characteristics of african theatrecharacteristics of african theatre

In West Africa, Ghana and Nigeria became powerhouses of postcolonial theatre. It can symbolize animals as well as humans. But if you look at this moment Ruben Santiago-Hudson in Lackawanna Blues, Pass Over on Broadway one month, three months of activity, can really inspire folks for generations, Young added. The mask, in this sense, tells a story, as it seeks out a supernatural past or present that it both directs and invigorates, participating in either the cohesion of the group or as an aggressor in a hostile situation. Ritual dancers are also creators of beauty in so far as they also stylize their bodies and movements. The 200th anniversary of the African Theater (which was commemorated on the 2021 International Black Theater Summits Black Theater Day on Sept. 17) coincides with an important moment in Broadway history, when all of the new dramatic productions scheduled this fall seven total are by Black playwrights. Finally, it should be said that secular performances provide spectacles that are much more varied and lively than do the ritual ones where things tend to be much slower and more established by precedent. African Dance History, Types & Music | What is an African Dance? An important initiative was the creation of Krio language drama, particularly through the work of the writers linguist Thomas Decker, who in the 1960s translated Julius Caesar and As You Like It into the language widely spoken in the country. Clarks first play, Song of a Goat (1964), was staged in the Mbari arts centre in Ibadan in a production directed by Soyinka. Thus, when you can see even a fragment of his play So Whats New? you can notice the strength of the characters and the importance of their struggle for the time in which he starred in it. Every ritual act madeand continues to makereference to cosmic reality and, particularly, to the space that represents in concentrated form the infinite space of the universe. When he dared to go toe-to-toe with a nearby white theater, each presenting rival Shakespeare productions, he was harassed by police and his theater was raided. This king stood in front of a Black audience. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. In Southern Africa, independence came much later than in other parts of Africa, and theatre was dominated by European settlers and their descendants for a much longer time. Ritual space existed, therefore, only by virtue of the forces and the supernatural beings that manifested themselves in it. Osofisan also reworks other texts eitherif they are Nigerianas a critique of an earlier generation (No More the Wasted Breed, 1982, in response to Soyinkas The Strong Breed, 1963; Another Raft, 1988, commenting on Clarks The Raft, 1964) or, if international, as a vehicle for his own interpretation of contemporary events (among them, Whos Afraid of Solarin?, 1978, from Russian writer Nikolay Gogols The Government Inspector, 1836; Tegonni: An African Antigone, 1999; Women of Owu, 2006, from Euripides Trojan Women, 415 bce). They are examined individually below. The fact is that early Africans never invented a generic term to designate these representations. Through various rituals and dances, communities pass down social patterns and rules, recite history, and encounter their gods. 11th Grade English: Homework Help Resource, 9th Grade English: Homework Help Resource, High School World History: Tutoring Solution, A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare Study Guide, Psychology 107: Life Span Developmental Psychology, SAT Subject Test US History: Practice and Study Guide, Create an account to start this course today. Long before cultural contact with Europe, Black Africa had its very own personal forms of dramatic expression. One of the most outstanding authors was the Nigerian Wole Soyinka, who produced in English. All rights reserved. Heres the guy who creates a theater company, hits a challenge, tries again, hits a challenge, tries again and then, in three years, gives up and leaves. It is people, by their sacrifices, their cultural manifestations and their incantations, who give the gods meaning. The countries of Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone (and to a lesser extent Gambia), in addition to the English-speaking areas of Cameroon, have produced a rich theater since their political independence. Music can be described as any sounds made with human vocal cords or instruments; some examples of types of music include classical, pop, rock, hip-hop, country and folk. types of art styles|powered by the, Sierra Leonean theater in African Theater, The theater of independence in the African theater, The current development of African theater. The African Theaters history reflects many of the conversations still happening around race and the art form today. Note: This essay was originally written for the Africa volume of the World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre. That was then, but also speaks to now, according to Marvin McAllister, the author of White People Do Not Know How to Behave at Entertainments Designed for Ladies and Gentlemen of Colour: William Browns African and American Theater., What William Brown was contending with, which subsequent Black leaders have contended with, is this real complex dichotomy he is a Black artist that the theatrical landscape in New York in the early 1820s both wants and rejects, said McAllister. I would definitely recommend Study.com to my colleagues. The story of Brown and the African Theater is too often forgotten in the larger history of American theater. Soyinkas careerfragmented by imprisonment without trial during the Nigerian civil war and subsequent exilehas produced a range of major plays, some dealing with what he saw as the bizarre antics of African leaders (Kongis Harvest, first performed 1966; A Play of Giants, first performed 1984; The Beatification of Area Boy, 1995) and