Literature in English

Unit 10: Periods of African drama

We can identify African drama at three levels:

1. Traditional drama

2. Drama during colonialism

3. Drama after colonialism

Pre-colonial period

Traditional African drama is the drama that existed during pre-colonial times. This is drama which had its roots in oral traditions. It was about traditional rituals of religious festivals and other ceremonial activities. These included births, initiation, marriage and death. Also, there were cultural activities for changes in seasons, for instance, prayers for rain.

Activity 1

On you own, research songs and chants that were perfomed in Rwandan traditional community:

     a) When a child was born.

     b) during initiation and marriage

  Pre-colonial drama taught morals. Children were taught to have good manners. This was done by showing how bad characters suffered in stories. There was also concentration on the gods and ancestors. The power of the gods was demonstrated through their anger and punishment of humans who erred.  

   We can identify three types of drama in the traditional African drama, namely, storytelling, comedies and masquerades.

    It was common for the storyteller to begin a song in the course of the narration. One of the characters whom the storyteller would represent often sang the song. The song would also represent the actions of one of the characters. The audience, acting as chorus, would take up this song without being asked. This way, they took part in the dramatic enactment of the story. Occasionally, the storyteller stood and moved among the audience. Most African peoples, by the oral nature of their art, lay greater stress on certain dramatic characteristics of their literature.

Activity 2

Tell your group any oral narrative that you know. If it has a song, perform it the way a character in the story would. The group can dramatise parts and any songs that the characters sing.

Comedies

The Mande-speaking peoples in the savannah areas of ex-French West Africa performed comedies. These comedies had clear plots and dialogue, as well as music. They had dancing, costumes, definite audiences, and the interaction of several human actors appearing at once in the village square that acted as a stage.

Masquerades

Masquerades are the other dramatic phenomena in African oral tradition. Masquerades were dances of masked figures of various kinds. For instance, among the Igbo of Nigeria there were the egwugwu. These were masquerades who impersonated one of the ancestral spirits of the village. They would come together in front of a village to resolve conflicts.

   These masquerades differed from one place to another. The differences were in content, purpose and pattern. However, they all included certain elements of drama and were often referred to as ‘plays’.

   Generally, there was the idea of some kind of representation by the masked figure with great emphasis on costume (especially masks) and on music and dancing.

   On the other hand, there seemed to be little or no linguistic content, though there was sometimes a basic plot. The masquerades enacted religious and magical rituals, rhythmic dances and songs.

   The ritual dramas involved the imitation of the actual phenomena. If the people for instance wanted to get rainfall, or to conquer in battle, or cause pain to their foes, they had to imitate (make a representation of) these things. They dramatised the results they desired to accomplish. These masquerades usually took place in ceremonies.

Drama in colonial Africa

This is the drama that uses the languages of former colonial masters, such as English and French.

    There are certain forms of drama in Africa that the European colonialists encouraged during their colonial rule. Drama during the colonial period runs from the time Europeans came and took over power from the tribal chiefs. It goes on until the time they gave way for independence by handing over power to African national leaders.

Drama to reinforce colonial rule

The colonialists brought their own drama with them. They made the Africans feel their drama was less important, bad or demonic. Therefore, colonial poetry and drama worked against African indigenous theatre.

   European observers had a low opinion of African drama. They went about breaking the indigenous forms of drama and poetry and set up European-like structures and outfits.  The Europeans attacked indigenous arts through:

 1. The Church (missions)

 2. The schools

 3. Professional theatres

 4. Didactic village drama

Church and mission drama

Upon arrival in Africa, many missionaries saw African traditions, cultures, practices and dramatic activities as the works of the devil. They therefore felt they had to be fought and eradicate before evangelisation could take root in the hearts of Africans.

  They devised a strategy of using drama as a way of reaching out to the ‘lost’ sheep in Africa.  This was because the missionaries were finding it hard to convert Africans by merely preaching to them and telling them to abandon their ways.
 Therefore, stories of Bible characters like David, Saul, Jesus and Samson were acted out on stage to help attract natives to the church.

  After the show, priests, pastors and missionaries would talk to them and possibly convert them.  The white missionary would also encourage the converts to take part in dramatised Christian celebrations. These included the birth, the passion and crucifixion of Jesus, the story of Nebuchadnezzar, the Garden of Eden, the prodigal son and the ascension of Jesus to heaven.  Some Africans who took part in such celebrations felt privileged to be associated with the white man. Therefore, they were easily converted through drama.

Activity 3

In groups, practise and act the story of the birth of Jesus.

Didactic drama

Didactic drama was encouraged by European settlers and colonial agricultural agencies. It was used as class demonstration exercises meant to enlighten natives on the new ways of life and farming.

   Didactic drama is a kind of drama/theatre for development. In this drama, the audience is given training or instructions through participatory performances. 

   This drama used elements of pre-colonial performing arts, such as dances, songs and narrative motifs to teach Africans new agricultural extension programmes. They also taught them the supposed importance of adherence to colonial expectations like hygiene.

Activity 4

Practise and act a scene where a headman arrests a native who does not have a toilet in his home. One of you should be a white health officer who advises the native on good health and to leave some of his ‘backward’ tendencies.

Drama, therefore, was used to show such ideals as better homes, healthier children and better plantations among the native populations.  Extension officers told natives to act in improvised plays in which concepts like the importance of building a grain store or new farming methods were acted out. 

   The hare who was the trickster hero in mythical African oral culture was depicted as the progressive farmer who embraced colonially authorised methods. On the other hand, the hyena would represent the farmer who clings to African methods of farming.  This was intended to make the alien ideas of farming seem relatively familiar to the natives. 

   This didactic drama was found particularly useful in agriculture  and other fields of colonial administration. Such fields included primary health care, savings and importance of paying tax.  The hare was presented as a law abiding native who paid his taxes on time, took his children to health care centres and saved regularly.  The hyena was presented as one who was always in conflict with the authorities over taxes. The hyena was the African who took his children to traditional herbalists, and the children eventually died. Also, he never saved any money for emergencies.