 1DE, UK
Copyright 1998 Intellect Ltd.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission.

Copy Editor:
Lucy Kind
Cover Design:
Amanda Brown
Production:
Valerie Massicot
Production:
Sophia Dartzali

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Electronic ISBN 1-84150-868-3 / ISBN 1-871516-77-3
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Antony Rowe Ltd, Eastbourne
Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. Neither Fixed Masterpiece nor Popular Distraction : voice, transformation and encounter in Theatre for Development Frances Harding
2. Product or Process: Theatre for Development in Africa Osita Okagbu
3. Didactic Showmen: Theatre for Development in Contemporary South Africa Page Laws
4. Post-Colonial Theatre for Development in Algeria: Kateb Yacine s early experience Kamal Salhi
5. Uses and Abuses of Theatre for Development: political struggle and development theatre in the Ethiopia - Eritrea war Jane Plastow
6. Satires in Theatre for Development Practice in Tanzania Juma Adamu Bakari
7. Popular Theatre and Development Communication in West Africa: paradigms, processes and prospects Bala A. Musa
8. Werewere Liking and the Development of Ritual Theatre in Cameroon: towards a new feminine theatre for Africa Valerie Orlando
9. Women Playwrights and Performers respond to the project of development Laura Box
Acknowledgements
My thanks go to Professor Martin Banham and Dr. Jane Plastow, both from the University of Leeds, and Professor Peter Thomson and Leslie du S. Read, both from the University of Exeter. They graciously offered unstinting encouragement throughout the period of the preparation of this book.
I should also like to thank the Department of Drama at the University of Exeter for offering me a long stay as research fellow and the British Academy for the three-year scholarship without which my research would have not been possible.
I moved to the University of Leeds as a lecturer in the school of Modern Languages and Cultures where , among other projects, I have been able to finalise this publication thanks to the understanding of the French Department.
My thanks go to all those who sent their contributions but, be ause of time contraints, could not have been included in this particular project. This book has been made possible thanks to the following unfailing colleagues: Frances Harding, Osita Okagbu, Page Laws, Juma Adamu Bakari, Bala A. Musa, Valerie Orlando and Laura Box, all scholars developing expertise in the areas they discuss in the respective chapters of this book.
This book is in memory of those African artists, writers and dramatists who strived to contribute to their peoples liberation and Independence. They died while hoping for more or were assassined because they possessed the key to their nation s future.
Introduction
Kamal Salhi
This is not a history of African Theatre for Development. My concern is to indicate the scope of this theatre, to discuss its purpose and indeed to indicate the directions in which this particular type of theatre is moving.
While writing the chapters of this book, I appreciated the common concern and mutual understanding of my co-authors and their attempts to supply a set of perspectives that I intend to develop here. A general study does not necessarily preclude more specialised studies. However, I wanted to design this book as a cohesive force to help the reader understand what Theatre for Development might be and how it works within the framework of post-Independence Africa. Even if I loaded an entire encyclopaedia onto Theatre for Development, I would first have to determine what to include and what was not relevant to my primary interest and inquiry. Here I deal with the Theatre for Development as an art form consisting of works written for the stage - indoors or outdoors - intended to be performed, and which correspond to the fundamental needs of social groups. Because, in the final analysis, Theatre for Development should be alive to the needs of people in advance, it should suggest the framework for the society of the future. African artists and theatre practitioners understand these needs and respond to them.
There are two reasons why this study is needed. First is the general ignorance about African Theatre for Development, in University circles and even among theatre scholars. Second, since Africa has passed through the colonial experience, since a pattern of euphoria and disillusionment has been common to the independent nations, and since all African countries share the same stresses between the traditional and the modern ways of life, generalisations are still possible.
This study covers different regions of Africa. North Africa may be said to have quite different customs and traditional beliefs from those of most of the rest of Africa. There has been a good deal of influence from the Arab countries across the Sahara and down the East coast of Africa but, since Islam is antagonistic to drama, this has not led to the same intensity of theatrical developments as in the rest of the continent. Chapter Four is, in a way, an attempt to question this thesis. The absence of a strong theatre tradition in some parts of North Africa cannot be explained by the fact that Islam does not allow it. Nor can the prohibition of the image as representation be a convincing argument as it is not the Quran which forbids it, but the Islamic tradition or the Hadith. This distinction is important because it strengthens the hypothesis that it is a social/historical reality rather than a dogma. The prohibition of pictoral representation was a way to affirm the new religion in relation to the pre-Islamic era. God had to be imposed as a Spirit. This prohibition does not have a dogmatic character but rather an ideological or pedagogical one. An impulse behind Chapter Four and Chapter Nine is the conviction that North African dramatic practice from 1970 to the present, is a significant response to this critical debate. Both chapters argue how the official national theatre failed to address the nation in any way that could be seen genuinely as an art for self- determination especially in the light of the post-colonial theatre of Kateb Yacine and the more recent performance of Fadela Assous. Their theatre has played a vital role in all social, political and national concerns. It has also served as a fertile work place for prominent dramatists. Chapters Four and Nine discuss the theatre as a potential art for development and analyse those dramatists theatrical endeavours in post-colonial North Africa.
Within Sub-Saharan Africa, Ethiopia and the Republic of South Africa may not have shared the typical experience of the succession of colonialism and Independence. In South Africa, European settlement was earlier and heavier than elsewhere and the disruption of traditional African culture was greater. Chapter Three considers the recent history and current status of Theatre for Development in South Africa. In five sections, this chapter discusses a variety of aspects ranging from the didactic nature of Theatre for Development through the extended definitions of the terms often associated with and applied to performance practices, to the perspectives on the future of South African theatre. Chapter Five offers an example of the differences that have resulted in the Ethiopia-Eritrea war, while elsewhere on the continent nationalist movements have championed traditional values, as an assertion of the African s right to a greater role in society. In that, governments often justify their domination in the modern society This chapter draws upon Ethiopia-Eritrea where theatrical experience matches that of the rest of Africa. It is about theatre as a means of empowering and the relationships between propaganda imperatives and popular theatre initiatives . It also investigates the relationship between political freedoms and the development of theatres of empowerment .
An understanding of the traditions in East African theatre and dramatic literature are fundamental in providing a context where the developing art can envision new possibilities, and perhaps new theatres. Chapter Six explains how Theatre for Development in Tanzania can be seen not only as an effective, but also as an appropriate medium of communication in community development. The problem of how to practise this theatre is argued in the light of the opinion that the people [are] being robbed of the opportunity to voice their own concerns and do their own thinking . Viewed and analysed through specific examples, the theatre in Tanzania records, signals and effects changes in the culture. It fosters an understanding in the community which accommodates the theatre s artistic, educational, social, moral, spiritual and political aspects. While entertainment value is a significant portion of the theatrical event in Tanzania and cannot be overlooked, Chapter Six brings in an understanding that the theatre should be utilised to encourage constructive changes in the society. Examples in this chapter show the extent to which the dominant authorities can be offended and how artists directly confront the ruling authorities.
In Central Africa, dramatic experiences have affected the people of Cameroon and new theatrical trends include women dramatists who have not been merely transient and who reflect African consciousness on stage. Chapter Eight explores the theatre work of Werewere Liking and her post-modern agenda. It argues that the francophone dramatist has fought an uphill battle both because of her gender and her un-orthodox dramatic style