AFRICAN AND AFRICAN AMERICAN THEATRE 1 27 15 Q How have African forms of theatre influenced African American theatre alike unique Early African Theatre Egyptian Rituals o Performance Abydos passion place 2500 BCE 4500 Years ago o Life death resurrection of the god Osiris o Abydos Osiris burial o What kind of performance Re enactment Or elaborate funeral procession The reason scholars are not sure wher Abydos fits in o What we DO know a tablet from Ikhernofret 600 years after they started participated in Abydos passion play and recorded experiences in a tablet with a vague description o E to W 4600 miles o 20 of Earth s land mass o 61 territories o 12 of the world s population 840 million people o Over 800 languages o Oldest inhabited area in the world humanity started in the Rift Valley of Eastern Africa Africa o Poorest continent 25 of the world s poorest countries are in Africa 65 of the world s AIDS cases are in Africa DISCLAIMER Case studies in African theatre a shit ton of stuff happened not just this stuff What are some of the theatrical conventions in Africa What is theatre s place or function in African society In Africa any two kinds of beings may be present humans or spirits African Performance Traditions Storytelling and Oral Tradition o Goes back to the start of humanity o Much Greek history emerged from oral traditions o Storytelling remember the past influence behavior look to the future o One of the most revered positions is the Griot basically storyteller Ritualized enactment o Done with intention of bringing about change Ex Something attached to wedding or funeral or birth helps someone take the next step Ex Try to bring rain and fertility or appease the gods Ex Egungun Festival warriors wear costumes and emerge of sight of sacrifice and move towards the chief s home to ward away evil spirits Ceremonial performances and masquerades o Connect to spirit world Comedies It s Hard for Westerners to Study African Theatre Many layers a lot we don t get Non verbal Involves multiple languages Cultural differences between east and west Theatrical Conventions in Africa Music voice and rhythm drummers are very respected Dance movement o Repeated over and over in theatre Masks and vibrant color o Masks show character and magical quality No pretense of realism What are some examples of African Theatre Colonialism o Drums tell which direction to move where to go etc rhythm is very important o The point is not realism but to bridge the gap between the spirits and the living Purpose What is Colonialism a power that sends people to colonize an uncolonized land colonists needs to find untapped wealth o The Slave Trade 1400s o Exploring Europeans mid 1800s quest for land in Africa became insane o Congo Conference and the Scramble for Africa 1884 1885 tribes were separated or put with enemies or nomadic tribes got stuck after borders were created o Political Instability still suffering Major Categories of African Theatre Full Emulate European Theatre Combine African and European themes and styles Reject all European models UNDERSTAND HOW EACH CATEGORY IS REPRESENTED BY THE THREE PLAYWRIGHTS ATHOL FUGARD South Africa Apartheid instutionalized racism in Africa anybody who was not white Co Founder of Space Theatre Cape Town 1972 attempted to deal with issues of Apartheid Master Harold and the Boys 1982 My real territory as a dramatist is the world of secrets with their powerful effect on human behavior and the trauma of revelation Criticism shows evils of Apartheid but does not push you to take action Very European WOLE SOYINKA Nigeria Educated at Leefs University Worked at Royal Court Theatre London Nigerian War argued for a cease fire and became a political prisoner 1967 1969 Death and the King s Horseman 1975 76 very specific to Yoruba people with First African to win the Nobel Prize for Literautre European styles uses a Yoruba tradition to write the story colonists would put King s Horsemen in jail so they couldn t fulfill the ritual NGUGI WA THIONG O Kenya Black Hermit first full length play by an East African Kamiriithu Community Educational and Culture Center at Limuru 1976 community requested it Ngaahika Ndeenda I ll marry When I Want 1977 o Government Response Thiong o was arrested and the play shut down when released he wrote another play and more harshly wrote about the government the community center was destroyed so the people rallied for a true people s theater o Betrayal by Kenyan people who aligned themselves with Kenyan government the play Political Exile What conditions did African American theatre emerge from What was early African American theatre like An African American Theatre An Ongoing Debate What form should it take What function should it serve Whose theatre is it The Destruction of History 1619 First African slave arrives in Virginia Slavery was economically based Abolition affected laws and morality South got grumpy Underground Railroad a pathway for the slaves to escape 1861 1865 The Civil War 1863 Emancipation Proclamation 1850 2nd Fugitive Slave Act a crime to aid a slave trying to escape o Come out in music and storytelling and dance bring to life culture and Early African American Performance The struggle to remember community left behind in Africa Integration of African and American cultures o Slave owners tried to take away their heritage o Religion tried to convert slaves to Christianity o Resistance o Slavery and Oppression Early Landmarks in African American Theatre African Grove Theatre 1821 1823 o Owned and acted in by African Americans Uncle Tom s Cabin 1852 the play o By George Aikin o Based on the novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe o Melodrama Minstrel shows 1830s early 1900s o Blacking up o White people playing African American stereotypes How did African American theatre evolve through the twentieth century Until art of the black folk compels recognition they will not be rated as human W E B DuBois 1926 According to WEB DuBois The plays of a real Negro theatre must be 1 About us 2 By us 3 For us 4 Near us REMEMBER THIS There was a great social revolution underway the plays of protest the plays of social meaning and this was the kind of theater we were trying to develop Lofton Mitchell Lorraine Hansberry 1930 1965 very MLK Jr approach African American writer and activist A Raisin in the Sun 1959 When it opened it was received well NY Times It changed the face of Broadway First African American playwright to win Drama Critics Circle Award Cast