University of Nigeria Research Publications

ABADUAH, Stanley Chikadibia

Aut

hor

PG/MA/02/33465

Title

Afromoon Theatre: A Conceptualization of

Modern African Theatre

Facu

lty

Arts

Dep

artm

ent

Theatre Art

Dat

e February, 2005

Sign

atur

e

1'ITLE PAGE

AFRC 1M9ON THEATRE: A TONCEPTUALI; CdF Nib DERRN AFRICAN THEATRE

A PROJECT SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE ARTS, U N I V ~ S I T Y OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA

ABADUAH CHKADIBIA STANLEY PG/MA/02/334tS

IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF N~ASTER OF ARTS (M.A.) DEGREE IN THEATRE I

ARTS. \

FEBRUARY, 2005

/'

This is to certify that Abai!ri.i4, 'hikadibia Stanley, a postgraduate student of

Theatre Arts, wiirr I :gis!:.~f;>bi: number PGlMA102/33465, has satisfactorily

completed the requirements for !!re course work and project for the degree of I

Master of Arts (M.A.) in Theatre Arts. *

This project is oriyhal, and has not been submitted in part or in full for any

other degree of this or any other university.

--- Supervisor

Prof. Onuora Ossie Enekwe

- .-~-.- .- . Head of Department

Prof. Emeka Nwabueze

External Examiner Prof'. Saint E.T. Gbelekaa

APPROVAL PAGE /

This project work. of Abaduah, Chikadibia Staliluy, registration number

PGlMAl02133465, is approved. $

prof. Oiuora Ossie Enekwe Project supervisor

Prof. Emeka Nwabueze Head,- Department of Theatre Arts

University of Nigeria Nsukka

Prof. Saint E.T Gbelekaa . External Examiner

Abba father, the creator and maker of Heaveh and earth. The mighty man

in battle, take honour and Glory 111 Jesus Christ name Amen. Also, this work is in

memory of my Late father, Abaduah M.C.A., the Academic light of the

Abaduah's family.

This work is made possible through intensive st~dyiiig and ac:ldenlic

experience gained a, Enekwe ~esearch Centre. My warmest thanks go to my

theatre scholar, Proicsso~ t w o r a Ossie Enekwe who stood in for me as a father,

academic adviser and project supervisor for guiding me to the paths of acagemic

' wisdom. -

Also, I thank my theatre mentor, professor E W a Nwabueze, the

hardworking Head of Department of Theatre Arts, for his time spent on imparting

academic knowledge to me.

My regards go to MI-. Dorn Asbnba, the amiable and prolc=ssionally trained

.technical director for h ~ s teclmical assistance towards realizing this work.

I am very grateful to my understanding mother, Mrs. Abaduah.Grace and

my brother, Abaduah,Ennnanuel for their support and love. Also, all my other

brothers and sisters, I thank you all for understanding my academic aspirations.

My humb1e regards goes to ;ny big uncle, Sir John Abaduah, Chief Dr.

B. U. Abaduah and his wifc, Chiel' Justice T.O. Orji-Abacluali 1i)r heir lovc and

support .

I extend my gratitude to my friends, Mr. .Nnanna ~dubu ; s i and Mr. \

Unamba-Opara Nkerngemeri for their proofreading of the manuscript, and for

offering usefill suggestions.

I saluie all the teaching and wn-teaching staff of the Department of Theatre

arts, U.N.N. lor their support a d co-operation. Also, my warmest thanks go to

Miss Rita Odimba, for typesetting the work. I thank Mrs. charity Nwabuisi for

her prayers and help ill times of need.

Finally, I thank all the students of Theatre Arts Department, more

especially, Mr. Ozoko Ugochukwu, ATAS President, U. N. N, and other Thespians

all over the African continent.

v i ABSTRACT

The Afromoon Theatre is an indigenous African Theatre that is highly

functional and relevmt to the Afri,.m community unlike the western aestheticized

and dialogue oriented form of theatre. Afromoon Theatre strives to present a

theatre that will serve as an instrument of change and redirection ro the African

Theatre practice in this contemporary African States.

Afromoon theatrc projects the African's tradition of public performance that

are visual, visible which share a c ~ n m u n a i experience in whicl~ the Afromoon

audience are inmersed in a rli~:.~ll-ical specti~cl(;enactecl live hcfi)rc thc Afi-o~llooll

audience.

The Afromoon theatre embraces almost all the relevant art forms that can

be found in Africa like music, dance songs,' mime, pantomime, rituals, rites, rich

costumes, special Afrolnoon stage, masquerading, storytelling and theatrical

spectacles. That is why it is known as Theatre of the Mricans by the Africans for

the Africans.

vii PREb' ACE

Afronmon theatre is an ulr ;mate call and strives for the rediscovery of the

African theatrical dignity and pride. It is a clarion call for thorough revival of

suppressed creative and entertaining aspects of African's theatrical tradition and

4

culture. Afronloon thear re is ascribed to the Africans all over the world for i t is

our culture and life presented live to an African audience.

This project work is divided into six main chapters. Chapter one is an

introduction, which gives vital information on the objective of study, scope of

study, research methodology used and the theoretical framework of the research,

Also, literature review is trcated in this chapter,

The second chapter deals extensively with the origin of traditional African

drama and theatre, evolution of ruoderu African drama and theatre. Also, the

concept of Afromoon theatre, its philosophy, concept of language and culture were

discussed here.

The Third chapter deals with the conceptualization of Afromoon Theatre

practice in relation to the playwright, actor. director, choreographer and the I i-

audience. \

The fourth chapter is concerned with the Afromoon designers which

canprises the stage, designer's chart, technical director, costumier, make-up artist,

lighting designer, set de~igner~sour~d designer, and property designer.

The fifth chapter is devoted entirely to quintessential Afromoon theatre and

their roles, which discusses ritual, dance, music and songs, narrator1 storyteller,

masquerades, stage manager and other crew members. 0

The sixth chapter is the st gestions and conclusion. Also, the works cited

is included in this last chapter.

'SABLE OF CONTENT

TITLE PAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I

CERTIFICATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. ' . . 1 I

APPROVAL PAGE . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . ii(a) DEDICATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv THESIS ABSTRACT . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . vi PKEFACE .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii TABLE OF CONTENT . . . . . . . . . . , . ix

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Objective of Study . . . . . , . . . . , . 2 1 .2 Scope of Study . . . . . . . . . 3 1.3 Research Methodology . . . . . . . , . . 3 1.4 Theoretical Framework . . . . . . . . . . 4 1.5 Litclmtr . Review $ , . , ,, . , , . . . 4 1.6 Traditlorlal African Theatre . . . . ._. . . . . S 1 .7 Modcrn African Theatre . . . . . . . . . . 9

CHAPTER TWO: ORIGIN OF DRAMA AND THEATRE 2.1 Origin of Traditional African Drama and Theatre.. . . 13 2.2 The Conceptualization of Afromoon Theatre . . . . 16 2.3 The Theatrical Philosophy of Afromoon Theatre .. . . 18 2.4 The Concept of Language in Afromooll Theatre . . . . 21 2.5 The Concept of Culture in Afromoon Theatre . . . . 25

d

CHAPTER THREE: CONCEPTUALIZATION OF AFROMOON THEATRE i 1

28 3.1 The Playwri~ht I . . . . . . . . . . . .

3.2 The Actor . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 \ 3.3 The Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 3.4 . The Choreographer . . . . . . . . . . 43 3.5 TheAudience.. . . . . . . . . . . . , . 46

CHAPTER FOIJR: AFROMOON DESIGNERS 4.1 The Stage , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 4.2 The Designer's Chart . . . . . . . . . . 5 7

xii

4.3 The Technical Director . . . . . . . . 58 4.4 The Costunlier . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 4.5 The Make-up Artist . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 4.6 The Lighting Designer . . . . . . . . . . 67 4.7 The Set Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 4.8 The Sound Designer . . . . . . . , # . . . 77 a

. . . . . 4.8 The Psoperty Designer .. . . . . 82

CHAPTER FIVE: QUINTESSENTIAL Pi,m.nlvlnm TEEATRE XOLES 5.1 Ritual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 5.2 Dance .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 5.3 Music and Songs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 5.4 Narratol /Storyteller .. . . . . . . . . . . 98 5.5 Masquerades . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 101 5.6 Stage Manager and other Crew Members . . . . .. 105

CIJAPTI;,R SIX: SUGGFSTIONS ANI) CONCLUSION 6.1 Suggestions .... . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 6.2 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Works cited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

CHAP'i ER ONE

The conceptualization of modern African Theatre is an expression of

serious need for the preservation and identification af the African theatre. The ,

Western scholars regard us as a continent without an authentic modern theatre

practice.

Some African theatre scholars tend to support this view. It is most

annoying to note that with all our natural.' cultural and historical endowment,

we (Africans) cannot boasi U: a truly indigenous African modkrn theatre. The

need for th1s unification gave rise to this research work, which strives to present

a modern African Theatre known as Afromoon Theatre.

It is the theatre of the African!;, for the Africans by the Africans. This

study is also rnotivated by Chinweizu who states that:

African reconstl .lction can be accomplished only in a mood of adventurous experimentation ... A sense of adventure, in which we eagerly look out

w for, and then explore and exploit new possibilities, would serve us fir better than a siege mentality which leads us to fear exploration, and to dig ourselves into unviable trenches (1987: 89).

This study is an exp!oration, a serious search for the true authentic modern

African theatre. The Aii-omoon Theatre is deeply rooted in the African soil. It

ir garnished with an ~ ~ ~ a d ~ l t c r i \ f ~ " African culture, with strong theatrical

feelings and aspiration. It is a theatre groomed and rlurtured in African culture

arrci theatrical practices ol the Africans. Fagbenle Tunde sees the need for a

truly African culture as bedrock of our modern African theatre, and with this, @

he asserts that:

Truth is, we can not be great as a people, with our own authentic values- be it religion, moral, art, or science without rediscovering and embracing our own native language and culture (2000:9)*

This genuine search for an authentic modern African theatre, which

rnetarnorphosed into Afromoon theatre, is the theatre for the total rebirth, rapid

growth and global maturity of the modern African theatre devoid of western, #

disorientated theatrical values. For the purpose of this research, theatre will be

P synonymous with drama.

1.1 Objective of Study

The objectives of this study are quite numerous. It strives to unite and

articulate an authentic, rnodern African Theatre. Also, it touches on the

concepts, evolution and practice of the-contemporary African theatre. It will

serve as a mirror that reveals all the Afi-i~an cultural and tl~catrical practices

from the pre-colonial tb the colonial and post-colonial African theatre. Again,

3 it will stand to defend the African theatrical identity. Furthermore, it will serve

as a means of re-orientation of African theatre practitioners' back to their

' Theatrical roots. Also, this research will not ignore the effects of global

rl,odernism on the creatil conscious~iess of the fro moon theatre.

.2 Scope of Study

The researcher will in this work examine a wide range of theatrical

ibsues relating to the concept, origin and practice of traditional and modern

African theatre. Special attention will be given to the nature and style of

traditional and modern African theatres that can be found in the contilwnt of

Africa.

Our main practical and critical conceptualization of the New Modern

African Theatre, which the Afromaon Theatre epitomizes in practice, will be

revealed. The ideologies, philosophy and cultural motives of this

conceptualization will be dealt with extensively. This conceptualization will

embrace and fuse relevant theatrical performances that can be found in the

traditional and modern African theatre.

The research methodology or style that is used by a researcher is

determined by the nature of that research. This research will make use of -

4 cr~rical and historical methods of data collection, authentic interpretation, and

appropriate application of data collected.

The library, the house of knowledge, which stores facts in archives, and-

valuable recent documents, relating to the research topic, will be put to 1

maximum USL with the aim of o b t a i h g authentic information for this study.

The Modern Language Associatiorf (MLA) parenthetical method of

documentation, which is the recent approved style of acknowledgen~ent of

sources of information in the humanities, will be used.

1.4 Theoretical' Framework

The t he ore tical framework of this i ,:arch involves a systematic study

of critical investigations on the conceptualization of the modern African theatre.

Though it is more of a practical adventure, its sense of focus is the practical

theatrical approach, which is its frame oS reference.

1.5 Literature Review

This literature review will be divided into two broad parts to enable us

examine scholarly works on both traditional and modern African theatrical

practices. The first part will look at Traditional African theatre while the second I

part will examine Modern African Theatre.

l.6. ' Traditio~aal African Theatre

A lot of' scholars, both A~I-icans and non-Africans, have in their own

9

assessment and criticism of African tritditional theatre, tried to suggest what

African traditional theatre should be. It is pertinent to note here, that most of

the works of some western scholars are based on logocentricism. Their

assertions on traditional African theatre are bereaved of total knowledge of the

theatrical culture and beliefs of the Africans. Then, what is ~ratlitional African

Theatre? A.B.C. Dul*i,.iku asserts [hat:

Traditional African d r a m rekrs to indigenous African performing art forms that have not been corrupted by modernisation over the years. They . include those found in festivals which combine dances, songs, music, chants, speech/dialogue, spectacle, etc. The other instances are those that spring from religious rituals, comcdies, storytelling, etc (1997: 16).

Duruaku sees traditional Africaq theatre as a performing art that has not been

corrupted by 'modernisation. It is explicit to. note that Traditional African theatre

is a combination of so many art forms like ritual displays, celebration of

festivals, dance, mime, storytelling, pantomime and other mimetic ceremonial

practices. Kalu Uka opines that traditional drama ,is the sum total of the doings

6 of peoples before written records were -kept (1973: 11). It is pertinent here to

n.ote that traditional African theatre comprises all the theatrical practices,

ranging from mimetic rdigious rrtual displays, music, dance, mime,

masquerading, and other mimetic celebrative festivals and rites. There is one I

theatrical display that is very common among the traditional African people,

and that is masquerading.

It is connected with ritual performances that can be found in most

traditional African masquerade festivalq, Adedc; !n Ogundeji sees masquerading

as:

... A cult of the ancestors. During the festivals, mash of the dead fathers are brought out using theavical effects as a meails 'of rifual cclelmtion (2000:4-5).

These masquerade ritual performances are the nucleus in which traditional -

African theatre flourishes. The dramatic aspects of these masquerade

performances are limited, in terms of speech or dialogue that is most prominent

in western oriented drama. Though there are special forms of dialogue that can

\ be Sound in Ihe traditional African thcaqe which range from drum to audience

responses, wooden gong to audience responses to question arid answer from

which also heads to statenlent i o response fhrm or call and resporlsc form. The

traditional Alrican theatre is more communal and functional than the We

theatre form. It strives to represent and identify with the aspirations and

of the African community;

Chike Aniakor buttresst.:, this fact, by qsserting that:

7 . tern

ives

... the concept of w a L h a 1 African theatre as a coinmunal experience, a spectacle, of both play and laughter and of the gods returning as guests every two or three years (2001 :63).

The traditional African Theatre is a central balance and restoration of the

communal beliefs and aspirations of the conmunity involved. As Kennedy Scott

observes:

African theatre address i t d f to an African way of life, stemming from its own unique traditions. It is addressed to African peopoles, to African themes, to African moods, to African expression (1973:38).

He furlher opines that African theatre is a "cultural, traditional experience.. .

usually related to the traditional rituals, culture, and art forms of the people'' 1

i (38). (,

Enekwe throws more light on the dramatic components of traditional

African theatre by stating that:

... ., nditional Afrscan and Asian dramas are partlcipativc and celebrativc. It is total, because it combines many art forms, music, poetry, d ~ n c e , actilk,,, miming, mask, painting, singing, dialogue, etc; hence, speech is not dominant as in the mainstream European theatre (1 98 1 : 154).

