This book explores the themes of colonial encounters and postcolonial contests over identity, power and culture through the prism of theatre. The author examines the work of prominent Nigerian and British playwrights who came of age after the passing of the British Empire.
Author(s): Awam Amkpa
Edition: 1
Year: 2003
Language: English
Pages: 224
Book Cover......Page 1
Title......Page 4
Contents......Page 5
List of illustrations......Page 10
Foreword by Ngg wa Thiong'o......Page 12
Acknowledgments......Page 14
Introduction: from colonial modernity to postcolonial desires: oppositional theatre in Nigeria and England......Page 16
Nigeria......Page 34
Wole Soyinka: theatre, mythology, and political activism......Page 36
Femi Osofisan: theatre, nation, and the revolutionary ideal......Page 61
Tess Onwueme: theatre, gender, and power......Page 77
The Yoruba Traveling Theatres: popular theatre and desires for postcolonial subjectivity......Page 91
Theatre, democracy, and community development: Ahmadu Bello University and the Nigerian Popular Theatre Alliance......Page 109
England......Page 128
John Arden: dramatizing the colonial nation......Page 130
David Edgar: the nation's theatre and its anticolonial scribe......Page 142
Caryl Churchill: decolonizing the nation through gender and class......Page 159
Monstrosities, deviants, and darkies: Monstrous Regiment, Gay Sweatshop, and black theatre......Page 176
Conclusion......Page 198
Notes......Page 203
Index......Page 216
