Martin Banham & James Gibbs 
African Theatre 9: Histories 1850-1950 

What kinds of documentation of performances exist – both of colonial and indigenous theatre and how may this range of documentation have affected how we read theatre history?


African performers, dramatists and directors have far out-paced chroniclers, critics and librarians, and as a result, those preparing accounts of theatre movements and performance on the continent have very limited resources to work on.
African Theatre 9 addresses the topic of theatre history and, more specifically, looks at a selection of theatrical movements and events between 1850 and 1950.

Drawing on such archived resources as are available, this volume seeks to recover moments from the past by bringing together papers that explore the complexity of the relationships that characterised a century of contact, conflict, compromise and creativity. The findings provide essential background to understanding contemporary developments in African theatre, and draw attention to the importance of documenting performances.


Volume Editor: YVETTE HUTCHISON


Series Editors: Martin Banham, Emeritus Professor of Drama & Theatre Studies, University of Leeds; James Gibbs, Senior Visiting Research Fellow, University of the West of England; Femi Osofisan, Professor of Drama at the University of Ibadan; Jane Plastow, Professor of African Theatre, University of Leeds; Yvette Hutchison, Associate Professor, Department of Theatre & Performance Studies, University of Warwick

Зміст

Introduction – Yvette Hutchison

Looking for ‘Eritrea’s past property’ (1947): archives & memories in Eritrean theatre historiography – Christine Matzke

Seeking the Founding Father: the story of Kobina Sekyi’s
The Blinkards (1916) – James Gibbs

Medieval morality & liturgical drama in colonial Rhodesia: early Christian martyrs dramatized – Owen Seda

Contesting constructions of cultural production in & through urban theatre in Rhodesia, c.1890-1950 – Samuel Ravengai

‘Don’t talk into my talk’: oral narratives, cultural identity & popular performance in colonial Uganda – Sam Kasule

The leaf & the soap: a story of appropriation & resistance – Cristina Boscolo

The representation of Khoisan characters in early Dutch-Afrikaans dramas in South Africa – Marisa Keuris

Images of Africa in early twentieth-century British theatre – Steve Nicholson

The First African Play: Tekle Hawariat’s
Fabula: Yawreoch Commedia & its influence on the development of Ethiopian theatre – Jane Plastow

Playscript: Tekle Hawariat’s
Fabula: Yawreoch Commedia (The Comedy of Animals) translated from the Amharic by Belayneh Abuneh

Book Reviews

Про автора

Yvette Hutchison is Associate Professor, Department of Theatre & Performance Studies, University of Warwick.