Traditional African theatre is termed to be total theatre in

presentation and content. J.N. Amankulor comments on its total

nature by asserting that:

... Is practised as total theatre, which means that the other traditional arts are fused within its practical form. A catalogue of these arts includes inasks, body costunies, and decorations, the verbal arts, music, song, dance, acting and warfare. They blend these artsa into the single art of drama produces pattern of performances as well as conventions which set traditional African drama apart from dramatic practice of their world cultures (1981 :37).

Although most western and some African scholars tend to describe the African

traditional theatre as being primitive and ritualistic in presentation, because of

its limitation of literary scope, unlike western drama, so they wish to disregard

it as drama. They see it as off-shoots bf ,drama. Scholars like Finnegan,

us Echeruo and De Graft* it,quasi-dramatic, pre-drama and embryonic drama.

. But prominent scholars of African theatre iike, Enekwe, Soyinka, Rotimi,

9 Adedeji and Ogunba see traditional ritual atheatre performances as functional

theatre because of its mimetic, p r e s ~ ... dona1 and entertaining qualities.

Richard Schechner settles this two school of thoughts by stating: -

Whether one calls specific performance ritual or theatre depends mostly on context and function. A performance is called theatre or ritual because of where it is performed, by whom, and under what circumstances. If the performance's purpose is to effect transformations-to be efficacious-then the

s performance is ritual. And vice versa regarding the qualities of drama which are of then is entertainment (1 977: 120).

So, Traditional African Theatre is a product of the people's beliefs, aspirations,

recreation and form'of celebration of life.

1.7 Modern African Theatre

Modern African theatre can be said to be the theatre introduced to the African

by their colonial masters, or neo-colonial theatre that flourished within Africa

and is still practised today with Western orientation and ideologies.

As Arnankulor observes:

The contemporary Nigerian (African) drama is a triumph of the western form, and that is why only persons who have been brought up to appreciate it's aesthetics can be at home with it, and to others, i t 'is either tolerate or reject as a nightmare (1980:75).

But, ~ a l u Uka sees modern African theatre:

.. . as the total corpus of contemporary attempts to create, out of the heritage from elements of traditional ' m a , artistic texts, which possess recognizable fbrir~s and structure, and which convey definite visions of the times through significant historic sensitivity toward problems, ideas, and beliefs ! ? 973: 15).

Most modern African playwrights and theatre practitioners are products of

western tutored practitioners. The inlluence of westcrn culturc in t l~c practicc

of modern African theatre slartcd wlwn tllc Eun)pc"a~~s saw Al'rica as a 'D;r~k

Continent'. And any theatrical form that comes out of Africa was regarded as

barbaric, savage and ritualistic in content. As Brockett and Hildy observes:

13ecause nfrica had little perfornlances that resenlblcd the theatrical forms they knew, Europeans, when they began to colonise Africa, were convinced that it was devoid of theatre (2003:578).

This particular indoclrination has forced most modern African theatre

practitioners to patteyn their phys and performances to suit the styles of the

11 western pr ,, f f~ t io i~z i b, hereby negating our own indigenous the?+re culture.

Enekwe opines that:

Of all Nigeria artistic forms, drama seems to be the most derivalive. Nigerian playwrights are heavily hdebted to European theatrical traditions. In most cases, when they use indigenous elements, they do so for the purpose of complementing borrowed European structures, not as foundation 4,r an authentic Nigerian drania (1985: 1 1).

These facts come to mind as Adedeji states that;

The theatre for me is a 'culture house'. It must not merely mirror the life of its people, it must suggest it and re-create it. The design of the production of each play must develop from its own universe (1979:34). -

The modern African theatre is lacking in this aspect of adopting an African

theatrical design for its productions. Enekwe also.observes that society and

history should determine the shape.that theatre takes at any time' (1987: 11).

/ The modern theatse practitioners should delve into our theatrical history and

modify our indigenous creative performances to suit the modern technological \

demands of our age, without imitating the theatrical forms of the western world.

At least, they should borrow a leaf from the Asians who modified their

indigenous theatrical practices uj their modern theatre of today without losing

touch with their traditions and culture.

As Chris Nwarnuo suggests: -

The new dimensions in African theatre should not bc seen as forcc ?cld elements tearing down thc roots of total traditional African theatre. They should be viewed as elements helping to foster the growth and development of theatre in 'Africa in a technological era (1984:34).

Enekwe buttresses this fact by also suggesting what modern African theatre

should look like:

We need a modern theatre thk has its roots in the Nigerian (African) soil and can therefore absorb foreign elements without losing its own character. We must insist that the Nigeria (African) culture be the medium within which a synthesis of values occurs so that the indigenous culture does not become a mere shadow of the European culture. Nigerian (African) dramatists must study the aesthetic habits of our people so as to create a relevant and viable theatre (1976:64).

The Afromoon Theatre is a theatrical conceptualization of both the indigenous -

traditional and modern African theatre practice. It is a serious search for an

ideological, philosophical and cuItural presentation of the African theatrical

I pride.

13 CHAPTER TWO

' THE ORIGIN dl? AFRICAN DRAMA AND THEATRE

2.1 Origin of African. Drama and Theatre

The origi~i of drama and theatre can be traced back to the creation of

man by God, \~,'hen man was created out of dust and breath of life was given to

him by God. There is an element of imitation in the'creation of man, for God

told his cohorts that they are going to create man in the image of hitti (God).

Man started imitating God's way until the woman was created out of the man's

ribs and then the real dramatic action started at the garden and the devil

deceived them and God drove them away from the garden.'

Apart from this form of s p i r i d drama that took place at the garden of

Eden, drama and theatre can be said to have evolved out of the early men's

celebration of life and their environs. As Zakhava observed; "Theatre grew out

of the festivals of the people, their social and religious celebrations and

ceremoi~ials')(l979: 187). It is pertinent to note here, that tlieatre grew out of > .

the people;'social and religious celebrations.

For better comprehension of this topic, drama as opined by David Kerr;

0

. . . refers to displays of actions to an audience, in which there is an imitation of events in the real or supernatural world (1 995: 1).

Hegoes f e i r ~ , toexpiilirn that "theaki avery wide sense nocuverdrama, e

many forms ol I mal, dance, and o l k r performing arts (1).

The ori , i t \ r d' Xirican drama and theatre can be traced back to festive, $

ritudiistic cererr~clllies in which the participants have their roles play, like in

the New Yam ftstival where the Chief Priest appeases the goti of yam for a

bountiful harvest in miinetic dance. Kofi Awooner asserts that: -

The initiation ceremony and numerous festivals and renewal rites are significant extensions of rrt ma1 d r wi. In thosi: instances, make believe becomes a reality since the participants (actors) are involved in serious hligious matters.. . (l976':7 1 !

The African religious beliefs are one of the major factors that influenced the

emercence of drama and theatre in Africa. Okpewho argues that:

One of the most rudimentary kinds of ritual drama is the kind performed in the periodic worsliip of a local divinity or a family's proitxtive god in the god's shrine (1992:262).

The African drama and theatre is an offshoot of our religious practices and

social behaviors within our community. The Africans place strong ornotional

attachments to the issue of African ritual performances because of their

15 functional roles in the communal life of the people. The ritual actors are

seriousness and skill. As Erockett and Franklin observe:

African ritual. and performance are not rigidly fixed, " f * l 'lough the function of a ritual or ceremony may be constant, in its execution there is almost always room for improvisation and adaptation (2003 :580).

Trie African indigenous theatre is highly adaptive in form and content, but when

compared to the European theatre, it is considered not to be theatre, I~ccaust:

spoken words are not thc least inipor-tant element of this composition. The

Europeans forget that the African theatre has its own unique form of language,

which communicates so vividly to the African audience. W h e ~ chants,

drumming, songs and dance are used in African theatre, it communicates more

understandably to the African audience than the spoken dialogues that are

highly emphasized in the European theatre.

Furthermore, African drama and theatre can be said to have sprang up

as Toti Lane observes; "Among the first professional actors were tribal juju

men or witch doctors" (1960: 13). The African hunters art: well known ibr their

creative display after thb ihy's hunt. Most times, after hunt, the hunters comes

16 out during the moo~~lightill;; fe-crcate and showcase their hunting skills and

how they caught the animals in a'pantomhe or mime performance. One can

easily trace the origin of A ~ I X .L. hama and theatre from these mimetic displays

of their hunts, thereby selling r!w act of imitation to the entire community. So,

African drama and theatre I:., a , unrique art that came out of the people's efforts

to master their environmerl~.

2.2 The Conceptualization of Afromoon Theatre

The Nomenclature, 'Afromoon' is a combination of words. The 'Afro'

represents all the Africans wrirlc lllc '111oon' r'cflccls clic gc~icral cclclwatio~l of

the moon by Alricans as a SO,II.CL~ 01' light and hpiration. Africans iirc s o ~nucll

in love with the powers of mot m that some African community's worship and - perform sacrifices on its behalf. Moonlighting to all Africans is a time of

communal celebration, meant to cement relationship and foster love for one

I another. Another important aspect of the Afromoon is the universal importance

of the moon to the African culture, entertainment and relaxation.

Afromoon Theatre is a serious search for an authentic modern African

theat& It js an adventure into traditional African theatrical 'practices and

performances, aimed at resuscitating the lost African indigenous theatrical

performances, brandished as 'quasi-drama' and ritual in a more refined and

modern theatrical touch.

17 Afromoon Theatre will be projected to 'reflect and defend the African

theatrical identity. The Afromoon Theatre will be staged in a presentational

style to help articulate the Africans' preference in seeing a performance as an

artistic display, without ~lcgating its functional and total nature and I

composition.

The Afromoon Theatre is a blend of relevant art forins and ~heatrical

performances that can be found in both traditional and modern African theatre.

Such art forms as dance, music, songs, storytelling , masquerades, secular

rituals, festivals, chants, pantomime, mime, improvisations, Afiican mythology

and folk tales will be given special attention in the conceptualization process.

The Afromoon Thcatre is a work of art that delves into an unrelenting

search for profound theatrical experience rcdt ing in a state of' mind disabused

of western indoctrination and neo-colonialism of intellectual imprisonmerrt,

which strives to showcase a new theatrical culture and prevailing ideologies of

an au~hentic African modern theatre devoid of western influence and control.

Afromoon theatre will strive to restore an African modern theatrical art; which

must be the carrier of African spiritual essence, which is a configuration of our

religious, social, political and intellectual knowledge of the multifaceted

cultures of the Africans.

18 The Ahvrnoon I'heatrc practitioner must be able to experience life as an

Africm ill the deepcsl 1:. t . t of his n~enlal and physical being and to be able to

grasp the very essence of this ,ifromoon theatre experience, in order to distill

what is significant and most necessary for this search for the creation of

Afromoon theatre.

Afromoon Theatre is a response to the clarion call by African scholars

to all Africans to stand up and defend our identity and culture. It is a response

to the call for total liberation and decolonisation of our minds by our neo-

colonial nlitstcrs.

2.3 The Theatrical Philosophy of Afromoon Theatre

The Theatrical philosophy of Afromoon Theatre will not be discernable

without a concise definition or explanation of the term philosophy. Philosophy

can be seen as an analytical reasoning that forms the belief system of a people

found in an identifiable cultural background and community.

/

As Jay F. Rosenberg observes; "well, it's something that people do. It's

a practice (1978:4). From Rosemberg observation, it's quite clear too that . \

philosophy is the practice of people's doings. This still point to the fact that

philosophy has to do with people's beliefs system. Now, as Africans, what are

our doings or belief systems? Africans* believed so much in their cultural

19 heritage before the coming of our colonial masters. By. the time the imperialists

left Africa, they had succce(1cd i l l

branding them as being barbaric

brought down the pride and dignity

imprisolling tllc Af~ican belief's SYSICIIIS by

and fetish. This criticism of theirs really

of the African man and this made us to look .

like people without a culture, not even Lo talk of a belief system of ours. We

have two African philosophical schools of thoughts, which have given their

thoughts on what African philosophy should be and not to be.

Bodunrin observes:

Two groups are discel-niblc. 011 h e onc hand tlicrc art: tliosc I would call ti-aditionalisls. 'rliesc philosoptlers emphasize tlie present in relatbn to the past. Their concern is the discovery of authentic African ideas and thought systems uninfluenced by alien accretions. They think that it is necessary to return to tlie origins in order to I'ind out by retracing our steps, where and why things went wrong, and from there to build a viable and secure African social, political and philosophic life (1985:XI).

'This first school of thought, known as the traditionalists are tmly out to find a

lasting solution to the issue of African identify and philosophy, by suggesting .

going back to our roots, to enable us find solution to our present day problems

as Africans. They advocate for traditional African socio-political living

20 embedded in rnorality and religiosity in practice. Their material source is the

African folklore, myths, culture, literature (oral) and social organizations. The

second school of thought, as observed by Bodunin also:

... emphasized the present in relation to the future our peoples, (hey would argue, are crying out for development; modernization is the goal of all African governmcnts. The key to development and modernization in the contemporary world is science and technology (xi & xii).

The second school of tl~ought believes that development can only come to

Africa by embracing science and teclinology, tllcrcby li)r.gcItiug our. i~.i~Ji~ioll;~l

beliefs and history.

The second group is not really out to find a solution to the prevalent

problems of the Africans, caused by lack of African philosophy and belief

system which have been destroyed by the so called science and technology.

The Afronloon Theatrical philosophy will be based on going back to our #

root to dig out our theatrical practices and philosophies, which will be our /

guiding principle as we delve into this search for an authentic ~nodurn Aliican \ \

theatre. 'The theatrical philosophy of Afromoon Theatre must take its

philosophical roots'from African land, with its birth in all African communities

2 1 ; $ 1 its growth arid survi3,.il { I , ~ c d in the hand; of real Africans that stand for

African identity. It must ploject the feelings and theatrical aspirations of the

African audience, whici 1s theatre of the Africans, for the Africans by the

Africans.

2.4 The Concept of ',angu;, ge in Afromoon Theatre

The concept of language in Afromoon Theatre is a serious issue that

needs special attention. Language is seen as part of the cultural inheritance of

a people. The language spokm by people at their tender age is referred to as

mother tongue because they learnt it from their mother.

As Olukiran observes; ". . . language is one of the most effective unifying

forces in h e world" (2001:35). As Africans, we have a peculiar problem,

which has to do with us not having our own indigenous language, which should

be used as an official language by the Africans. We Africans abandoned our

own native languages and embraced our colonial masters' languages as our

ofticial languages. It is pertinent to note that. as Africam, we have lost one of

our best heritages that foster unity and love among people of same language. .

Now, most African countries speak English or French as their official languagt:

2nd there is no rethink or attempt to modify this languages by the users to suit

our own people, except lor gratilication of the l i tcratc Sew , lllc.rcby ncglcc(ing

the major~ty semi-illi1.erate and illiterate poor masses of Africa. As Soyinka

boasts of his mastery of the Whiternan's English language, he asserts:

... when we borrow an alien language to script or paint i ., we must begin by co-opting the entire properties in our rnatrix of thought and expression. We n~ust strdess such a language, stretch it, impact it, fragment and reassemble it with no apology, as required to bear the burden of experiencing and experiences be they formulated or not, in the conceptual idioms of the language (1976: 146).

Here, Soyinka should not forget that he is an Africa0 and so must write in a

language that should be understood by the Africans. .

Africans suf1't"red a lot in tlic !?a::ds c I hi: co!c;i;i;il I I I ~ S I L ' I . in I C ~ I U S 01'

language usage. The English language and the French language has hindered

the total African's cultural development, to the extent that French and English

are allowed, as a matter of political and cultural expediency, to delay or kill the

desire to develop indigenous African languages. These have encouraged the

devaluation of the African indigenous languages and culture, thereby promoting

the Europeanisation and Frenchnisation of Africans through a form of linguistic

imperialism and neo-colonialism.

