THEA 605 (General Core): African Theatre Survey

This is an exploratory course aimed at discovering patterns of dramaturgy that may be observed in African theatre practice from the early twentieth century to contemporary times. Exemplar plays and theatre practices are selected from the various regions of Africa. The course explores the historical and socio-cultural determinants of theatre forms, practices and practitioners from Africa. Particularly it considers the impact of colonial rule and its influences on these theatres and subsequently the post-colonial attempts to reassert African aesthetic values in the theatre. It straddles the indigenous non-literary forms and the hybrid literary forms, comparing and contrasting them, tracing changes over time.