This crowning collection brings together seven of Bole Butake's finest plays since 1984, namely: Dance of the Vampires; Family Saga; Lake God; Betrothal Without Libation; And Palm Wine Will Flow; The Rape of Michelle; and Shoes. More than an academic, Butake has distinguished himself as a playwright, unearthing and foregrounding the ills, travails and predicaments of a land and people trapped by the blood-dripping impunities of vampires in power. In his rich repertoire of over ten plays, Butake takes sides with the downtrodden, the wretched of the earth, the deprived and the underdogs. His jabs and jibes, aimed at the rulers, are scathing, at times vitriolic. He has excelled at a stubborn determination to ignore the sinecures, lure and allure of power without responsibility.

Directors and collaborators assess and comment on the production of plays by West Africa's Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka and East Africa's most influential author Ngugi wa Thiong'o. Wole Soyinka and Ngugi wa Thiong'o are the pre-eminent playwrights of West and East Africa respectively and their work has been hugely influential across the continent. This volume features directors' experiences of recent productions of their plays, the voices of actors and collaborators who have worked with the playwrights, and also provides a digest of their theatrical output. Contributors provide new readings of Ngugi and Soyinka's classic texts, and astimulating new approach for students of English, Theatre and African studies. The playscript for this volume is a previously unpublished radio play by Wole Soyinka entitled A Rain of Stones, first broadcast onBBC Radio 4 in 2002. Volume Editors: MARTIN BANHAM & FEMI OSOFISAN Guest Editor: KIMANI NJOGU 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

Seven vampiric temptresses dance with seven handsome highlanders. Then they turn on the men. Sorcha’s six sisters vanish with the light of dawn, leaving her trapped by Ian in the mortal realm. Murdina, goes hunting for a man, but this time she wants love not blood. She spots Cameron just as a strong wind lifts his kilt. Sorcha takes a good look and decides he's the one. The same night Sorcha was left behind on earth, Ever danced with Calin. And, he’s fantasized about her ever since. When they meet again he waste no time in claiming and capturing Ever. Angus was nearly killed by Charlak when she tried to free Sorcha. A year later Angus comes upon Charlak again. Despite the danger, he has to have one waltz with her. In a passionate embrace, Charlak and Angus dance across a field of heather. An insatiable hunger rises in her and it isn't for his blood. Mordak spots Tor, and wants more from him than his blood. She burns for his touch, but before she can enchant Tor, three Valkyrie land in front of him. Mordak is not about to let the Norse blondes fly off with her man. Finally, the last two of the dancing vampire sisters, Foomna and Afric, shimmy and strut their way into belly dancing at a Scottish Steampunk Con. It's all sizzle and steam when they get together with a sexy rock guitarist and a hot looking god at the con.

This crowning collection brings together seven of Bole Butakes finest plays since 1984, namely: Dance of the Vampires; Family Saga; Lake God; Betrothal Without Libation; And Palm Wine Will Flow; The Rape of Michelle; and Shoes. More than an academic, Butake has distinguished himself as a playwright, unearthing and foregrounding the ills, travails and predicaments of a land and people trapped by the blood-dripping impunities of vampires in power. In his rich repertoire of over ten plays, Butake takes sides with the downtrodden, the wretched of the earth, the deprived and the underdogs. His jabs and jibes, aimed at the rulers, are scathing, at times vitriolic. He has excelled at a stubborn determination to ignore the sinecures, lure and allure of power without responsibility.

New York City's Broadway district is by far the most prestigious and lucrative venue for American performers, playwrights, entertainers and technicians. While there are many reference works and critical studies of selected Broadway plays or musicals and even more works about the highlights of the American theater, this is the first single-volume book to cover all of the activities on Broadway between 1919 and 2007. More than 14,000 productions are briefly described, including hundreds of plays, musicals, revivals, and specialty programs. Entries include famous and forgotten works, designed to give a complete picture of Broadway's history and development, its evolution since the early twentieth century, and its rise to unparalleled prominence in the world of American theater. The productions are identified in terms of plot, cast, personnel, critical reaction, and significance in the history of New York theater and culture. In addition to a chronological list of all Broadway productions between 1919 and 2007, the book also includes approximately 600 important productions performed on Broadway before 1919.

This second annual volume in the African Theatre series focuses on the intersection of politics and theatre in Africa today. Topics include the remarkable collaboration between Horse and Bamboo, a puppet theatre company based in the United Kingdom, and Nigerian playwright Sam Ukala that was inspired by the infamous execution of Nigerian playwright Ken Saro-Wiwa and other Ogoni activists; the plays of Femi Osofisan; and plays by Ghanaian playwrights Joe de Graft and Mohammed Ben-Abdallah. African Theatre features the work of Mauritian playwright Dev Virahsawmy and includes an interview with him, reviews of an English production of his play, Toufann, as well as the translated playscript. Reports of workshops and conferences, reviews, and news of the year in African theatre make this volume a valuable resource for anyone interested in current issues in African drama and performance.

In 2009, Anglophone Cameroon literature celebrated its fifty years of existence. Now at the mature age of fifty plus this literature has a great deal to write home about even if it still has a lot to do in its pursuit of excellence. Part of its maturity resides in the fact that although the scale of literary creativity and literary criticism is skewed in favour of the former, Anglophone Cameroon literary criticism is gradually waking up from slumber in an attempt to catch up with the rapidly expanding creativity. The essays in this book comment practically on some aspects of all the genres of written literature that the Anglophone Cameroon creative writers have produced so far: the novel, drama, poetry, the short story, the essay and childrens literature. The essays, on the whole, are a testimony of the transition and reality from the apparent drought of Anglophone Cameroon literary paucity to the actual fruitful period of Anglophone Cameroon abundance of literary creativity. The Anglophone Cameroonians have appropriated an imperial language, English, to serve their postcolonial Cameroonian vision. Their various literary texts are vehicles of representations that are essentially cultural and ideological constructs. The works examined are initially anchored on Cameroonian experiences to take on social significance. As they are grounded on moving human experiences, these works necessarily make references to the immediate Cameroonian environment of their authors before taking on universal human significance. The book abundantly evidences and crowns Shadrach Ambanasoms achievements and reputation as a skilled pedagogue on the art of practical literary criticism.