23 However, the adoption of English and French languages has indeed

helped in the cultural d e ~ 'tjpment of Africans by providing a language means

of facilkiting her political emancipation, and unity, and of her cultural

assimilation, integration, accommodation and propagation, as well as I

sharpening her awareness towards this age of communication and technology. '

Chinua Achebe rates the English language legacy of colonialism as

hugely positive, because it gave the multi-ethnic, multi-lingual groups in

Africa: ' I

Language with which to talk to one another,.. There are not many countries in Africa today where you could abolish the language of the erstwhile colorlial powers and still retain the facility for mutual comn~unication (Ogbueli 2003: 1 1).

English language and French language are wwely accepted as the most

So Africans should use their various borrowed languages creatively.

Africans should use the vocabulary, which we can comprehend to

express our ideas and perceptions of reality. Since language is learned by each

generation of Africans as a borrowed language, it will be wise for the Africans

to improve and recreate ,I ,,xh patterns that will suite the African native

tongue.

AIhl,, language in iii:omoon theatre should be seen as a distinctive inark

of human beings in a give!, -mununity. So ii should be used as a borrowed tool t

for self-expression and verbal communication meant to satisfy the general

communicative needs of the Africans.

Again, Afromoon language should be used as an indispensable tool for

the maintenance of the cohesiveness of the African society. It should enhance

the individual's full integral" a and participation as an active participant in the

celebration of the Afromoo~i ".::atre within a chosen language of choice in the

community.

The Af~omoon languay should be fashioned in such a way that it should

carry along the verbal communication and non-verbal communication of an

individual within a given co~nn~unity which enables the individual to express his

emotions, feelings, aspirations, ideas, and thoughts to the African audience. rl

Afromoon Theatre language is a free choice to all Africans to use a

language of their choice that must be effective in communication and easily

understood by the audience be it literate or illiterate audience.

2.5 The Conccpt of Culture in Afromoon Theatre

. Hugo F. Reading's Dictionary of the Social Sciences sees culture as;

The totality raf learned behaviour transmitted from one genelitpion to the nexl behaviours having the highest probability of occurrence in a society.. . all that is socially transmitted in a society (Lewis, J.) ... a way of life (Harris, M.) (197755).

Culture from a layman pc ;d of view is the people's way of life. The physical,

'emotional and spiritual marifestation of life by a given community. S.O. Unoh

explains that;

. . . culture wi" be the sum !eta! e f these widely- accepted, iv w 7 w s and ethnic-based cultures and traditions, \?. tic11 are, by and large, able to stand the test of time, or to prove acceptable within the cultural milieu of the multiEingua1 and multiethnic.. . (1986:ix).

Culture here, means the people's traditions that are very indigenous to that

particular people which form their way of life. This calls to mind the assertions

of Edward 1'. Hall that;

Cultures all have their own unique identity, language, systems of non verbal communication, material.,culture, history, and way of doing things (1 976: 1-2).

26

Here, the term culture subsumes the totality of the spiritual, intellectual,

creative and artistic n~ateri.~>ccomplishmepts of a given people, which

manifests the people's way of life. Culture also reflects the people's worldview

that is the way they conceptualize man's reaction or approach to the external '

and internal world. So, culture brings out the central belief systems of a people.

The African virtues and value judgements of his traditions and customs are

shown in degree of vigor of the African's integration of his cultural -

conditioning and achievements with his existential need are best documented

and showcased by the rnagnificelice of its Theatrical perl'ol-iii;inces and art.

The problem with finding an authdiltk modern African Theatre started

when we lost our cultural identity to the Whiteman's culture. Whiteman's

imposition of his own culture to the African man gave rise to ttie abandonment

of our cultural heritage :md rush for advanced industrial civilization which

killed our culture termed as primitive and barbaric.

The African should not forget their creative cultural values that can be

found in our songs, dances, drawing, folklore, riles, sculpture, ceremonies and

festival to wither away.

27 The Afromt vi ttxatre culture will look at how the Africans can

redefine, recreate and redirect our modern cultural worldview to suit our

history a d past cultural systems. The Afromoon theatre culture must be carried

home 'and preached as ;i ,ind of new found faith that is meant to be an

atlitudinal intervention in our social arid economic life. The Afromoon theatre

culJure will strive to effect changes in the theatrical values and attitudinal

systems of individual participation in the formation of a meaningful culture in

the Afrjcan society.

1

The Afromoon Theatre culture will stand as a theatrical re-orientation

for the Africans to emb~ace their theatrical history and then formulate authentic

modern theatre that will reflect the true African culture and identity. Our

theatrical re-orientation will determine our collective realisation of the

Afromoon theatre as the true modern African theatre, devoid of alien influence.

The Afronioon theatre will try to portray thrni.~gh Its pe:f~;iilances a

liberated Africa, which has been freed from mental subjugation.

CHAPTER THREE

THE CONCEPl'UALIZATION OF AFROMOON THEATRE

3.1 The Afromoon Playwrights a

The Afromoon playwrights must be purely Africans with authentic

African blood flowing in their veins. They wight reside in Africa or any part

of the world. The Afromoon playwright should,be seen as an embodiment and

preserver of the African theatrical art forms. As Banham and Wake observe:

'The African dramatist and performer, therefore, is not a man remote from hiss people, producing abstruse material for an elite intellectual audience, but rather he continues the tradition of the senegambian griot as the chronicler of a people's history, the voice of a people's conscience, the stimulation of ideas and activity (1 976:Z-3).

The Afrornoon playwright must be a custodian of the African theatrical

traditions. He might draw his inspiration from the tradition of African story

telling technique. The Afromoon playwrigl~ts should not allow the European

theatre traditions to restrict them from fashioning their own indigenous African

style. Africans are known for their strong sn-verbal communication tradition.

So as Afromoon playwrights, they should not rely much in verbal dialogues, but

29 must make their language verbal, musical and physical in presentation. As

Afromoon playwrights, they should exploit and bring together diverse elements -

of African entertainmelit and communication. These elements include music,

dance, masquerades, song, nlii le, pantomime, drum language, flute language,

and other relevant elements. This wi:i give African plays credibility and

uniqueness.

The Afromoon playwrights should not restrict themselves to the written

script. They should create rooms in their scripts where improvisations and

mimes can come in, with the aim of presenting an experiei~ce not only through

speech and action, but also through dance, songs and music.

The Afrors, ~n playwrights should not forget their social, cultural and

moral duties to the African audience in thcir plays. As Sof )la opines:

A dramatist is committed to heal and restore the life of a sick and battered humanity, To create a new vision for growth, renewal, regenemiion and edification of a man for a wholesome life and a better community and to mobilize the collective conscience for a particular objective (1 995 5 ) .

Jumo Bakari also states that "the vital objective of drama, is to conscientize the

people SO that they can collectively change their situation (1989:34). So, the

Li; 3 0

Afromoon ; .iywrighl nwst be a c o n ~ ~ ~ ~ + i c d wrifer and dramatic so as to he ahle P

to conscitntize, heal and restore the sick and battered life of the African people I

in our contemporary age.

The Afromom playwrights should shun the act of play adaptations when

one ~dap t s a play from a master playwright of another cultural background. It

becomes imperative that the adapter strives to retain the original message of the

originator of that script, thereby iliaking his own play technical rather than an

artistic creation. So, Afromoon playwrights should forget this issue of adapting

plays from other cultures of the world liv i t kills our own artistic i~lgcnuity and

creative talent. Again, it promotes that borrowed culture in the piay more thm

the adapter's own culture. Afromoon playwrights should endeavour to create

authentic and indigenous African plays that will promote our theatrical culture,

instead of aping the European and American cultures.

The Afromoon playwrights should not forget the issue of cultural

identity in their plays. With our playwrights being culturally oriented in the

African indigenous traditions and customs, writing plays for the Africans as

truly Africans won't be a problem, because they would have acquired the right

weapon they need in constructing and reshaping the new African theatrical

identity known as Afromoon Theatre. Again, in as much as we the Africans

3 1 don't attach much imporlance to scripted plays, effort should be made by our

Afromoon playwrights to create within their plays spaces for iinprovisation and

chants.

The issue 0.f a play having a beginning, middle and end as propounded ,

by Aristotle should not prevent the Afromoon piaywrights froin using their

creative minds. Afterall, the law of nature has it that stories must, have a

beginning and an ending. An Ali-onloon playwright should conceive his ideas

and put them down in keeping with our culture and the way the playwrigqt's

vision directs him.

Our Afromoon playwrights must communicate with their plays in terms

of language used. They should select appropriate and understandable dictions

that will accommodate the majority of the African audience who are semi-

literate.

The modern rush by some African writers to create plays that will ciltcr 4

to a so-called international audience should be discouraged by the Afromoon

playwrights. If one knows what to write or talk about in his play, he should use

the best language of his choice that will help him convey his ideas to his African

audience. Afromoon playwrights should write plays that suit our own African

culture and tradition. I f the so-called international or European audience care -

3 2 about the new indigenous African plays, they should be ready to pay for it and

at the same time, be ready to accept the new ~i'l-ican playwriting techniques and

authentic creative works from the soil of Africa. Our playwrights should not be

ordinary wiiii~lg servants of the European and American audience but be truly 6

African playwrights that love the African theatrical identity championed in

Afromoon playwriting ideology.

The Afromoon playwrights must always identify with their audience

through the messages and ideas contained i n their plays. They are Africans and

therefore, their primary and secondary targets sl~oidd bc tl~bir inmcdi;lte

c~~vironnicnt u ~ ~ d Ali-icu large, and not us 1Lickwt: regrels:

Our playwrights.. . often write as if their audiences were Europeans. They create situations in which dramatic characters talk a great deal. Also, without any clear foundation, they often haphazardly introduce both indigenous and borrowed elements. This results in extreme incoherence, inconsistency (1985: 160).

The, Afromoon playwright nus st

in their playwriting. They must

shun incoherence,

always remember

obscurity and

obscurity and inconsistency

that their plays are plays of

Africans by Africans for Ah-ican ai~diences first and forenlost. So they slioulcl

not write to impress the Europeans with their choice of words or their solidarity

with the European theatrical culture.

3.2 . The Afrsmoon i:.: dr

The Afromoon Actor is a human being with a creative mind.

Stanislavski observes that "the actor is not an ornament on the stage, he is a

functionary " (ZaF va 196n. 202). Since the actor expresses his acting in action;

the Afromoon Actor must learn to express his roles through the emotional,

internal and external qualities of his body, making them functional to enable

him convey his messages to his audience.

The Afromooli actor has a style of acting that stresses the professional

qualities and training of the actor to be able lo render a role or character

through the actors verbal and non-verbal rrleans in such a way that the audience

is thrilled and convinced in a found space. This style of acting advocates for a

serious training of the actor to enable him impersonate and carry out any role

that he is given with conviction by studying and pre-rehearsing the external,

internal and visibie traits and qualities of a character, like the character's

mannerism, age, posture, stature, size, walk pattern, dressing, gestures,

attitudes, emotional flows, thoughts and motives of the character in a given

circumstance. This calls for *a truly imaginative and disciplined actor. Snyder

and Drurnsla opine that:

Acting involves every part of the performer. The mind, body, voice, and e.erl one's will play important parts in creating a character that lives within the framework of a play (1990:3).

The Afromoon Actor &ould bear in mind that the visible assets that the a

audience see and heal are his voice and body. 'These assets help bring out the

reservoir of limitless mental resources which lie deeply imbedded in him,

helping him to play his role convincingly brlbrr the Afromoon audience.

The Afromoon actor must identify with the character he is playing both

in words and action. Again, he should not forget his self-control, while playing

any role for his prirnary objective to prcsent the character to the audience.

The Afromoon actor must be a master of spontaneous improvisations. These

will bring out his creativeness towards a role, and help the actor to develop his

character and at h e same time gencrak a dramatic situation hat tests Lhc natural

stage movements and actions of the actor on stage;

Again, the Afromoon Actor must not act like robots on stage. He must

be relaxed and unselfconscious. This is a problem to most amateur actors who

panic on stage.

The Afromoon actor must be physically and mentally sound. His mental i

alertness and his physical body flexibility enable him to overcome most stage

*

3 5 problems like sluggish movenl~ :, dryness of acting, stage fright, relaxation

on stage and restlessness of swle actors on 'stage.

The Afromoon actor must see himself as a scientist who is out to

discover sonxthing new at any point in time. He must delve into creative ,

exploration of a character he is playing, thereby giving the Afromoon director.

the opportunity to be his co-creator of that character by first working out the

role himself. The actor must discover the character himsdlf, and then with the

help of the Director, analyse, modify andsthen present the character to thc

audience.

The Afromoon actor, must always work with other co-actors and the

director to enable them arrive at an ensemble acting which is the greatest

strength and asset of any good play production.

The Afsomoon actor must forget sticking to some of these acting I

techniques propounded by Europeal I tliea trt: scllolars in tlwi r acting . The actor

should embrace all roles and situations. The Afromoon actor must interpret any

situation in acting the way it comes. Iie inust bc out for spontaneous acting.

That is reacting to acting situations as they come. Afromoon Actors slwuld

adopt the natural reactions arid theatrical process of acting. Tlie Afromoon actor

must be a tohl actor in practice. Me must be trained in voice usage, nori-verbal

I

3 6 communication skills, dance skills, songs, and indigenous cultural practices of

the Africans. With these skills moderately balanced in the actors training, the

Afromoon x to r will be able' :a face any acting role given to him without

encountering many problems. Also, the Afromoon actor must see himself as the a

custodian of the African theatrical culture. It is his social obligation to project

the African identity in his acting expeditions.

The Afromoon actor must be:lr in mild that he is a presenter of the

African theatrical and creative talent meant to teach, instruct, conscientise and

entertain the African audience with his acting. So, he must be a disciplined

actor for him to be able to carry this noble role to the African audience.

The Afromoon theatre is a functional and participatory theatre. So, the

~ f io rnoon actor must make sure that he carries the audience along while

playing his role. He has an obligation to the audience, which is to respect their

reactions and play to satisfy their entertainment needs. The Afromoon actor

must recognise the contributions of the audience to his acting and so, must

always reinember to. talk to the audience and give them part of his actions while

acting. This will enable the actor to come out with his best in delivery. The

Afromoon Actor should emphasis theatrical artistry in his acting with

presentational staging style in mind. The Afromoon actor's theatrical aim and

37 objective will be to present a ~ d express aesthetic beauty in his acting which

must be reflected in the totality of the production with the actors imagination,

perception, charis~~ls llid sensitivity playing a lead role.

3.3 The Afromoon Director

David Cole observes that:

The concept production ~.epi*esents the triumph of the late nineteenth-century campaign to establish the director as the central organizing imagination ' in the theatre (1977: 150).

The thcatrt: dircctor cmergcd out of' the urge to have a cwtral organizing

imagination in the theatre. The need for control, guide and leadership in theatre

productions also gave birth to the theatre director. So who is a director? A.B.C.

Duruaku sees the director as "the artistic head of the production" (1997: 109).

But Demas Nwvko has a more elaborate definition of a director. He asserts:

The director (or manager) is a sqer-artist who is often writer, actor, musician, dancer and designer as well as an eirective co-ordinator of the whole production (Ogunbly i 1981:476).

This definition paints the picture of a direct~r who is multi-talented in all areas

of theatre pri~ctice. But the same Nwoko suggests what the New African

-

director should be. He st;.'cs;

My chosen director would be a good dancer and choreographer, and along with these accomplishments he should hwz developed an ear for good music (476).

The African theatre is mostly distinguished from the European theatre because

of its excessive use of music and dance. Music and dance are highly rooted in

the African cultural and theatrical traditions: So, the African director must be

well experienced and trained in the art of music and dance. In our search for an

Atiomoon modern director, it will be wise for us to draw a cue from Chike -

OF Aniakor's assertion on the personality,the new African director:

The new theatre demands a new director-versatile in the various and aliicd arts as a super.-artist, writer, actor, musician, dancer and designer (:2001:58).

I

The Afromoon director must be a total director in all-theatrical.ramifications.

