Roots in African drama and theatre

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Periodical article

Title:	Roots in African drama and theatre
Author:	Graft, J.C. de
Year:	1976
Periodical:	African Literature Today
Issue:	8
Pages:	1-25
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Subsaharan Africa
Subjects:	folk drama theatre
Abstract:	Dramatic art develops and flowers best in those communities where the following conditions prevail a world view which predisposes people to ritual practices requiring a strong elament of role-playing; an inclination to narrative expressions, bases on the community's own history and legends, myths and folklore; a strong feeling for social solidarity which fosters any embryonic form of drama as an expression of the community's ethos and as a means of further strengthening its sense of cohesion and identity; a system of 'notation' through which dramatic creations can be communcated to wider audiences and conserved for future generations; and freedom or protection from traumatic historical experiences. The author examines the development of African dramatic art in the light of these conditions, touching on magical drama (possession), ritual drama, mimetic story-telling, the Ghanaian Concert Part, the Nigerian Folk Opera, and the emerging modern African theatre. This latest form is threatened by three destructive forces: excessive rationalism, the tendency to reduce all drama to the level of more entertainment, and commercialism. Notes.