Traditional African Drama And Theatre

Ever wondered how the African Drama started or tried tracing the origins and what prompted its

creation? Well, this article will attempt to address how traditional African Drama And Theatre

Started

At the end of this article, you should have an understanding of how African Drama and theatre

started and its impacts on the Modern African Drama And Theatre.

Traditional African Drama: Its Origin

The origin of Traditional African Drama isn’t different from the origin of Greek or European

Drama. According to Aristotle in his poetics; “the origin of Greek Drama is traced to the

communal celebration of Dionysus which gave place to formal acting.”

In Africa, during the pre-colonial era, societies celebrated agricultural seasons, rites and festivals

with songs and dramas. When warriors came victorious from battles, they had to tell of each

strategy used to defeat the opponent by acting it in a communal gathering.

Sometimes, the griots choose stories of a mythological or historical character to entertain the

community. Their aim was usually to influence the people’s thoughts, enlighten and provide

insights that they could use to be better at what they do.

Clapping, drums and choruses mostly accompanied the storytelling. This made it more

entertaining and created a connection between the storyteller and the audience.
Unlike the Modern African Drama which is ruled by laws of times, place and action, the

Traditional African Drama which was mostly an oral performance lasted for several nights and

the audience sat through it.

Defining Traditional African Drama

According to A.B.C Duraku: “Traditional African Drama refers to indigenous Africa performing

art forms that haven’t been corrupted by modernization over the years.”

“It can also be defined as the composition in verse, songs and presenting a story which embodies

the yearnings, experiences, and beliefs into pantomime or dialogue.”

The four main types are known widely include:

 Comedy

 Tragedy

 Tragic- comedy

 Melodrama

The Influence Of Colonialism In Traditional African Drama

According to Ngugi Wa Thiongo, “Drama has origins in human struggles with nature and others;

there were rituals and ceremonies to celebrate and mark birth circumcision, responsibility,

marriages and the burial of the dead.”

Further, he accuses the British regime stating that it was British colonization which destroyed that

tradition of African drama initially by imposing license for any gathering of native Africans.

When the British regime came to Africa, they brought ideas, religion, education, business

transaction and a standard way of living. These influenced the mindset and lifestyle of every
African. They used the experiences and knowledge learnt from the former to restructure the

African Dramatization and use it as a means of seeking the truth and fighting for our rights.

Notable playwrights like Athol Fugard features the policy of apartheid discrimination in his play-

‘Sizwe Banzi Is Dead’ to satire the level of segregation in South Africa. Another play, ‘I Will

Marry When I Want’ by Ngugi Wa covers the themes of class struggle, poverty, gender and

culture.

After most African countries gained independence, there was a rise of post-colonialism

playwrights who focused more on African values, morals and beliefs.

Examples of Post Colonial Playwrights and their dramas are:

 Bode Sowonde: Afamako- The Workhorse

 Wole Soyinka: The Lion And The Jewel

 Ama Ata Aidoo: The Dilemma Of A Ghost

 Ola Rotimi: The Gods Aren’t To Blame

 Femi Osofisan: The Chatterings And The Song

Elements Of Traditional African Drama

Elements of tradition African drama include:

 Songs And Dances

 Proverbs, Idioms And Other Aspect Of Language

 History And Myth

 Agricultural Festivals And Rites

 Masquerades And Masks

Now that we have an understanding of Traditional African Drama let’s delve into Theatre, the

stage where the plays are performed.

An Overview Of The Traditional African Theatre

The Traditional African Theatre just like the Greek Theatre is a creation of man’s social and

historic experiences, thoughts and ideologies that attempt to define and describe the connection

between man, the gods and the environment.

It is an expression of the people, various institutions, experiences, beliefs and values system of the

communal society with emphasis on myths, rites and folk celebrations. The early modes of the

theatre were storytelling, dance and rituals, they were quite different from the theatre but each

included the same basic elements:

 Performance Spaces.

 Performers

 Audience

 Some Form of Script.

Types Of Traditional African Theatres

Musical and Dramatic theatre was the first to be introduced to different parts of the continent.

They had mythological characters that delivered social commentary in opera and satire. Then it

evolved into the Post Colonial Theatre whose aim was basically to criticize colonialism,

segregation, corruption, and newly independent authorities, and write on the themes of slavery

and societal vices.

The powerhouses of the Post Colonial Theatre were Ghana (Party Or Golden Theatre) And

Nigeria (Yoruba Opera Concert) which developed a sort of opera, satirical, musical and travelling
theatre. Some renowned figures known as the founding fathers of Traveling Theatres in Nigeria

include: Hubert Ogunde, Kola Ogunmola, Duro Ladipo, and Moses Olaiya.

During this period, some playwrights started writing plays that would be performed on the stage

and published in book formats. They include;

 Ama Ata Aidoo (Ghana): Anwa And The Dilemma Of A Ghost.