Me must be a co-creator with the actor and other technical crew of a production.

For better: assimilation of the duties and concepts of the new Afromoon director,

a study of the Afromoon wheel of directorial importance will be examined here.

Afromoon Directorial Wheel ofhportar~ce -

Concept /

Actors Slylc J

---/"

The director is the chief organiser, internreler, and presenter of Afromorm play

production. From the directorial wheel of importance, it is explicitly clear- that

the director is the leader of the Afromoon theatre. His ideas of directing a play

run through the wheel as he picks the playscript or story either improvised or #

written alntl l>shio~ls out a clircclorial concept from his pcrccytior~s o f 1l1c srol-y

that will suit the ideas imbedded in the playscript or story. From the wheel, we

get the actors. The director then chooses .the actors to use for the production,

for they are his co-creators. And through the actors, the director rcaliscs his

40 dreams and concepts for the play production ,with the help of other

crewmenlbers of the pro:Iuction.

The wheel leads us to the performance proper. After a joint

interpretation of the characters in the playscript or story by the director and the

actors in [heir rchcarsuls, ~ i ic play tlicn goes to thc A~'I -OIII~OII slagc l'or ~l lc

actual consumption by the Afromoon audience.

The Afromoon audience being a participatory and critical Lype, criticize

the performance from their reception of the play production after thc

performance proper or through the m s s nledia.

These audience criticisms go back to the director who receives the credit

or blames for the production. It is then the duQb ,of the Afromoon director to

improve upon his directorial concepts and style when next the production is

staged or when he directs another play. So, the Afromoon directorial wheel of

importance guides and helps the Afromoon director to actualisc: his creative

dreams of staging a successful play production.

The Afromoon Director should be seen as the head of thc artistic and

creative process of any Afromoon productio_rl He will be seen as a teacher of .

acting and as a coach to the Afromoorl actors. Me must know how to be a good

leader, and, at the same time, have an artistic and technical knowledge of the

4 1 theatre. Also, the Afromoon director must know that thi job of directing a play

is a creative art and must be readv to interpret, shape, create, guide, inspire,'

and conceptualize the entire perFnrmance.

cultural identity . The Aii-ornuon Dir C'L.LOI- n i~~s t conceptualize his plays to reflect

the indigenous artistic qualities of the African performance and tradition.

The directorial style of the Afromoon director, must be indigenous

artistic theatricalism. This style c~nphasizes on the authentic presentation of

African tlie:.\trical pert'orlmr~ce, esnccially their artislic a r ~ d ;~estlictic Iuu ty .

The issue of realism and ~laturalisn; in directi~~g slivuld be re-cmphasizcd and

modified to suit African theatrical beliefs.

The Afi-omoon director's relationship with the actor should be a marriage

of co-creative work where both of them would join together in working out an

artistic theatrical approach to the developnlcnt of a character. The Aliomoon

directors should not be a diciator to the actor or else the actor will be seen on

stage as non-creative and as a remote controlled actor. 'The Afromoon director 1

musl be a manager of human beings, f iw [hat will help him Jcvclop ;I good

working relationship with his actors and his enlire cast and crcw, if orily hc is

a talented creator and artistic innovator.

42 The Afromoon theatre is Inore less a visual expression before the

emergence of modern script writing, using songs, dances, chants, sounds,

music, pantomimes, mime and artistic cleb~gns as their forms of visual

expressions.

T1:c Afro~noon director 11:ust ernpl~:~si~x tI~esc visual expressions in his

play productions for these elements will give credibility and identify to the play

production presentation.

The Afromoon directors should emphasize the use of iinprovised stories

in llis cl~rice of play rcxts. I~np~wisation ol' slorics liclps tlic dircctor ;mi! (Ilc

actors to exercise their artistic crcarivity to tlw f~~llesl . Jn fact, tlic director

should encourage improvised acting for this will enable the actors' fee! more

relaxed in the roles they are playing. Improvisation has always been the

tradeinark of t no st traditional African theaire and so should be e~icouragcd by *

the director to supplement the written script.

The Afromoon director should see the play script as a siructural guide

or source to the final preszmtion of the play. The Afromoon director should r

not limit his crealive and artistic iniel-pretation of the play text o n the written

script. He should endeavour to develop tht: script in accordance with his -

directorial concept a~id ;,yle. The sarne thing is applicable to the actor. The

4 3 director should encourage the actor to develop the lines of the cll;irac~ers they

are nlaying in accordance with his directorial concept and style. The acms with

t l v guide of the dircctor should go ourside the script to develop t l~c methods of

presenting the cliiiractcrs in the play.

The Afromoon director must remember that he is the general artistic and

creative showman of the theatre, and so, must strive towards packaging his

productions in accordance with the audience's expectations and cultural and

Li,catrical demands.

3.4 The Afrornoon Choreographcr

A theatre choreographer is a professionally trained dance expert who

practises the art of packaging a d ime into rhythmic dance steps with the

xcompaniment of music. The African attaches much inlportance to dance

1% - (;e: of its non- -verbal communication 'qualities and celebrative

presentations.

For a better understanding of the work of a choreographer in Afromoon

theatre, effort will be made here to defiw the meailing of dance, to enable us

look at the Afromoon choreographer.

Encyclopaedia Britx~nica dcfines dance as:

Dance,

tulle ol

The art of moving the body in a rhythmical way usually to tl,usic, to express an emotion'or. idea, to narrate a story, or simply to take delight in the movenicnt itself (1 98O:45 1).

here, means a special art of movi,~g the body in a rliythmical way to the

' ~liusic. It tells LI story a~id is sollicti~lws I I I C ; I I ~ ~ l iw (Iic ~IcligI~t 01'

audience. Enekwe sees dance as:

. .. a form of comn1unii:ation between dancers and musicians, between perfornlers and audience, and the supernatural beings upon whom human welfare and indeed their very survival depends (1 991 :(I).

Enekwe's observation on dance is morc rekited to the African conceptions of'

dance. Dance is anotlw form of communication that is entertaining and

exching, just like drama. Rut when you have dance, rnusic and drama togcther

with other art forms, you -then have a total theatre. DfUr@ is'an essential

eltment of African celzbration. As Peggy Harper observes:

Dance is always an exprewion of emotion, which gives a deep sense of pleasure to the daxe r and the spectators. In a traditional context, trained and practised specialists perform formal dances. The spectators crcatc the performing arena by surrounding the performers to 'participate: in an event which they .:xperience as a restatement of their .beliefs and customs (1976:27).

45

Ilere, Harper identifies the traditional choreographer as practised specialists

who triin other dancers. These expert dancers acquired their skills and

experience through years of training and dancing. Before we delve into

Afromooil choreograpkiing, it will be wise to know what a choreographed dance

is all about. A choreographed dance is a syskmatic manipulation of the body

in an emotional and physical exhibition of dancing skills to the rliythm of music

by a group of dancers.

The Afromoon choreograpl~er, first and foremost, must bc a well-trained

days when some funny Africans charlatans will claim that they are

choreographers, but have not 'raised a step in dance. It' you are not a good

dancer, you can't be a good choreographer. The Afromoon choreographer must

be a master of some African musical instruments. He must have a sense of

rhythm in music. He must be highly creative in creating dance steps.

The Afromoon choreographer must be well versed in African dance and

\ music. Again, he must be a theatre person. That is, he must b'e able to integrate

the dance steps and music into the Afromoon play production. Again,

Afro~noon choreographer must he a research fellow in African dance. FIc must

46 be ready to research on a particular dance c u l t w Illat a play requires. Just as

we Africans have diverse dancing a h r e s , the ~ f rombon choreographer must

know that different types of music and dance that go with then1 in Africa, and 1

those events bordcr on man's life. and hoi he celebrates life at any given

circun~stance. Judith I-Ia~u~a observes that "dance can be viewed from a variety

of perspectives: physical, cultural, social, psychological, econ~iiiic~political and

communicative (1 979-3-4).

So, the Afromoon choreographer must knw, the context any dance fits

inlo, and sl~oulcl be able to showcase its culrural originali~y in preserllatiw.

Most times, in modern African drama, the clicrupgrapher doubles as the music

director or coordinator and when such cases ahse in Afromoon theatre, the

choreographer should endeavour to fashiou out songs and music, with the

concept of the director in mind, that will suit that particular play.

The Afromoon choreographer must not forget that dance is one of the

belief systems of the Africans. And so, the choreographer should use music,

dance and choreographed dance steps to project the theatrical identity.

3.5 The Afrornoon Audience

The primary aim of any theatrical performance is to entertain, cdricatc

and satisfy an audience. So, there can be no performance without an audience.

47 The importance of the audience in Airornoon theatre is greatly considered in the

conceptualization process. As ~ b d u l Rasllecd Na' Allah observes, "the audience

should form the nucleus for our drama creation and for measuring its

performance success ( I 992:26). The Afror.llom theatre audience embraces all

categories of classes of people that can be found in the African continent. *

Ranging from intellectuals, literate and semi-literate groups to illiterate poor

masses of Africa. They are the bedrock on which the Afromoon theatre

philosophy was formed. It is out of the cultural practices, belief& aspirations,

The involveincnt of the Ali-onloon ~hcatrc audience in the staging of Afronloon

drarnri necessitated the conceptualizaliun of a new fro moon stage for Africans.

The Afromoon stage concept has the shape of the moon at the centre.

The Afromoon audience sits at the three corners of the moon stage that has

three scenery spaces excluding the ceatral arena at the centre. This type of stage

gives the Afromoon audience the opportunity of feeling the xctions and at the

same t h e interacting with the actors. And theatricals saying they form part of

the orchestra group yet they are still the audit:nc?.

The Afromoon audiences have the opportunity and privilege of

participating in the perforinance through various means. ro r imr:ince, the

48 African audience can chorus the songs used in the production if they are

familiar with it. Also, they can supply some rhythmic sounds through their

applauds by clapping ant' lilulating alon, with the actors w l m they feel

involved and excited. All ~ h c s ~ . k!~cir reactions arc done u~~co~~sciously in

appreciation of the performance when i h w the Afromoon audience are

ernotimally and physically transported by the actions and artisiic hsplays of the

actors on stage.

4

The Afrornoon audience.reac1ion p l ay a great role in the acting of the

Afromoon actors. It helps 111c nc1ol:. to risc to tlic occwio~l and also put in their I

best to help the tempo flowing and thrilling to@ the audicnce delight and

appreciation.

The Afrornoon avdierlces are 11% ,wptxties or piwc of' wood i n the

audience. They are truly hunians whu re,: t to impulses that arise in their

emotional and spiritual slate or mind. As we all know, music and clmce

transport African audience to the wor!d of ;u , ,x~ic pel hr rr~arlcc. i r pushes them

into action. So, the Afromoon adierlce sht>..,,ti not hesitate lo in the dance

or music used in an Afromoon perftrrmance that transports them into

performance spirit at that point in time. They should not forget that the

performance is for them and tile actors to enjoy. As Snyder and Druinsta assert,

49 "the combination of actors and audience is called a stage, and the relationship

between the two is the total theatrical experience" (1990:8)*So, here, the *

audience of the Afromoon theatre must realise that they are part of the entire

theatrical production, not just a passive audience.

The Afromoon audiencc plays an important 1.01~ in Ali-onloon

productions. They serve as practi~:~' !heatre critics. It is their duty to approve

and disapprove the quality of displays and tlie totality of the performance -

presented before them. Their own criticisms are always outbursts and shouting

when the pcrlhrulnnce is ;I flop. Also they cart dccidc lo slrurl [ l ~ c IICXI

production by the same group of' actors '? l i t when they are carried along and

thrilled with the performance, they clap. :;) and dance with the actors as the

production is still going on. And ~l/hen >.. ,xoduction ends, they scream for

more actions. The Afromoon audierlce ,I,LS as a kind of live critics since they

respond in favour or against the display of the,actors on stage immediately,

unlike trained and seioned professional theatre critics who do theirs after the

production either through the mass meclia or right there a1 curtain calls.

The success and cultural manifestatmil of the Afronioon theatre is highly

routed in the theatrical culture of the community, which the audience

represents. They should not forget that it is their story that is being told or

presen~ed. They must ; u t in their best to SC, . that their cu!tural story. Theatre

is a presentation of life ark9 the auciiencc r l l ~ replica of t l ~ liSe on stage.

Theatre is dii art that tak& place in the present moment, as we watch. For theatre to happen, two groups of people, actors and audience must come together at a certain time and in a certain place. There, the actors present themselves to the audience in a story involving some aspects of being human. ~he'audience share in the story and the occasion (1 991 :3).

The Afrornoon theatre audicnce must s11;1rc~ in the story for i t is heir story rl~ar

performances by buttressing the hcts about ASro,l~oon audience involvement in

productions as;

Direct audience participation , is expected. The dancing, music, and song have a communal character, and audiences respond by clapping i l l

rhythm, singing relrains, repeating phrases, or making comments (2003 : 580).

The Afromoon theatre audience has an i r r ~ l # c ? ~ .ant role to play in production as

Brockett and 1-Iildy observe above. 'T'hcy should cndcavour to carry out and d su

portray that indigenous commu~lal charac~cr that Africans ire known for when

themselves from the pt :imnance but & d d instead, see it as an artistic cultural

display, ;wolving both the actors and the audience in actton.

The Afromoou theatre audience should see the theatre as a place for

cultural identity and rebirth of our individual and collective zonscience.

CHIAPTEK FOUR

AFRQR/1[QQN ZESHGNERS

4.1 'I'he Afromoon Stage t

The issue of: a performing space or s t q e is very important in theatrical

staging even though a vexing one for most modern African theatres. A proper

performance environment will take care of performance conventions, including

audience participation, which is very synonymous with African theatre.

As Soyinka warned; "poor performance spaces affect theatrical

creativity negatively" (A~nankulor 1 987:77).

It is pertinent to nole that most ~rlodcrn dramatisrs writc thc~r plays will1

prosecution stage in mind. This afl'ccts tl~cir Africa11 st;~ge creativity. In fact, &

because of tile distance created hy the prosecuyion arch, the audiencc finds it

very difficult contributing and participating in the production, as truly African

audience sl io~ld.

This particular problem led to the conceptualization of the Al'romoon

stage. This Afromooil stage is a product of a truly technical and creativc search

for a suitable staging s3ace for the New Afromoon Theatre. It is purely

conceived for African theatrical performance with special consideration for

modern technological innovations.

The Afiol~oon stage is a uew modern African stage where the audience sits at

three sides of' the auditorium, thereby rounding up the entire three stages. The

stage has three acting areas, excluding the central arena at the centre. The three

acting areas protrudes to the central arena, thereby making i t possible for the

actors playing at any of the three acting areas to play out to the central arena.

5 4 The three acting areas have the same I ( . ( ills with the central arena. This was

considered to help the audience sight line ilnd to avoid actor's stage acciiients.

The sitting ;~~.,ir~genaknt of the audience is in such a way that their

participation is not hindered by any yrosec&irn arch or apron. The audience I

sittings are organised in an elevated form to help avoid audience masking

themselves and for better picturization of the actions on any of the three acting

spaces or at the central arena.

The Afromoon stage is very stimulating and inviting, since it extends to

the audience an invitation 10 cnlcr t i le ;ICI ; ~ n d crciltc ;I sccnc i l l llwir ow11 11;1tur:11

and unconscious imaginations. This encourages direct audience address and

interactions in forms of dance, song, asides, narration by the s~orytellers or

narrators and actor-audience dialogues.