others with the clash between the spiritual and the mortal world (The Strong Breed, first performed 1963; The Road, 1965; Death and the Kings Horseman, 1975the latter widely regarded as his finest play) and fierce personal assaults on tyranny (Madmen and Specialists, 1971; From Zia, with Love, 1992). His performers were attacked. Lorraine Hansberrys A Raisin in the Sun (1959) and other successful Black plays of the 1950s portrayed the difficulty of African Americans maintaining an identity in a society that degraded them. Abstract The existence of the director in African traditional theatre has always been a subject of controversy amongst theatre scholars. Of the quartet of early playwrights, the one who best compares to Soyinka is Rotimi. Lofty speech, such as verse or poetry, is often incorporated in dialogue. Theres another narrative, said Young, of Boston University. ***The late Hansel Ndumbe Eyoh was a co-editor of the Africa volume of the World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre. I feel like its a lifeline. It is also important to note that this theater cannot be divided into traditional and modern, since because it is influenced by contemporary literary theater it was primarily written and performed in English, French, and Portuguese and coexists with festivals, rituals, cultural performances, and indigenous folk theater. Omissions? This article aims to sketch the broadest patterns of work and highlight some landmarks in dealing with the extensive continentwide theatrical activity. Its like a teacher waved a magic wand and did the work for me. In most African religions, the ritual expresses a need to communicate with supernatural forces, especially with the ancestors whose spirits live on. The dance often creates a moving dcor through the costumes, or through lines made by the dancers steps. Even though the African Theater grew so popular that white audiences began attending as well, Brown faced an uphill battle for the companys entire existence. It is through such performative elements that the myths and legends on which African civilization is based are examined, scrutinized and reinterpreted. Whatever the historical reference, however, Rotimi draws a contemporary parallel. annual performance of the imprisonment of Obtala (creator god). He was a dynamic director of his own work, forming at Ife the Ori Olokun Acting Company and later the African Cradle Theatre (ACT). African traditional theater is a group activity, often without boundaries between creators, performers, and audience. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Elaborate rituals include ornate costumes, music, dancing, and storytelling. What happened to Brown, and when exactly the theater shut down for good, are both unclear. But not all theatre takes place in this context. It can also enable the wearer to take in the appearance of a creature belonging to another species while still retaining ancestral connections. Another important Ghanaian playwright is Mohammed Ben-Abdallah. Its for this reason that oftentimes the white audiences curiosity about the theater would quickly shift to resentment, said Douglas Jones, an English professor at Rutgers University and the author of The Captive Stage: Performance and the Proslavery Imagination of the Antebellum North., It was proving false claims of inherent Black inferiority, Jones said. Rotimi had formal training in playwriting at Boston and Yale universities, and that training is reflected in his workmanship, but he created a very personal style of theatre, richly inventive and experimental. Theatre is one of the cultural elements that best exemplifies Africa. Performed in public squares or in courtyards, the shows are done with the audience standing in a circle around the actors. In many ways that complex though (literally) fantastic play may be seen as a source for much of his later work. The African Theatre was an African-American acting troupe in New York City established by William Henry Brown (also known as William Alexander Brown) in the 1820s. A significant element of much of the new radical work was the use of pidgina language of mass communication accessible to a much-wider audience than the educated elite. Slowly, Africa began to withdraw from itself. The play depicted the characteristics, emotions, and struggles of an urban Black family and eventually won a New York Drama . African dance refers to a form of performing art found among most cultures of Sub-Saharan Africa. It is to rituals, dances, masquerades, storytelling and folk celebrations with all their theatrical elements, then, that one must look for such an African definition. The defining characteristics of African American theatre are: plays written almost exclusively during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s productions performed by black Americans plays written by and for African Americans plays written by white American for black actors productions performed by black Americans Including both men and women and intended for a large rural public, these performances varied from light entertainment to community satire and were characterized by virtuosity in areas such as mime, verbal skills, acrobatics, song and dance. In Africa, theater is a social phenomenon that is difficult to delimit and distinguish from other disciplines. It shows this kind of persistence of memory in the culture, said Heather S. Nathans, a theater professor at Tufts University. African theatre, effectively, the theatre of Africa south of the Sahara that emerged in the postcolonial erathat is to say, from the mid-20th century onward. Vulture! Even in the west, the word theatre often denotes very different realities, and what is meant by theatre in one country is not always the same as what is meant in others. Clearly, such a brief summary shows African theatrical art before contact with the outside world to be rich and complex. Such rituals are numerous and varied, going back to