Author Description

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 Table of Contents 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 - C