The Afromoon stage, brings even large audiences closer to the action

and this proximity creates an intimate awareness of actor's responses, issues of

-b masking, acoustics and actor's back and side views cease exist as can be noticed

f i

in arena stages. p

The three acting spaces at the sides of the auditorium have backdrops

only or what one can call back stages. This type of backstage is rneedcd lo allow

the audience to we clearly what is happening in t,ie front of the stage. These

5 5 three spaces should -or be designed lik: ?he pr! t.ice~lium in stage front walls for

it will mask the sight lines of the audience. Instead, the scenarios to be used

rnust be in front of the backstage, no side walls or flats to avoid blocking the

audience views from their three sitting location. Also, the issue of Acoustics

which is the major problems of Arena stages has being taken care of by

bringing the audience close and at the same t : ~ le emphasizing on the actor's

visual qualilies and training on the actor's voice projections.

The Afromoon stage is meant to be a relaxation house, built with

modern st;t!?e lighting in illind. Sincc wc il,;enl to ; ~ c c o t ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ m l ; ~ l c ; \ I 1 lypCs 01'

African audiencc f'ilcilities, the use 01' inoderil light in the night productions has

being accommodated in the concept. All the three acting-areas have a pillar with

lighting and at both ends of the backstage. There is no need of hiding the.

4 lighting instruments from the audience, since is part and parcel of the

performance.

The three sitting arrangements for thi: audience also carry pillars with

lighting grid. This will enable he lightkg designer to also light th,e central

Arena very effectively. The Afromoon stage also takes care of climatic

requirements, like the. rain and su11 hindrances, which affcct open-air stages

from having an effective and wund production by having a covered roostop.

5 6 Other modern auditorjuin facilities, like fans, air conditioner toilets,

bathrooms, dressing rooms, s i , ,le-dock arid ligliting rooms are all located

within and outside the auditorium. But all are incorporated in the auditorium

building.

There is no special area for the orchestra group. It should Ix integraled

into the actions on stage as part of the performance.

The Afrtrmoon stage allows the playwrights, the opportunity of

presenting actors who can interact intimately with the audience. The Afromoon

Again, other African theatrical elen~ents like niasqueradcs, cla~tccrs, ~L'CIIC~II . ; I ,

and festival theatres should be harnessed in harmony with the African theatrical

environment provided by the Afroinoon stage. The conceptual izatio1.1 of the

Afromoorl stage: is meant to satisfy and fill the a~'~iietic appetites of the African

audience. The Afromoon stage controls and influences all other artistic elements

of the Afromoon theatre, ranging from sets, lighting, properties, sounds,

costumes, mike-ups and theatrical rituals.

Also, tlrc Afrorvoon stage shorrld be revered and cherished by all

Africans as a symbol of our theatrical culrure and ide~tity manifest.

4.2 Afromoon Designer's C

Dirgctor

t Tcv ' I I ~ L , , ! )iscctor.

I 6

1 1 I Music

i Music Sct designcr 1,ighting ~ f f

coordinator coordinator & crew desilrner & crew coo dinator

I Sound designer

& crew

Properly m, ' ,,lgcr Kr, crcw

The Afrorwon designer's chart has the director as the leader of all the designers 1

in the Afromoon Theatre practice. The Afromoon director is an artistic theatre

designer lor he designs the entire production with his directorial style and

concept, which other technical crew designers with the assistance of the

technical director carries out after a production crew meeting with the

Afromoon director. This enables the technical crew the opportunity to

understand and interpre't the director's general design for the production in their

various technical departments. He also designs the Afromoon Actors to suit the

technical requirements of the play production style and concept.

. 58 The Afrornoon theatre director wi:~ , Lilt. 1x1~ of the Afronloon Teclinical

director and the other technical crew members interprets, modifies and

conceptualize thc entire techl~lcal designs of the crew members to suit the

directorial design and ccxepts of the play production.

Now, we are going tu look at other Atronloon technical designers and

their specific technical r o b in the advancement of the Afromoon Theatre

practice.

4.3 Afromoon Technical Director

The Afronioon Tcchnical Director is an indispcr~sahlc perscmliry in the #

practice of Afromoon theatre. The job of the Afromoon technical director is

very important in the staging techniques of the Afromoon productions. He, as

a technical director, Is integrate of all t l~e lechnical departments or

crewmembers involved in the production. It is his duty to conduct and organise

other crewrriembcrs of the production to work towards realizing the directorial /

- style and concept of the Afromoon director.

i \

It is his d;ty to discuss with the Afromoon director about his directorial

meeting on how to realise and project the Afromoon directors concepts and

style. Also, it is his duty to suggest to the Afromoon director on technical

5 9 grounds what he feels skm~+uld be amended to enable his ~ecllnical crew carry out

their specific funclio~ls very cvcll.

I-Ie works for t l ~ tecllnicul uni!y of the production with the concept and

style of the director in mind. The Afl l.j~nvon technical director must have a one

on one discussion, and construction meetings with the entire technical crew,

comprising [he Afronmon lighting designer, the Afromoon set designer, the

Afxomoon make-up artist, the Afromoon costun~ier, the Afromooil sound *

manager, the Afronioon proper! Y manager arid the Afromoon choreographer.

The Afromoon tcclinical director must be a proi'essionally trained

technical director with pract experience in the field of theatre productions. -

He must be a practical man of the theatre. He must have wide experience in all

the technical departments i n v o l d in a production.

Ile must be culturally trained in African tradition to enable him advise

and interpret all the technical requirements of the produclion with African . ,

theatrical culture in mind. I-Ie must be conversant wirli orchestr:tl conducting to

enable him give meaningful advise to the music coordinator or head of the

orchestral group.

GO He must have a gc ' .;ense of rhythm in music and dance. This will help

him to advise and work with the choreogra'pher to enable them come out with

perfect dance steps or music for the entire poduction.

The Afromoon technical director must be a versatile - theatre practitioner.

He must have an experience aalb l expertise in the preparation and production of

sound effects. This will enablc him and the soundman to come o u t with the

most appropriate sound cues and effects for the production.

Also, as a technical director for Afromoon Theatre, he must have an

experience in sct designii~g ai~d colist;-uction o f stage scltings. As a n

experienced stage designer, he must assist the stage designer to come out with

fitting scenery for the entire production. And here, Ile must apply his

knowledge of scenery construction and depiction of setting to suit thc African

environment on the three acting areas found in the Afromoon stage.

and consiruction of stage costumes, including masks, traditional and modern

Afrlzan costumes and other articles of apparel and adornmu(. Without a proper P

knowledge of his African costumes, he won't be able to suggest or advise the

costumier on how to realise his costumes Lbr the production.

The Afromoon technical director must be well experienced in the design

61 of lighting effects and the manipulation of the requisite lighting equipment. He

must have a sound knowledge of the light before he can advise the lighting

designer on his lighting plots or program for [he production. Also, the

Afromoon technical director must have an experience in stage make-up or" else

he won't be able to advise the make-up artist on the appropriate make-up

designs for the characters in the play.

Again, he must be conversant with the Afromoon stage and theatre

management. This will enable !iiii:i tc advise die director on how to manage the

Afromoon stage sn,,lces and how to incot-poratc the theatre audience in the

production. The Afromoon technicai director must coordinate and supervise all

aspects of technical production in he mount.ing of the Afromoon plays. He is

responsible for the supervision of the building and painting of scenery and

properties, for the technical production rehearsals and actual performance with . the stage manager.

Also, the Afromoon technical director must have experience in stage

directing to enablc him assist the director in the placement of sets and hand P

properlie!; or1 stage. This will make his work as a technical director easier, if he

is experie:xlced in directing. At least, he wbn't find i t difficult interpreting the

directorial concepts and styles of the director in his technical department with

the other crewmembers.

4.4 The Afromoon Cosf~~~ . ' . : r

The Afromoon Costui is one of the desigriers who are concerned

with the visual and artistic aspects of presentation. It is the duty of the

Costumier to fashion out suitable costumes for the actors playing roles in

Afromoon play production. Without a professional knowlcdgc of thc African

indigenous traditional m d modern costumes, the Costumier will find it very

difficult coming out with a design fo'r w y Afromoon play production. The

Afromoon Costumier should endeavour to study the African costumes from

Ancient to modern to enable the costumier fashion out appropriate designs for

Afromoo.. . play producr.ions. .

The Afromoon costumier shou ' always bear in mind that stage

costumes help to portray a character on stage and so, the costumier should see

the job of designing costumes for Afromoon play productions as a serious

business and very important lo the gener,ii succcss 01' the entire play

performance. The Afromoon designer should know that all costuming is

indicative of function, character, period, and style.

The Afi-omoon costumier should not forget the technical b l e d of their

choice and colour of costumes to the set designs and lighting designers plot for

the play. He /she should strive for harmonious blend of costumes with the

63 lighting requirements and set design rn!nurs. The cc!stumicr iiiusi be a creative

artist who through his costume designs tries to assist tlie director in projecting

the pictorial values of the production by applying his creative imagination and

skill in the creation of the costumes.

The Afrornoon costumier should not forget the roles costunie plays in

play productions, which is to hclp the director to interpret and present the

appropriate moods, atmosphere and style of the production through the

costumes w x n by the actors. The costumes of Afromoon actors must reflect the

roPes they are playing. It is t l~c duty of the Afi-omon coslumicr to carcl'ully

plan in detail the kind of costumes to he worn by the actors in any Afromoon

play production with the style and concept of the director at the back of his

mind before he call apply his creative imagination to come out with the best

suitable cosrulncs for the accoi-s In any given play production, without negating

tlie cultural background of the play or story. The Afromoon costumier should

not forget the technical den~ands of the Afromoon stage. Since the ASromoon -

stage is an indoor theatre with audience sitting very close to the aclors, the

costumier should endeavour to make the costumes convincing, in terms of the

materials used in sewing it or else the audience will kriaw tha1 the costurncs are

not true to tlie character portrayed.

64 The Atrornoon cc dumier r n w l see himself as a researcher in the

theatrical costunlcs of the Africans, an<: !mybe-other European cultures. This

will er~able the costun~ier - urlderstald the period costumes worn by most

Africa11 traditional and modern commulueies of our lime. As a researcher in

African coslu~l~cs, l!ie cosru~~~icr will he a1 home Sashioning oul costu~nc designs

for his play production without having any problem of hisrorical accuracy or

style of designs of the Aliican costumes. 8

The Afromoon costumier should see himself as an educator cum creative

artist for lie should strive to use his costume designs to teach tlic audience thc

lost African values embedded in tile authent.ic indigenous African cultural

costumes that are rediscovered in Afronioon Theatre productions.

The Afromoon costumier should use his costume designs to help -

interpret the characters in the story or playscript, in consultation with the

1 technical director, without contradicting the directorial styles and concepts of

the Afronloon director.

4.5 The Afromoon Makeup Artist ,

The Afro~noon makeup artist must be a professional arid practically

orientated make-up artist in the theatre business. He musl be a good coordina~or - and planner to enable hinr to achieve maximum' success with his make-up

1

65 designs of the actors. Also, as an Afrorrmon makeup artist, he niust be a good

human mandger for hiii. t i ) b able to convince the actors to submit themselves

to him for his creative makeup app~cation on the actors.

The Afrmnoon make-up artist must be knowledgeable in lighting and

colour usage on stage. He must plan his designs in agreement with stage

lighting eniployed, the inte~isity of the light on the niake-up design and the kind

of colours to be used so that i t won't conwadict the lighting clesigners plot for . the production. The Afromoon makeup artist must understmd ~hat his make-up

* b

designs c~nstitute thc outward and visible nppearance of h e actors o11 stay,c.. So.

he must work towards subordinating his nixe-up designs ti, the personality of

the actor and to the entire production style.

The Afromoon malieup artist must plan his designs to reflect the

directors and actors characterization of any particular role the actor is playing.

' 1.-hs make-up designs sliould assist to portray the c1iaractt.r~ that the actors are

irnpersonatinp on stage very we!?. Also, hc must usc his designs to disguise the

actor's personality and then present the creative appeamnce of the cl~ar~ctcr that

the actor is impersonating.

Since make-up designs bclong to the visual arts of the thealre, the nuke-

up artist should endeavour to use his designs to identi? characters Scilig piayed

66 by diffcreor actors to tliz ~~~.,!ience. This is verc \i~portant, for it will enable the

audience to identify and inferact v . , h the m-acters of their choice any time

they appear on stage for action. A!.. ?, their make-up should ;issist in revenling

the inper state of the characters, for physical appearance of the actors on stage

with special designs that i l ~ n to distinguish their individual temperament and

character traits. -

The Afromoon make-up artist must be a good researcher in African'

tribal mark& and ways of applying make-up kits on the face. He must know both

the traditional and modern ways through wl~ich African take carc of tlic~nsclvcs

on , :y pnrticul;~~. occasion, with spccial artcntior~ 011 thcir fi~cial itkc kc u p

applications. ?'he Afromoon ~iiakc-up artist shotllcl bc hmwledgcablc i l l li~cial

make up ap,-lications. He should know the proper facial bases, colours to be

used, the kind of' powder and colour to bc applied, how to apply the lilies of' age

or suffering, and the kind of facial marks and s y n h l s that African people put

on. Examples, warrior's facial marks, young maiden facial marks, titled Inen

a d women hciill marks, chief priest's facial works, spirits facial marks and

dancers facial marks and symbols. These facial marks are importarit to the

African people fiw they help to identify and project the ASrican identity

67 The Afromoon make-b, mist 111ust he creative in his crealion of facial

beards, moustaches and artificial wigs or ,.\irs. He must strive for historical

accuracy in the qlication, and not apply make-up fo; its sake or for the sake

d of die period of the play. He must apply the make-up to express and present a

semblance of the character being played by the actor. He should not forget that

good make-up design helps the actor to adapt to the role lie is playing. So, the . Afromoon make-up artist must erideavou~ tt) assist the actor in playing his role

perf&tly by providing him with correct and creative make-up design:. that suit

the role the actor is playing.

The Ati.onloon m:dcc-up ; I I - ! E L A should not forget to discuss liis designs for

any production with the director and tec11nic;~l director. They might, with the

help of the actors, accentuate certain facial characteristics and designs for the

execution ot the production. So, it is very important that the Afromoon make-up

artist presents his designs to the director and technical director, to enable them

evaluate, interpret, and present a more fornlidable and perfect make-up designs

for the actor's use on stage. r

4.6 The Afromoon ~ i g h t i n ~ Designer

The general illuinination of the stage for the revealing of the actor and

his immediale environment started with the origin of the theatre. The Africans

68 celehratc the arc^ 4' l i : th t gotten fro~rr 'lit: sun and nioon. Most times, during

the African night entertainment, the n u ; ' ~er-vcs as their nlt~jor source 'of light,

while in the daytime, th sun gives them !he necessary illumination that is

u

The i,nportance of light to the Afromoon Theatre practice is highly

indispel~sable to the modern d.:mands o!' the Afromoon stage. As David Belasco ,

observes:

Lights are to drama what music is to the lyrics of a song. No other factor that enters into the prodi~"io~; o f i\ phy is so cl'l'ccrivc it1 convc-ying ifs mot '.; ;HI(! lkclings. Tlicy ;wc as cssenti;d to cvcry work ofcl~wiialic art ;ti hlood i s ((1 l i l i : (1952:571).

Stage lighting n .rl the Afrwmon lighting designer should therefore, be treated

played with. S t a g lighting c , ~ ~ ,ae seen as the proper handling and blending of ,

lighting in'struments on stage wil ;~ effective usage meant to allow light to p!sty

its functions to the mood and general illumination of the entire play production.

.The Afromoon lighting designer must be well trained in the lighting job,

to enable him understand and apply the right lighting quantity that a particular

scene necds a ~ w l to also k~lok ilrc: k i d o f coloi~rs to he uscd to hclp dcpict h e

appropriate moods thal any particu1;tr scenc needs. Ile sl~ould also know how

to distribute his lights on acting areas without disturbing the viewing positions

of the audience and that of the actor acting.