ancient times and elaborated differently by each of the continents more than one thousand different ethnic groups. Black middle-class audiences looked for the highbrow, like Shakespeare, but white lower-class and middle-class audiences often attended for the spectacle, hoping for something crude and comical and in line with their stereotypical notions of what Black art was supposed to be. Within an indigenous dance tradition, each performance usually has a principal as well as a number of subsidiary purposes . Try refreshing the page, or contact customer support. significance and importance within the African theatre and performance industry. L. Losambe, Devi Sarinjeive. Similarly, the vibrant tradition of popular theater (such as Yoruba opera) was also a resource that the literary playwright used and drew upon as an inspiration. Characteristics of Black Theater Black theater refers to plays and musicals written and performed by African Americans with the intention of portraying their experiences. What do you imagine when you hear the word ''theatre''? In certain religious ceremonies the celebrants wear, painted on their bodies, the picture of a place, or, sometimes, just a stylized design representing a detail of a place. Esteemed, educated performers and living repositories of history. Part of the reason the moment is overlooked is that Browns theater feels so isolated from the rest of Black theater history, according to Harvey Young, a theater scholar and the dean of Boston Universitys College of Fine Arts. Black theater has its roots in the early 19th century, specifically with the establishment of the African Grove Theater in New York City. She is also known for plays she wrote for children such as Vulture! The form reached the pinnacle of its popularity between . In the mid-1960s the Kola Ogunmola company, in conjunction with the Nigerian theatre designer Demas Nwoko, had great success with an adaptation of Amos Tutuolas novel The Palm-Wine Drinkard. Characters are painted with white ash/clay. An important (and sophisticated) act in that context was Rose Mbowa Ugandas Mother and Children (premiered 1987). Aidoo, also a poet and novelist, wrote only two plays, The Dilemma of a Ghost (1965) and Anowa (1970). His Land of a Million Magicians (1993), inspired by Bertolt Brechts The Good Woman of Setzuan (1943), is a work of considerable theatrical scale and dramatic power. Secular comic theatre arising mostly from folk celebrations also existed and still exists in Africa, especially during harvest times and during family ceremonies. Later, in 1977, Clark was to record and translate into English an oral version of the saga, but his rich play drawn from this fascinating source is not only a powerful drama in its own terms but also an informative introduction to the imaginative dramaturgy of traditional festivals. Interpreting Context in a Monologue: Strategies & Examples, East & Southeast Asian Theatre: History & Overview. Both countries developed a sort of opera or satirical, musical, traveling theatre that often used fantastical or mythological characters to deliver social commentary. And, of course, in a space where spirits and humans reinforce one another in reciprocal fashion, in a space where sacred forces and supernatural beings manifest themselves, no arbitrary gesture can be tolerated. Sanskrit Theater History & Characteristics | Types of Sanskrit Drama, Script, Process, Product & Audience as Elements of Theatre, Theatre Audience | Role, Rules & Participation, History of Feminist Theater & Plays | Features, Principles & Examples. Copyright 2021 Ousmane Diakhat and Hansel Ndumbe EyohCritical Stages/Scnes critiques e-ISSN:2409-7411. Foriwa (first performed 1962) and Edufa (first performed 1962) dealt with political issues relevant to the challenges of independence. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Unlike modern plays, traditional rituals and tales are not written by individual playwrights. With The Disturbed Peace of Christmas in 1971, Sofola became the first woman playwright to establish herself in Nigeria. Concert Party theatre complemented the literary theatre with its particular kind of social commentary and its inventive use of both traditional and modern forms of entertainment. African thought is steeped in animism which places humanity at the centre of its concerns. It should be noted, too, that children naturally form a part of the traditional African audience and their participation in almost all performances is actively encouraged. Shakespeares Richard III arrived on a New York City stage 200 years ago this month. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. They include The Reign of Wazobia (1988), Tell It to Women (1994), The Missing Face (1997), Shakara: Dance-Hall Queen (2000), and Then She Said It (2002). They have been molded from the culture and customs of an entire community and are passed on by memory from generation to generation. Councils were organized to abolish the use of racial stereotypes in theatre and to integrate African American playwrights into the mainstream of American dramaturgy. The theatrical hierarchy. And yet it was a hit. 79 lessons. The rich cultural heritage of the nation, particularly from the south, created the conditions for political debate, social cohesion, celebration and lament. story-tellers/ actors of Africa. There are masters of ceremonies as well as actions that take place according to an agreed scenario which itself respects certain ritual prescriptions. Yet, it is part of every day in public places and at home. Indigenous African theatre was deeply rooted in day-to -ay activities. Hewlett would take over the role of Richard and later tour the country performing Shakespearean monologues, making him the first Black American Shakespearean actor. The definitions of African theatre as given by Agovi(1991) and Banham & Plastow(1999) forms the theoretical framework of this study. Similarly, in Nairobi there