 Wole Soyinka (Nigeria): Death And The King’s Horseman.

 Femi Osofisan (Nigeria): Once Upon Four Robbers.

Through their plays bore the mark of the western style, they included the basic elements of the

early African theatre: performances, trickster characters, audience and languages into their plays.

LECTURE NOTES
(African Traditional Theatre)

Culled from the MA Thesis Drama as Prophecy: Nigeria’s 2007 Elections in Soyinka’s
Beatification of the Area Boy and Femi Osofisan’s Aringindin and the Night Watchmen By Uzoji,
Emmanuel (Oct. 2008)

Overview of Early Dramatic Traditions in Africa

No date can be given to the very beginning of drama in Africa but recent studies have

revealed that dramatic traditions across Africa are traceable to pre-colonial times. Yemi Ogunbiyi

in his critical profile of African theatre and drama says the primitive root of African robust

theatrical tradition must be sought in the numerous religious rituals and festivals that exist in

many African communities. African theatre and drama originated with the African, embodying

his first struggles, his first preoccupations, his first successes, setbacks and all.7

These further explained that with time, man’s acquired knowledge of his environment

sharpened his awareness about nature. In his desire to ensure the steady flow of food as a

permanent victory over his numerous adversaries, he soon learnt that he could achieve his desires

by dancing and acting them out in the form of rites. These rites were subsequently idealized by
the myths, stories, tales, songs and proverbs, which further expressed the wish for a bountiful

production and the experience of man’s mastery over nature. With the regularity of performance

dictated by need, these rites became ritualized. And with greater awareness, these rites (now

rituals), were modified and altered, such that it became possible with time to isolate the myths,

which have developed around the rituals and to act them out as traditional drama of some sort.

This forms the metamorphosis of the African dramatic traditions with its ritual origin

forming the bedrock of what is now called the Modern African drama. African drama hence, can

be defined as the “totality of all performances or re-enactments before an audience or spectators

that are based on African traditions, customs, religion and other social events.” 8 Oyin Ogunba

sees the African theatre and drama as an art nurtured in the African soil over centuries of time and

which has since then developed distinctive features.9 What this implies is that the African theatre

and drama takes a different nomenclature in both content and form. It is an art of Africa, by

Africans and about Africans – it is about our lived and shared experiences. It is about who we are,

where we are coming from, what we believe and where we are going. Soyinka calls it “Ritual

theatre” which;

…establishes the Spatial medium not merely as a physical area

for simulated events but as a manageable contraction of the
cosmic envelope within which man –no matter how deeply
buried such a consciousness has latterly become – fearfully
exists.10

The true African drama depicts the African cosmology and the African worldview. Such is

the early tradition of African drama – a representation of man in combat with seemingly ‘dark’

forces which Soyinka also calls, “chthonic realms.”

The drama would be non-existent except within and against

this symbolic representation of earth and cosmos, except
within this communal compact whose choric essence supplies
the collective energy for the challenger of chthonic realms.11

The Yoruba traditional theatre emerged from three developmental phases, ritual, festival

and theatre. Adedeji argues that this process shows the treatment and use of the masquerade for
both ritual and secular occasions.12 This particular theatrical tradition has developed into what is

now called the Alarinjo – the first professional travelling theatre among the Yorubas. Ogunbiyi

categorized Nigerian traditional drama into three broad categories – Dramatic ritual, the popular

tradition and Yoruba Travelling theatre. Dramatic ritual he said will include traditional festivals,

whether they are held in celebration of cult or ancestral heroes, ritual ceremonies (where drama is

patiently discernable), serious masquerade plays, etc.13 The popular tradition refers to art intended

to be popular, art that is commonly approved and widely enjoyed by the “common” people in an

ever-growing urban culture. In this kind of art, all that a performer needs is not necessarily a text

but a place, a time, an audience and himself. The spontaneity of this performance clearly

distinguishes it from European forms of drama, its major trait being the expression of physical

pleasure and joy. Examples of this kind of drama include the Annang drama of the Ibibio, Yoruba

Alarinjo theatre, kwagh-hir, Borno Puppet shows, and the Hausa comical art of Yankamanci.

One of the basic attributes of early dramatic traditions in Africa is no doubt the

extensive, meticulous and elaborate preparations before a performance is staged. J.C. Messenger’s

study of Ibibio drama reveals a detailed preparation spanning a six-year cycle.

Rehearsals take place in the square for several hours during the
afternoon on a specific day of each eight-day week for forty-six
weeks of every year or six years, and performances are given
publicly during the dry season of the seventh… During the six-
years of rehearsals a complete seven-hour routine was worked out
and mastered to perfection by the Ikot-Obong players.14

Such elaborate preparations are also quite reminiscent of other theatrical traditions cutting

across the various ethnic groups in Nigeria. Examples include the Bornu Puppet play and the

Bori.