The Afromoon lighting designer should always consider the audience and

the wish of the director in h, lighting plot. He should not forget that his

/ primary aim as a lighting offi er is to make it possible for the audience to I

. I'

comfortably and clearly sce the actions o n stage the way rile director has \

blocked his play for the audience consumption. He must be selective in using

his light. He must not distract the attenti011 of the audience by ligllting the

wrong acting areas. 111: should endeavour to use lights that are sufficiently

7i1 brig;) ''lr cornfi~r able ,c,ior ' i i j ~ . tut strain, except on special occasions where

the lights are S I V lsed to be dimmed low to depict a particular mood or

atmosphere.

The Afromoo~l ligllmg ..csigtler should creatively strive to creafe

illusions of nature on stage by manipulating the lighting instruments used to

hslr create romantic moonlight for African b v i scenes and creating time o l the

day with the intensity of light used.

The Afromoon lighting designer must be a good researcher and

psychoIogist. With this training, he would be able to use light to create and

assist the actor's enw~ional stale of nlind. I le' can also usc ligl~l LO prcsc~il

strange scenes lilic spirit scenes, superna~ur:~l occurrences and Seelings of'

tllystcry by tllc xlors or1 bliigc. I lc cx11 rc;~lisc lliis Ily using t l ~ ~ l ~ ligllts w i l l 1 -

special colours that suit each situalion. We should also learn how to use light to

4 crwte tension, itnpending disaster, death, and mournful moods and situations,

The Afromoon lighting designer should know that' lighting a play is a

creative art, and so, rnust use his creative imagination in i~ntcrpreting moods and

s?uations with lfght. He should also know that the actor is the chief performer

on stage, and therefore, focus his lights on rhe actor and the acting areas. He

should not waste all his lights trying to light up the background or the sets when

the actor lacks adequate light liw audience visibility.

7 1 The Afro~noon lighling designer should be conversant with lighting

instruments. This will enablc him d e c t the right lightii~g instrurnenrs for any

particular scene or area he wants to ligul up. He should be able to identify these

lighting instruments like ST- )tlighfl,, strip-lights, floodlights, special instruments,

like lens projectors for rain scenes, clouds, and moving objects backstage. Also

he should know lighting effects ibr rainbow effects and fire place eflkcts.

The Afromoon lighting designer must be knowledgeable in lighting

accessories like lamps, bulbs, colour frames, stage cables and stage cable

conllectok This will en;hle him to phy salk with clcclricity \vhilc lifillling 111(*

play. The Afromoon lighting dcsigncl- slwulcl also co~;sitlt.r tlrc types ol'

costumes, colours, and make-up to he used for a play production with thc othcr

designers to errablc him select the hest colours and lights that will suit the entire

play prodttction, without having contradictions in colours used or distracting the

audience viewing with unorganised coloui :declion.

The Afroinoon lighting designer should endeavour to study the technical

requirements of the Afi-omoon stage in terms of lights and their hanging pillars.

This will enable the lighting desi: !er to know where to hang his lights without

disturbing the audienqe eyes with reflections of lights whicli will he distracting

to the audience viewing.

We must agree that the set designer is one who provides the scenic

background to a play productio~l. The job of a stage set designer is not an easy

one, fur hc has a lot of difficult times trying to conceive arid actualize his set

designs drawn on paper. Tl; issue of set designing should be carefully handled -

to avoid having scenic backgrounds to a play production that will overshadow

J the acting of the actor on stage.

The Afrornoon set designer must be a well-trained professional designer,

ingenuity. It is a serious husirlcss hecrwx the set designs are supposcd to

complement the background to the actors acting.

Stage setting has very imporpant roles to play in Afromoon theatre.

. San~uel Selden opines that:

The modern stage setting, it will be observed, not only describes character and creates n r d for action, but aIso helps the player tell a slory

. (1967:318).

The Afromoon scene designer must undcrstand that his scenii biickground to a

play production also helps the actor to tell his story to the audience. A set

designer will not present ;L .,ct tliat contradicts the status and background of the

character the actor i a > impersc.:i,jring without the audierice reacting t o i t , unless

such sets were designed it, that effect.

Since the set should represmt the physical scenic environment to where

the actor inhabits, the Afromoon designer, should try to conceive an

environment that possesses an animate vibrant physical pi csence, blended with

the actors acting which helps the audience tb understand and appreciate the play

production to the highest extent.

The Ali-onioon ,,et designcr must undcrsfand thc pri~lcip;~l structural

laturcs 01' t l ~ ALromool~ stage 10 c~~al)lc 1ii111 p ic t i~~x ~ I I I C I CI.C~IIC: ;I ~ 1 1 i t i 1 1 ) l ~

scenic background to the three acting areas in the Afromoon stage. The set

designer should not forget that the proscenium arch is not needed in the

Afromoon stage. The sets should be built to reflect a scenic background maybe

with doors and windows, but on a straight line to help the audience to have a

clrarer view of what is happening in any of the three actiilg areas. Here, the

Afromom set designer should carefully study this sight liues diagram to enable

him know how to build and assemble his sets on the stage without blocking the

audience sight lines.

The Afromoon set designer should use light but strong units of wood

which can be efficiently handled by a minimum number of stage harids for

quick and silent set shifting in building his sets. But the set designer of

Afromoon stage might use three fixed set sceneries for the entire play

production, provided there is no need for change of scenery in the play.

. 75

The . . , I ~ , I I I must be a profession;dly trained clesigncr

. , h~o 'n l i l~ t ! i a ~ c. gcl;ae t h w ~ .h ct -,es in technical drawing, engineering and fine

ard applied arts. This hmwledge will enable him draft on paper his working

drawings. After building and avsembling of the sets on stage, actual creative and

artistic paintings can riow he created m the sets.

The Afromoon set designer must always consult with his director and

technical director at any point in time he feels confused with the acting areas or

on the directorial concept and s~ylc oi'tlie production. Also, lie should discuss

with the lighting designer tv know the kind of colours to be used in painting his

hcerleries to avoid conllict in colou~ usage.

The Afromoon set designer niusl plan his scenery for my play

production in such a f, y that the actors can cxily,efficicntly use it. His designs I

should be self explanatory, attractive and effectively built for easy shifting and

assembling on stage. His sets should have entrances, exits, doors, and windows

properly arranged on stage so that all the three acting areas will be visibly seen

by every member of Uic: audience no matter wllcre Iie/she is si~ring-eihx at thc

side, the topmost back and the centre of' the three sitting arrangemhts of the

Afromoon stage.

76 The Afromoon set designer must be practice oriented in the building and

painting of sets. Without a sound knowledge of this specific areas of set

designing, the set designer might fall into :: w:t:ltion of employing a technician,

carpenter, or painter who might just do the job of set huilding and painting

without any creative and artistic input. So, it is very necessary that the

Afrolnoon set designer is a seasoned set designer, with wide experience in set

designing.

Also, the Afromoon set designer should be a researcher on traditional

'and modern African building styles. This will enable him to know the kind of

i houses, huts and designs u s ~ d by most Ali.ica11 co~nniulli~ics a1 ally ~)vinl ill

time. Also, with this research knowledge, he will be able to transform, interpret

and recreate those African buildings in his set assembling arid designs. As an

African sel designer, he must research on the kind of materials and woods used

by the Africans, more especially during the pre-colonial periods of the African

continent. This will help him authenticate his.set designs.

Again, he should be conversant with building instruments to be used in

building his sets. I-Ie should intimate hiinself with building ~rnlateria! properties.

Also, he should know the best quality paints in the market. All this knowledge

will enable him to prepare his budgets for any play production and come out

with perfect sceneries for the production.

77 4.1 T-he Afromoon Sound Desig~ier

The importance 01 sounds ill Afromoon theatre is an issue that

should be given a serious attelltion. A5 Africans, we haw so many sounds that

depict several meanings to us whenever such sounds are made. And in our

Afromoon theatre, i t will be pertinent to note that sound should play its natural

role of stimulating and creating mood for the events or impending actions that

are about to happen on stage.

The Afromoon sound designer should understand that properly

organised entry music and sounds help to excite and arouse the attention of the '

audience and contributes much mwards the total effcclivcnc?;~ 01' thc mood a l ~ l

rhythm of the entire stage production. So, the art of sound designing sllould be

treated with seriousness and expertise.

Since sounds contribute to the emotional and aesthetic experiences of the

audience during a play production, effort should be made by the Afromoon

sound designer to harness this immeasurahie power of pleasure embedded in

sound cues which titillates the emotional states of the actor and audience.

Most modern theatre productions have music at the background and

sound cues for beginning and ending of a scene. As Africans, we delight so

much in the messages passed by the wooden gong (Ikoro) and chat of the drums

(igba) which enhance the rhythm and the mood of play production.

7 8 The Afromoon sound designer should r t: hidher recorded sound to

create pictures in the minds of the Afro~~loc!~~ ,tudience. H_e should endeavour

to use his sounds to heighten the emotional and subtle nature of the Afromoon ,

1 play productions.

The Afromoon sound designer should use his sound designs to assist the

director in the general improvement of the, entire play production. The

Afromoon sound designer must be professionally trained in the areas of music

and sound in the theatre, and should understand how to handle the issue of

acoustics in thc Af'romooon stage hecame of its circular nature.

The Alro~lloon sou~ltl dcsrg~lcr slloulcl study and ~.csci~rcl~ 011 ilil'lkrc~~t

kinds of sound symbols that can be fouild in African communities. I-Ie sllould

be able to recognise sounds madc by 11uni;~ns, aninials, machines and other

earthly creatures. He must be able to distinguish between night sounds from

early morning sou~~ds . He must also differentiate machine sounds from human

sounds. The Afromoon sound designer should manufacture sounds like airplane

sounds, animal sounds, battle sounds, drum and gongs sounds, explosions

sounds, thunder sounds, bell sounds, horns and roaring sounds, gunshot sounds, *

wind sounds, 'confusion sounds, spirit sounds, child crying sounds, whistles ;

sounds, etc. The Afromoon sound designer must know all these sounds and be

able to produce them when they are needed in Afromoon play productions.

79 The Afromoon stage is b u ~ l ~ i!l such a way that provisions for loud

speakers and amplitier cdll be usec, J clear sound quality and usage.

So, the sound designer should endeavour plot his sound cues on time and

start testing thL,&i at least a week to the production day. This will enable him

detect any faults on sound wid1 the hclp of the technical director who can effect

changes.

The Afromoon sound designer s l ~ d d locate his electronic sets and

booster amplifier in the lighting control booth, where he can see and hear

clearly the cues from the actors on siagc. ~ipain, the wwnd designcr should not

forget that his sourid cues are meant to assist the actors in depicting certain

moods and actions, so, he must riot just play sounds for sound sake. It must be

professionally done to help create the necessary moods, rhythm and background

support that the actor needs to play his roles effectively.

The Afromoon sound designer must always bear in mind the cultural

background of the play before he starts organishi his sound cues and plots. He ' '

should not mix up sounds that are not inherent in African con~iiiunities with that

found in the European community. His sounds should obey the laws of nature

in the sense that they should be originally packaged to depict the African

ccmmunity life, unless the play has scenes that involves Europeans.

80 The Afronloon sound designer must be well-trainedin audio engineering

and music productions. Since sound effects and music cues are indispensable

additions to the productions of Afrornow .,catre, the sound designer must be

ready to experiment with sounds and music cues that will suit the new demands ?

of the Afromoon theatre. Such demands include using sounds to create moods,

rhythm and special effects that will stimulate both'the actors and the audience

on stage. Also, he should use sounds to create vivid pictures of events, actions

to the mind frame of the audience.

The Afromoon sound designer should know that the successes of any

play production starts with the kind of introduction given to the play. And most

times, sound cues and music is explored by the director to help create the right

atmosphere that the play needs or demands at tb: beginning of the play. So, the

Afromoon sound designer should see his job as a tasking one and which needs

absolute organisation and planning. He should understand that his contrihutioils

could also help to make or mar the entire piay production.

So, as the Afromoon sound designer, he should strive to unify his sounds t

and music to the rhythm of the play without negating _the directorial style and

concept of the director.

4.8 The Af'romocas Property Mauager

' The property mrtliager is cn as one who organises and assenlbles all

stage sets and hand properties that will bc: uxcd by the actor on stage. It is his

duty to pick out these properties from the playscript and buy or construct the

ones he can construct 2nd then buy the rcst of properties required in the play in

the market.

The job of a rvoperty manager in a production is not an easy one. He

should understand that his choice of psopci l i c k s for the play production must aid

in the expression of the characters, the mood of the play and to depict the

atmosphere that is required in the play. So, the Afromoon property mamger

must be creative and imaginative also in his assembling of properties for any

play production. This is important becatlse properties to be used in a play must I

be appropriate to place, as well as to the period of the play. For instance, the

traditional requirements of set properties and actors hand properties are quite

different from the ones'used by the modern African people. So, the property

manager for any Afromoon production must endeavour t o apply, historic

accuracy in his assembling of both set properties and hand properties for a play

production.

82 The Afromoon property manacTer muzt be' artistic in his creation of his

set properries for hc car1 equally use his sct propurtics to duscrilw a cllari~cccr

in a found environment. For example, he could use his set properties to create

an impression of disordcrlirlcss by arranging set properrics ri~lldo~~lly on the

stage without minding tll. obstaclus i t might create Ibr the audience. Also, he

can use his set properties to create an impression of orderliness by arranging the

properties on stage to look well kept and in appropriate positions.

The Afrolnoon property manager must be a real theatre person, for at

times, problems like pla; ,i'rights llsling iterns or properties that cannot be found

in this our contemporary age m y cxxu~.. So, it is Ihc dwy ol' ii property

manager to improvise or create adequate substitute for the property needed.

The Afromoon property manager must be a good researcher who applies

historical accuracy in selecting relevant properties that are needed for ij play

production. With this historical accuracy in the selection of properties for a play

production in mind, the,property manager can interpret the special effects [hat

the director wants to create with those properties on s!age. These prcjperties . must be in harmony with the effect of the play and with the fbrms of that period

,

which are sufficiently ancient or modern in form and appearance. They should

also be appropriate to the action so that they do not destroy the illusion created

f ~ r :he audience.

83 While choosing his properties, thc Afromoon property manager should

always bear in mind that pr'opertit's cliosen with good taste and artistic

intelligence, become a subtle and exprchsive means of revealing character,

environment and the cultural background of the play. Also, proper choosing at

properties for an Afromoon play production should also enhance the cultural

identity of the African community. It should showcase o w modern and

traditional furniture making creativity.

The Afromoon property manager slloulcl use his properties to reveal the

personality of thc c1i;~ractcr.s on staly. Wc all helicve t l ~ t t lmc ~~r'opcrlics which

people live with and are identified with for a very long t i n q rcvcal thc

personalities of those people and also the owners character, status and

environment. For instaxe, a rich modern African man must have a11 the

expensive modern furniture that befits his status while also a rich traditional

African niail must have rich furniture that is synonymous with his period, and

not the property manager mixing periods just because they belong to the affluent

society. -

Also, Afromoon property manager should endeavour to use his

properties in creating occupancy on stage. The kind of set presented on stage

must creatively show its owner to the audience. So the Afromoon property

manager must sce how lie can usc ,ktures and personal bclorlgings like

uniforms to establish the whole character and his personality to the enviroilment

presented. -

The Afronioon property manager should see himself working towards .

assisting the actors with his chosen properties by making it possible for them

to play their roles in a more comfortable and r1:laxed environnient created out

of their proper use of the stage sets and their pkrsonal hand properties on stage.

The Afr,omoon property ~na~iager must always provide his propertic's before the

actual perfornmce night, at least a wcck helim thc production. 'I'his will

enable the actors to ~naster thcir set propcrties and personal hand properties,

which will help them to play their roles very con~fortably without any hindrance

to the actor using their properties on slage.

The Afroinoon property manager must always discuss with his director

and technical director to know their directorial stylc and concepts and the kind

of eftects they would want him to create to the audience with his sct properties

anld actors' personal hand properties.