was a resident repertory theater reproducing the best of the West End. In African societies, dance serves a complex diversity of social purposes. Through them, there is imitation of supernatural phenomena and an effort to make the celebrants one with such forces. What is Neoclassical and Romantic Sculpture? Intended as a discourse with supernatural forcesin order to channel them, control them, appease them or honor themand to ensure the survival and equilibrium of the community, rituals were and still are shields defending the community against evil forces. It was this conference which established the rules of occupation of the African territories and which divided the continent up among the European powers. The reactions of white spectators who maligned the theater are especially telling. In Opera Wonyosi (first performed 1977) he draws on Bertolt Brechts satirical musical drama The Threepenny Opera (1928). He worked generally on a large scale, incorporating many different ethnic influences in the performance structure of his plays (in terms of song, dance, language, etc.). Many different African traditions have relied on orature, which are stories that are passed down orally but that aren't written down. Popular theatre practitioners such as Hubert Ogunde, writing in Yoruba, created biblical and political dramas that toured the country in trucks, performing in hotel yards or community halls to enthusiastic audiences, with lavish ingredients of song, dance, and spectacle. Was very structured and ended with a clear plot resolution. Part of that expectation is that they always have to be writing about race, for example, or they always have to be writing about some type of Black trauma or Black mourning.. It is not possible to talk of much African theatre as if it fell into discrete historical or national patterns. In the 1970s de Graft moved to teach in East Africa, where he wrote and produced his play Muntu (1975). In Ghana this was called Concert Party Theatre, and in Nigeria it was called Yoruba Opera. Across the African continent, people practice very elaborate rituals that include ornate costumes and masks, music, dancing, and storytelling. That playbased on a legendary source concerning a beautiful young woman who marries a handsome strangeris a remarkable exploration of Ghanaian history, both colonial and postcolonial, with a powerful indictment of the temptations to which contemporary politicians succumb. By 1940 Black theatre was firmly grounded in the American Negro Theater and the Negro Playwrights' Company. The mask, therefore, is an emblem, a sign which is not only used to erase the personality of the wearer, but which also identifies the wearer with an ancestor or a supernatural being. Women were the storytellers, the humour-artisans, the. It is at the crossroads of the sacred and the profane, orality and the written word, of inner roots and external adjuncts. Through various rituals and dances, communities pass. Corrections? In addition to the troupes led by Ogunde, Ladipo, and Ogunmola, numerous other Yoruba theatre companies enjoyed great success well into the 1980s, though they were gradually overtaken by the popularity of videos for consumption at home, which diminished their audiences. 200 Years Ago. Some elements of traditional African drama which have been adapted to literature and film include, songs and dances, mask and masquerades, proverbs, idioms and other aspects of language, history. Shakespeare's Richard III arrived on a New York City stage 200 years ago this month. The fact is that Africa is prodigiously rich in rituals of all kinds. The product of an accretion of diverse forms, it is rooted in Africas traditions while, at the same time, it continues to assimilate foreign theatrical traditions, especially those of Europe. Onwuemes early plays were based on domestic incidents, but she became more adventurous with political allegories (The Desert Encroaches, 1985; Ban Empty Barn, 1986), andafter a move to teach in the U.S.her work expanded in range and ambition with strong feminist dramas, often with an evangelistic edge. Intended as comic entertainment, blackface minstrelsy was performed by a group of white minstrels (traveling musicians) with black-painted faces, whose material caricatured the singing and dancing of slaves. Likewise, in this theater, colonial boundaries ignored cultural and linguistic units and ancient movements across the continent, and it is believed that this was due to particular societal circumstances such as trade (including the transatlantic slave trade), religion and exploration, which brought different ethnic groups into contact with each performance and often influenced in a way that is still evident in the 21st century. By 1902, the conquest of Africa was almost complete, with the greatest beneficiaries being France, Great Britain, Portugal, Belgium, later Germany and, to a lesser extent, Spain and Italy. The minstrel shows of the early 19th century are believed by some to be the roots of Black theatre, but they initially were written by whites, acted by whites in blackface, and performed for white audiences. Explore the history of these performances, oral histories, characteristics of postcolonial theatre, and some famous African playwrights. by The African Theatre Magazine March 5, 2021 0 1k Features In most parts of Traditional Africa, theatre was a prerogative of the woman. (1999). In the late 1930s, Black community theatres began to appear, revealing talents such as those of Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee. This said, it cannot be ignored that the evolution of African theatrical art was interrupted by foreign invasion and incursion. Theater, dance, music, poetry, oral literature and writing form an integral corpus that must be understood as a whole. Two other major figures emerged in the latter part of the 20th centuryTess Onwueme and Femi Osofisan.

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