Theater, in a variety of forms and contexts, can make, and indeed has made, positive political and social interventions in a range of developing cultures around the world. In this book a distinguished team of theater historians and dramatists explore how theater has a dynamic and often difficult relationship with societies and states, arguing positively that theatrical activity can make a difference. The collection begins with a foreword by Wole Soyinka and, throughout the volume, specially chosen plays, projects and movements are examined in countries such as Brazil and Argentina, Nigeria,...

Working from a multi-cultural perspective, this book explores the value of performance as an agent of social change, and makes its arguments through the close examination of the success--not always complete--of specific projects in their practical and cultural contexts. Practitioners and commentators inquire as to how performance in its broadest context can play a part in community activism by helping communities find their own creative voices.

Working from a multi-cultural perspective, this book explores the value of performance as an agent of social change, and makes its arguments through the close examination of the success--not always complete--of specific projects in their practical and cultural contexts. Practitioners and commentators inquire as to how performance in its broadest context can play a part in community activism by helping communities find their own creative voices.

This volume makes available some of the most influential, imaginative and exciting plays to come out of East and West Africa from the 1970s to the present day. Deliberately excluding playscripts by the regions' two best known playwrights, Wole Soyinka and Ngugi wa Thiong'o, whose work was profiled in African Theatre 13 the editors have selected plays, some well-known and some less widely available, that represent the diversity and richness of these two very different African regions. The playscripts include a new translation from Amharic, as well as the English version of a play originally...