CEIA WEK FIVE

QUIIN'FESSENTIAL CO PONENTS OF AFROMOON THE .ITRE: ROLES

5.1 Ritual

The word 'ritual' should be seen as a conscious mimesis of ccmmunal

experiencc: and way of live presented lo an audience, which encourages and

promotes their communnl beliefs and rites. The Africans so much believes in

the celebration of life and this brings about a kind of ritual perli)rmance. Rilual t

plays khd of spiritual and cntqtitining rolcs i n the lives of' the Africans. It

showcases our religious beliefs and way of life.

So, in Afromoon theatre, ritual should be part and parcel of the

customs and traditions of the African community.

As Brockett and 'Iildy observe:

#

As people become more supernatural, forces and .casual relationships may change. As a result, i t may abandon or modify some rites. But the myths that have grown up around the rites may continue as part of the group's oral tratiirion and may even come to be acted out under cohitions divorced from ritualistic concerns ( I 909:2-3).

The Afromoon 'l'heatre will incorporate African rituals in its performances. We

mvst present ritilals that have being fused into theatrical perforrhances. Such

theatrical ritual should be seen as form of entertainment, which are conceived

to share the African way of life and to promote the African ritualistic identity.

We should use theatrical rituals in Afromoon Theatre as an act of faith of the

African community, which serves as a form of entertainment that strives to

restore, and promote the belief systems of the African theatrical form.

In Afromoon theatre, all those real magical and spiritual effects that are

achieved tllrough ritual sl~ould be cliscouragcci. Like killing 01' live cocks, goats *

and cows on stage. Ritual in Afronloon theatre should be seen as well arranged,

and controlled presentation of mimetic rituals integrated into the Afromoon play

production. 'I'h~cse rituals should be educative and instructive rather than real

magic or else, it will lose its ceremonial qualities and then turn to real ritual

sacrifice spiced in blood. Though Afromoon ritual performance can be seen as

an act of worship reenacted on stage. Adedeji Joel observes that:

... the ritual performance is an "act of worship". The re-enactment is only a design to give material existences to a state of belief (1966:88).

87 Here, we are talking about ritual being a design meant to be showcased as a

people's way of life and d i e f systelni. 'Il'his fu~iction of' ritual is very important

in African theatre, for we want to create a theatre where ritual.can be used in

promoting the African comniunity belief system. Theatre, as Adelugba

observes, is "as a rite ineatre as a rite of passage, theatre as a rite or

purilicatio~i, theatre as a rite of becoming, theatre almosr like a worship

(Ademola 2003:173). Here the importance of theatre as a symbol of ritual

display and worship is emphasized. Ati-oinoon theatre should see its theatrical

rituals as a rite in which the audicnce trics to communc with the actors on s::lge

through their participation nul l1 to purity allci collscie~lrisi. 'licir i ~ i ~ l d s towards

a positive change of attitude. This can bc achieved when the action on stage

transform and transport the audience into spiritual realisation of their mistakes

and unconscious outpour of their emotional regrets. When this audience

transformation is achieved, the Ali-onwon theacre will scrvc as ;I ps:,;cgc I I I C ~ I I I

to coilscientise the Afromoon audience. The Afromoon ritual incorporation is

something very unique with the African way of life. We so much believe in our

ancestral gods that most times we worship and pay homage to them. Even in

this contemporary age, the African Christians are still holding religious rituals

as part and parcel of their Christian f ~ l t h and rxist~nre, j ! ~ t !kc !he Anglican

88 who receives Holy Cornm: !on every first Sunday of the nio~itll so AS to

reactivate their beliefs in their God. No wonder Enekwe states that "ritual is

an integral part of LIAL ~ilric;m Theatre" (198 1 : 154).

The Africans are so blessed with numerous theatrical rituals and

efficacious ones. These rituals like death rites, initiation ceremonies, chants,

incantations, rites of passage, purification rites, ancestral worships, marriage

ceremonies, religious festjvals, and masquerading should be transformed into

Afronioon plays as a source of cntertsinment and preservation of the African

cultural practices.

Richard Schechner argues this fact of ritual transforrn;~tion into theatre

by stating that:

... ritual may be transformed into theatre, one is displacement, for instance when a real combat is sublin~ared t h n q $ ritualizalioa. Scwod, transfortnation from ritual t o theatre may sccur when ritual is displaycc? for the entertainment for strangers.. . Third, rituai ca.n be transformed into theatre within a context of social disruption, when the rituals are proscribed or lose their efficacy.

. Ritual can also be transformed into theatre through , it's adoption by another people.. . (1979:85).

Here Schechener suggests the transformation of ritual into

theatre. But he forgets that ritual is tlmeatre and theatre is ritual.

89 So, ritual should be stressed in Afromoon theatre

both in miine, music and dance.

The Afromoon playwrights should utilise this great African culture that

is embedded in our theatrical rituals and transform them into the shoreline of

their plays to help create authenticity in the plays. Also, they should endeavour

to research on the true origin of thcse rituals before the actual transforination

can be made to avoid misinterpretation of the (i.)urces and practice of these

ritual displays by Africans.

The Al'romoou theatre directors sl~oulcl we rl~esc r l w ~ ical riru;~ls to

create spectacles in their productions, and cndiavour to use them as a source of .. presenting their directorial concepts which should involve the projecting and

resuscitation of the lost African theatrical pride and iden_tity.

5.2 Dance

Africans are well respected for their rich cultural heritage t h a s found

in dance. Dance is a social phenomenon tldbriginated with the African man.

Dancc is the carliest form of Al'rica's cclehration of conuliuiral lit?, which still I

forms part of their expressions and communication in cultural performances.

Traditionally, the Africans are known to express their happiness, beauty and

sorrows in dance. Through dance, Africans portray their cultural ways 01' life.

90 As Walter Sorrel1 observes, "dancing originated as a result of man's

increase in desire to express lii~iisell, to communicate his joys and sorrows, to

celebrate and mourn with the most immediate instrument, his body7'(1962:9).

Percy Sc?ioles sees danciug as "the impulse to express one's feelings or to

recreate oneself in the dance is instinctive and universal? l975:274). Dance is

seen by Scholes as a universal phenomenon, which allows man to show his

feelings through dance. But Ojo Bakare sees dance as "the rhythmic movement

of the human body in space and time to make a statement? (l994:2). Here, one

may ask, what kind of statement docs d a n c ~nake? Diuice ~lirough its visual

displays suggests the mood, cniolions, an idca, coni~iiu~iily slrel~gtli, pcriod and

cultural originality of the dance. Enekwe .asserts that "dance is essentially the

response of thc soul and mind, through the hady to tlic incluctablc powcr o f

music" (19!)1:30).

The African response to music and dance is-total. 'That is why, in the

Afromoon theatre, audience participation is highly emphasized for the audience

do not sit down and allow good music and dance to waste away without joining

in the dance or without showing their appreciation by clapping their hands.

In the Afromooii theatre, dance shbuld be used to showcase the African

unique arl form that marvels the Europems a lot because of'its vibrancy and

9 1 rich cultural displays. Africans havc variety of dances ~ l ~ a t arc physical, social,

re1 igious, cultural, psychological, .political , occupational and communicative in

presentation. Effort shvuld be made by the Afromoon choreographer and music

coordinator to utilise African dances in their theatre productions. This will

enable them project our rich cultural heritage through dance, which is the life

wire of the Afronloon theatre.

The Afromoon choreographers should research into these African dances

and identify the ones that are suited to the demards of the Afromoori production

at m y poi111 in lime. They sliould cnde:~vour to go fbr origi~laiily i t 1 the

presentation of the dances bul they should not torget to integrate the dance to

the stylc of the Afromoon playscript and tWbf the directorial style of the

Afromoon director.

Another important aspect of dance, which is still a big problem to most

theatre performance. This problem started wlien' tllere was no stipdatcd tlleatre

dance tradition. Dance was seen as a complement to the theatrical perfor~nance. \

The Afromoon director and the choreographer have to inculcate this theatre

dance tradition to the Afromoorl actors who tilkt part in the dance. They should

not see dance as only an embellishment to the siage performance but as a

92 1

professional theatre dance p r a i . ~ ~ ~ e , ~yii'ch demands total conimilment and

creative choreogriphic approach. A l least, with the concep~ualization of the

Afromoon stage, which is specifica!ly conceived for the Africans, they won't

have a problem of' space, as is always ihe case with proscenium stage

performance.

The central arena of the Afro~noon stage will acconmodate any kind of

dance group or formation thaitihc Afromoon choreograplies would want to use

or create. The Afromoon cliorcographers should stress tlica[rical dancing-11ot

just dallcc for dance sake, hi11 dance that will have Il~c clualitics 01' a wcll-

packaged and choreographed theatrical pcrlbrmance. 'The Alio~noon c l ;~~~cc

choreographer should empliasize the use of creative choreogr-;~phed dance steps,

using traditional fornls as a basis of source of presentation.

Also, the Afromoon theatre playvcights should endeavour to incorporate

dance inti) their playscript. This will at least help the Al'romoon directors and

choreographers to work less on the blend of the dance to the entire play

production.

Afromoon playwrights, directors and choreographers should embrace

theatrical dance as a vehicle of cultural conlrilunication as an emhodimen~ of

9 3 development ~hrough the building of 2 positive image and African

consciousness. Also, they should use theatrical dance to moderate Africa's

moral ethical, which will help t,o promote a healthy. African moral life.

The Afrornoon theatre director should use dance as a tool Ibr social

mobilisation of thc audience. I-Wshe should realize that dance also l~clps to aid

healthy theatre development. Dance is an art form that is very popular and

appeals to the African audiences and so should be used to create audience

theatrical orientation. Afromoon Choreographers should use dance movements

since dance with its langu:!ge of comrrlunicalion cuts across all tribal barriers l

and communities. I

Afionloo~~ playwrights .ilould know tl&ance oriented plays appeal more

to the African audience than the Europeanised plays of most African playwright

which are based on speech renditions. The Afrornoon theatre advocates for the -

blend of music, dance and drama into the Afromoon theatre performances. For

better harnessing of' dance in Afromoon iheatre performance, there is need to

have dedicated, creative and innovative choreographers who would develop a

special modern style of presenting dance for the Afromoon theatre without

dance serving as an embellishment to music and drama. Dance should be taken

seriously by the Aliomoon theaire practitioners for i t is the only art form that

gives the African masses a sense of superiority over the Europeans, even to the

extent that they marvel : ~ t thta lnastery exhibited by Africans when they dance.

So dance should serve as a form of cultuial superiority and identity tob#ie

African theatre play productions.

5.3 Music and Songs

M& is an essential coinpoilent of Alromoon theatre. Africans so

indebted to music, because it is a form of relaxation and'eiltcrtainment for

used in Afromoon theatre productions. Any African theatrical performance t W

is unincorporated or blend with music and dance is said to be an a!ien theatrical

practice borrowcd from the Europeanised world. Here, we are going to look at

music, which is used for the projection and continuity of the African dramatic

intentions, carefully, insortcd in the Afromoon theatre product ions.

The kind of music we are going to einphasize here is orchestrated music,

which is conceptually African in composition and practice. Again, music should

be used in Aii-omoon theatre to enhance i h ~ dramatic e:iar,~cier of tile play and

to propel the development of the storyIiiie. Music should take the form of

alternating songs and dances accompanied by we rehearsed musical rendition.

95 In Afromoon theatre productions, rncsc should be used as an integral

part of the production that provides and articulates the thematic flow of the

play. Music should form the introductory part of Afromoon theatre productions,

to at lcast stimulate and charge up the actors and the audicnce for the duration

of the play. The ~ f r o m b o n music co-ordinator should use music to enhance the

communicative powers of music. This power of music can be achieved through

the relationship

and dramatic

set forth within its notes and rhythni, as well as the etnotional

connotations that are artistically structured within the

communicative tendencies of the other theatrical elenients as costiinics, rnake

up, lighting, sets and actions that is properly blended with music within

Afromoon Theatre play productio~. Attention, should be given to music by the

director and the music co-ordinator .to enable the Afromoon actors to

understand the aesthetic qualities of rnusic an6 how they can effectively make

use of music in their acting and performance.

In Afromoon theatre, music should bi-, used as a musico-ritual

embellishment of the African dramatic significance, which should be presented

in harmonic styles, which strive to articulate the sequences of the dramatic

action on stage.

9 6

The Afiomoon musir co-orrl'r~ator should fashion out songs, which

should have recitatives, used as supplements to spoken dialogues. The songs

should be used to create moods and atmospl~ere for the play productions. Also,

songs' should be used to tell p a ~ t of the stories of the Afromoon play

productions. The Afromoon music-ordinator should be knowledgeable in

African rnusic and songs. This will enable hirn compose, articulate and present I

dances and songs that will suit the demands of any Afromoon play production.

He can get these sources of information through a research study in tllc

libraries or by going through a course in music department.

Thz role of dance, music and songs in Afro~nwn ~lictltr-e play production

should be packaged to reflect the truly African thearrical tradition and identity

It must strive for authenticity and artistic blend of these art forms into an

integral whole which is presented as ~ f r i c a n theatre.

In Afromoon theatre, music should be carefully selected to enable it

create mood arid rhythm for the entire production. Music and songs that should

be used must be histosi~ally accurate Ind suitability of sounds of music and

snngs used must be articulated to represent and reflect the cultural background

of the playscript. The Afromoon theatre music co-ordinator should use

appropriate and carefully composed music and songs to contribute to the

97 emotional and aesthetic experiences of thlx African audiences. The Afrornoon

theatre director can achieve excellent results ill his play production by carefully

planning and usfng subtlc songs and music i i l his productions.

The Afromoon theatre should not relent in. using well-trained orclicstral t

group for its productions. Professionally trained or tutored orchestral groups are

bound to produce suitable 2nd well-articulated songs and music for any play

production. So, the issue of assembling the cast and crew of a production team

to serve as .the orchestral group should be disco~lraged in Afrornoon theatre

productions. Professionally trained orchesrral group should. hth usctl t o help

achieve a professional blend of m s i c and son^ throughout tllc i~lay

Again, the US^ of 111~1sicit1 i ; . p . : ; t likc drun~s, W O O C I C I I ~ O I I ~ S , i t~ l t l

other musical instrunlents should be ~ J V L . 1s attention in Afi-omoon play

productions. Thc instrunlentalis ts alloulcl \ w I I trained in the art of 1

instrumentation. Hurriedly trained drulnrners and orchestral group that lack

experience and ~liythrnic touch should not br mgaged. The music co-ordinator

should produce g o d instrumentalists, for good ~.Iruniming enhances good dance

which the audienct: delights in by showing their appreciation by clapping their

hands or joining in the songs, music and dancing along with the aciors on s tay .

98 Also, inusic and songs (hat sliould bc uwd in Afromoon theatre piay

productions must syricronise wirh the dir-ectorial style and concepts of the

Afromoon theatre director. The A f :moon theatre director should endeavour

to intimate the music co-ordinator on his directorial concept of songs and music

for the production, so that thc music co-ordinator can easily interpret those

concepts to suit his songs and music mapped out for the play production. The

Afronioon tlicatrc is 1lieatl.c (hat prqjects ils draniatic aestlictics ~l~rougli dance,

music and songs, and so, the issue of' inusic arid songs for Afromooii lheatrc

play production sliould be Litken miously by t l~c cntirc cast u11J crcw o f any

Afromoon theatre production team.

5.4 Narr,ators/Storytellers

Storytelling is an essential feature of Afromool: Theatre. Africans are

known for their use of moonlighting story sections as a source of relaxation,

entertainment, education, cultural integration and moral reasons to the,African

community. The Africans practice the art of story telling in different forms.

E.T. Kirby observes:

The art of'story tclling, practised by individuals in coinmunity groups, appears to be a sigiiificaiit indigenous performance mode throughout Africa. A most conmon form is tl&liich includes sonq

and in which the audience responds in chorus to the narntor ( I 974:25).

