This book acts as a forum for investigating how African Theatre works and what its place is in this postmodern society. It provides the subject with a degree of detail unmatched in previous books, reflecting a new approach to the study of the performing arts in this region. The book provides an opportunity to discover contemporary material from experts, critics and artists from across the world. The contributions are in a language and style that allow them to be read either as aids to formal study or as elements of discussion to interest the general reader.

"A truly worthwhile resource in a growing field of research--the theater and drama of Africa--this volume collects ten essays about theater practice, publications, and productions; in-depth reviews of 17 books; and a new play." --Choice "... a 'must-have' for anybody interested in issues relating to theatre and development in Africa.... a pioneering effort... " --H-Net Reviews Art as a tool, weapon, or shield? This compelling issue and others are explored in this diverse collection of intriguing perspectives on African theatre in development. Also here: strategies in staging, propaganda, and mass education, and a discussion of the playwright Alemseged Tesfai's career in service to Eritrean liberation.

Africa has internal cultural resources that have positively influenced its development. Community in Motion explores the relationship between theatre and Freirian pedagogy. It underscores the urgency of refocusing development strategies on human rather than technical resources by showing how culture has traditionally played an important role in African development, and demonstrates the similarities between traditional African cultural paradigms and Freirian pedagogy. The author describes selected significant Theatre for Development programs in diverse parts of Africa and determines the extent that these programs find congruence with the teachings of Paulo Freire. Case studies of Botswana, Zambia, Nigeria, and Kenya explore in detail the ongoing work in Zimbabwe, specifically the Zimbabwe Association of Community Theatre (ZACT). ZACT's work is analyzed in the context of Freirian pedagogy in order to highlight the development of a community-based theatre operation that is national in its scope and international in its influences.

The contributions to this volume in the African Theatre series make clear that the role of women in the theatre across the continent has changed as control is mainly held by literate elites and women's traditional standing has been lost to men.