The Art of Directing in African Traditional Theatre

Abstract

The existence of the director in African traditional theatre has always been a subject of controversy amongst theatre scholars. While some scholars believe that the director exists in African traditional theatre, others, especially Euro-American theatre sympathizers, radically disagree. This belief is premised on the argument that African traditional performances do not have sufficient theatrical elements to qualify as theatre. However, this researcher supports the position that African theatre does exist, and tries to locate the place of the director in African traditional performances. Furthermore, it examines what constitutes African theatre, its advantages and disadvantages, and goes on to examine the directorial aesthetics and implications of directing on the African stage, as this would provide directors who want to direct or reinvent African traditional performances with the necessary information and guide they need. The study employs the case study and content analysis research approaches of the qualitative research method to realize set objectives. This researcher observed that studies on the art of directing in African traditional theatre are few, and therefore calls for more studies to be carried out in this area to fill the knowledge gap.

Keywords: Directing, African Traditional Theatre, Stage, Fluidity, Arena Staging