There are other forms of storytelling that allows lie narrator r(, assume roles or

the character in the story. He, therefore, mimes, imitates and speaks like all the

clraracter in ilre story differe~itly. We have oilrer foims whcrc ilic storytellers

wear nmks to enable thcm enact various roles in the story. Agai~i, we have

another form where the audience is given roles in the story to play while the

narrator guides them tlrr.oughout the story. Storytelling in Africa is inore of a

cultural eatertainment tradition thaf allows :A the coni~nuniry members ro

participate and feel socially and morally transformed. Brockett and Hildy opine

that "almost every African society had some fern: of storytelling as a cultural

tradition" (2005581). Since storytelling revolves around African cullt~ral

entertainment tradition, it should be vital component of the Afromoon theatre.

Thi: narrators or ,storytellers should be used in Afromoon theatre as presenters

of characters whose duties are to help the audience understand the play and at

the same time serve as actors on stage. They will be the initiators of Afronloon -

audience par:icipation through their act of presentation and interaction with the .

audience through their narration.

100 The role of a narrator and sh.lrytelling techniques should be embedded

in the strvctural composition of Afromoon playscript. This will enhance the

cultural values and the play production. The narrators should be accompanied

with songs, music and the orchestral group which help to integrate the narrators

to the Afromoon audience who are encouraged to join in the singing and

dancing.

In Afromoon theatre, special and professional training should be given

to the actors playing the roles of narrators in Afromoon play productions. The

role of the narrator nceds n total actor who has all the acting skills he could

master to carry out his role as a presenter-actor. The role of a narrator in

Afromoon play production is not an ~ l s y one, since the actor playing the role

needs to be well trained in voice pro~ection and articulation. He shnidd be able

to carry the ~'f'romoon audience with his nmatioti nnd actions.

The actorlnarrator in Afromoon play production should be trained in

speech delivery and oratory speech making. The actorlnarrator should realise

that his primary goal is to introduce the audience into the unfolding actions in .

the playscript. So, he must start his nariation with good character carriage and

comportment. He should be conversant with his lines .to enable 'him deliver

them with ease and flexibility on stage. As a sustainer of the story line, he

101 should lead the audience into the 111ood of lhc play by his portrayal of suitable

enlotions and non-verbal actions at any point in linx in the play production. In

fact, he should be an expert in mood intetyretation to enable him present

appropriate moods that runs through the story l i r i * lo the Afromoon audience.

The Afromoon theatre narraior lrlusr be a good singer and danccr,

because, for most times, he should be required by the director to sing and at the

same time dance along with other trained actor-dancers in the play production.

In Afromoon theatre, playscripts should be conceived with the African way of

telling .stories to their audience. Tlrc stories should havecultural balance and

rellcct the Ali.ican9s wiry ol' t i lk ci tficr in lllc j us t o r prcsc~i(. Tllc xtories IO Ix*

used for Afromoon theatre dramatic presentation must be an incligcnous African

stories that are very relevant to our past, present and future devslopmenl. 'The

stories should riot be colonised with European Glories that are not relevant to the

i ,ii .'.*ti African.cultural and socio-political development. SITY fl

I , ,"kt \p-

This will help project the African ;rrligeoous communal living and

traditions that are embedded in the African $kmX-Z

5.5 Masquerades

In most African nations, masquerading is regarded as a link with

departed ancestors and a mcans of reverence to their gods. Masquerading ib

102 part of their traditional heritage meant to cement their communal beliefs and

celebration. As Onuora Nzekwu observes, "masqueraders represent gods', water

spirits, village heroes and the dead. In many cases they symbolize the ancestors

who introduced them" (1981: 133).

Masquerading in Africa is a special form of ritual theatre th&

Ilnpersonates our ancestors mostly for religious and celebrative purposes, meant + to entertain the people ar?d also expose the bad eggs in their comrnurlity through

ridicule and verbal castigation in public.

Adrail1 A. Roscoe sti~tcs that "r~ot all (Iic ~ i i ; \ s c ~ r ~ c ~ x l c ~ ~ s ;IIY

impersonations of ancestors. Some are simply caricatures which are intended

to draw a laugh from the audience" (1 97 1 : 178).

Nzekwu also buttresses this fact by asserting that masquerading "has

now become an entertainment and a sourcc of amusement (133). 111 Inosl

African communil.ies in this our modern age, its used as a worldly

entertainment. It also serves as a social support to the traditional religious

festivals and observance celebrated by the African community.

There are other theatrical qualities that are uniquely harnessed in the

African masquerade drama. O k p e ~ h o Isidore observes that:

Masquerades are often quite colourfully clad and by means of their looks and their movement, present an affecting spectacle. As representatives of the protective spirits of the conmunity, these masqueradi ;1pp1- t ~ i tual cercmonies and festivals either to enact roles characteristic of particular spirit or to superintend the activities conducted at the occaslon (1992:267).

It is pertinent to note here that Africans have spec~fic functions wllicli

masquerades play in their communities. They are used to crcate spectacles,

entertainment during Scasting, for invocations, propitiation and ritual sacrifices.

control of the community. In Ali-on~uo~l tIlca(rt: prlzctice, masquerade slioulcl tx

used as a perfornmer who plays a special role in the storyline of the Afromoon

playscript. The role of the masqucratle should be spelled out i ls with other

character in the playscript.

The masquerade pa-formances in Afromoon theatre should be a re-

enactment of African's beliefs in their ancestral roots, worship, festivals,

funeral rites, and conuuunal living and cc.leh;itions. It should 1)c wcll integrarccl

into the play production to agrec with the lkitoric and cultural practices of that

given African community.

104 Again, since Afromoon theatre ad\mates for presentational styles of

I

staging in their play ploductions, the niasc~uerades should he presented and

designed to astonish and deligh~ ts~c Afromoon audience with llieir dancing,

acrobatics, rich colourful costumes, facial masks with symbolic designs and

good impersonating voice of the gods and ancestors. If there should be any

involvern~nt in practical display of ritual on s t a~e , the ritual should be presented

as a theatrical ritual. There might be some rorrri of possession on the part of' the

masquerade performers but they should not ;lllow that possession to affect the

pre-arranged actions in the physcript. Thc we of real clmms tI*firc inji~riol~h

should be discarded in Afroinoon theatre play production. But magical display ri

should be encouraged to help create spectacles and astonishment on the part of

the Afromoon audience.

The Afromoon theatre masquerade displays should be shared by the

performers and the: Afromoon audience as a communal experience and re-union 1

in which the Afromoon audience are immersed in a spectacle enacted live

before them. The Afromoon theatre director should utilise the qualities 01' ihe #

African masquerade to promote the Afiomoon theatre philosophy and culture.

He should endeavour to use the masquerades to re-establish the cultural and

theatrical renaissaince of the African art and beliefs.

105 Also, the Afromoon illeatre director should creatively b l o ~ k the

movements of the masquerade performer to blend with the space created in the

Afromoon stage so that the masquerade performers can enjoy occasional

impromptu verbal interactions with the A fromoon audience.

Furthermore, the Afromoon theatre director should train the masquerade

performers in (11.: art of n ~ s k wcnring to cnaldc h e actors play tlicir colcs vccy

convincingly. Al'romoon theatre nmquerades should be seen as physical and

spiritual embodiments of the community presented in a theatrjcal form ~lleant

to sustain the Mrican theatrical cultutx ard tratlitlons. Masclucracli~lg should be

traditional forms that defied the verbal and 1x0-colonial European extcrn~inatio~l

movement. It should be preserved in Afidmoon theatre as a link to our root and . past lives.

5.6 Stage hlanager and Other Crew Members

In the Afromoon theatre organisntional functions, the stagc 111;inagcrs

have special rolcs to play in the Afromoon play productions. The stage niannger

organisation has being divided into five groups. We now have the /Irtistic stuge

nmnager, House general manager, House stuge manager, Pldblicity , .

advertisernenr rnart~iger-, and Gerrerul busirwss director.

The Afromoon Artixtic slnge nzmager (A . S. M .) should be an

experienced theatre practitio~~cr who has wide experience in directing and skqy

blocking. The person should act as an assistant to the director in ternls of'

directing and packaging of the play. He must be able to contribute meaiiingful

suggestions that are creatively and artistically suitable to the directing and

staging of the play production to the Afrornoon theatre director. The Artistic

stage manager sliould prepare the actor's stage blockings in his file and act as

stage prompter to the actors. He should master the director 's stage blockings

to enable him takc over the ~.eliearsal wllc~l rlw director is ullavoid;~l~ly ;~hscrlt.

Also, he should have good leadership quali~ics to bc ablc to i n [cn~c~ with tl~c

actors while working with them during the rehearsal&, Also, he should assist the

director in organising special rehearsals for actors when the need arises.

The Afromoon artistic stage manager should assist the Ahornoon

director during rehearsals to direct the actors on their entrance cues, exits and

entrance doors, arranging rehearsal stage furniture and also assist the actors in

character interpretations. Also, the Afromoon theatre artistic stage manager

should act as the secretary of the director throughout the production stage. He .

should writc down all the innportant spceclu n~iltlc by ~lic Ali.on~oon 111ci11rc

director during the rehearsal periods and note down for the director all the

107 relevant observations made by the cast and crew of the play production. I prefer

a lady where the director is a rniiil. Also, slle should hold meetings with the

actors after rehearsals to know what problems they are having with their roles

and give a soun, report an'. .,liggestion to the Afromoon director on how to

ork on the actors to come out ; besf ' ~--i?g the play production proper.

Again, she sl~ould act a:, :I theal~c: psycllulogist to the actors during the

performeebackstage. l'his will e:' :de the actors to be spiritually, morally and

actors that will go on stage with the director of the play production and take

charge of the actors waiting back sk~ge. -

Furthermore, the Afromoon theatre artistic stage manager should work .

with other cast and crew of the production towards achieving an ensemble play

production in conforn~ity with the directorial style and concept of the Afronioon

director in mind.

The Afromoon Theatre House generul manager (H.G.M) should he

anchorage of house organisation during rehearsals. The person should be

experienced in human management and should b i a good disciplii~arian. He

should be somebody that comv-mds authority and always ready to listen to the

actor's complaints and requests. He must be intelligent to be able to deal with

108 cunning actors that always itkc t r r :x;ve !wing rellearsals tl~crcl)y

holding the rehearsals back.

- e

Again, he must be physically fit to bc it - to conduct rehearsal exercises

the noise in the house while rehearsals are 11(: !:lT on, it is his duty to attend to

visitors while rehearsals dre on. The Afi-o~llci{)il theatre house general manager

during performance nights takes complete clmitrge of stagehands and properly

crewmembers back stage. He should also smkc sure that there is no noise

conling out of the back stage. A Inan is nwsi :,'.i(able in this task.

0 ' The Afromoon Theatre Houce S t q ~ manager (H.S.M.) should be a

female with good sense of decor and beauty. She should organise %le

arrangement of the auditorium. It is lrer duty lo organise ushers tll~itwill serve

the Afromoon audience during the pl; prcb d o n . #

It is her d~lty to arrange the pl:rlf n,-otiiil.,uon booklet and get i t shared

during the play production. Also, SIK shoulcl ui. ganise refreshment for the actors

during rehearsals and refreshment for invrr:d c'ignitaries during a production.

The Afromoon theatre horl:ir stirge manager should liaise with the

general business director to make fu~!i!s av;i:l;ible for her to organise the cast -

and crew parly .

109 The Afros tutal ' $ 1 ,r.e Publicity Advertising Manager ( P . A.M.)

should be seen as a custor~:~ relatir r1ffict.r. It is his duty to sell the play

production to the public. His duties are to organis beforehand post-production

posters to the public to let thc .IIOW about the up-coming play production.

Since Afromoon theatre play nroductions embraces all necessary modern

L a . li,chnologies, the A f ~ ~ m o o n theatre publicity advertising manager should use

the same media in advertising the play productions. He should organise a good

cultural production. It is also his duty to arrange the production of posters, and

-jit~y,lcs wifl~ r l l ~ Iwlp ~ I ' r l ~ l n Y O I I I I ~ (Ic,~l~~ter lor ;I 1 7 1 , : ~ ~ prodl~clion.

The Afromoon theatre publicity-advertising manager should not forget

that he is an African and so, rnust reflect the African creative identity in his

publicity adverts.

The Afronloon illeatre general business director (G. B. D.) should be

theatre personnel with sound business acumen and ideas - for thea (re business

management. It is his duty as the treasurer of th: play production to raise funds

for the play proc!uction proper.

He should have good inter-personal communication qualities to enable

him reach out to the public for firlancial support and grants for the play

production. Also, he should be in chwge of box office selling and ticket takers.

110

He should also make f u i ~ ~iv;lilailii hhe technical crew to enable rhern carry

out their 'constructio~ m-kS on tilrre. It is his office that should account for the

fimncial benefits gotten from the play production. Again, he should make fund

, availadt: for the house stage nlanagc. to organise the cast and crew party.

The Af'romoon theatre general business director negotiates play

production business for his rroup with interested customers of the theatre. Also,

it is his duty .to supervise and control a11 financial transactions on behalf of that .. . . theatre group. Hence, the general h i n e s s director submits his finallcia1 reports .

and accounts to the Afro~noon theatre direcw during the cast ;ind crcw parly.

A felnale general business director is rcconlmendcd here.

* 4BTER SIX:

SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSIUN

This research work 0,; illc conceptualization of modern African theatre

is a serious searr?? for an authentic indigeiious modern d r i can theatre. This

research work is a clarion call for all African artists to help in articulating its

practicality through constructivc criticism which will help in harnessing its

potentials as a new modcrn Africa11 theatre, t h ~ rliis work is not an cnd to itsclf.

The Afroinoon theatre is like a virgin land wailirig lo be culrivalcd. So,

African theatre artists should experililcnt on fh;s new African theatre and see

how possible it can bc adapted a~ld applicd in JiPScrent Al'rican tlleatrc 0

comrnuni ties.

The African governmelits should show concrete commitment and i l l i b l ibL

in the development and plurnotion of the Afromoon theatre through the

provision of infrastructures and technical assistance. Also, they should

guarantee freedom of creative expression to Afromoon theatre playwrights to

enable them pursue their artistic roles for the benefit of ;he African society.

~ g a i n , Afromoon playwrights s!~ould evolve a means of communication in the

112

theatre, which will not alien at^ ~ , i e A!'rican masses. They sl~oulcl cornn~unicalc.

in the language of the people where conmunicative English or French language

cannot be comprehended by the African nrasses.

The African union should establish a body that will be publishing works #

of African theatre creators, especially those African works that are popular and

unifying in content and practice.

Furthermore, the African Union (A.U,) sliould suiilnw~i a gathering of

tl,;atre experts in Africa, for the fornmion of African Theatre Arts

Practitioners' Council (A.T.A.P.C). wliich will regulacc ;rltd tlcvclol-, (lit

- Afromoon theawe practice.

The African governments, through the auspices of African University

commission, should promote the Afromoon Theatre through .exchange of artistic

programmes, pcrsolrncl and disscmi~ialion of' itif'o~-~i~;ilioti on AS~.o~lioo~i

theatrical activities.

The researcher suggests that all African leaders should see Afr-on~oon

theatre as a tool for cultural integralion and renaissance of the African theatrical

identity. So, they should endeavour to build the Afiomoon theatre known as

" Afromoon stage".

They should use the Afromoon stage as a cultural house built in African

113

style with the purpose ot satisfying the African audience's .love for communal

c lebration and living.

The researcher would sugg'. !hat all African universities that offer

Dramatic Arts, Theatre Arts, performing Arts or creative Arts should introduce

an organised theatre workshops that will help the theatre artists to experiment

on the New Modern African theatre.

The researcher would also want the African theatre arlis~s to see [lie

Afromoon theatre as a new guide to the practice of modern African theatre that

has ils roo(s. i l l t l~c African soil ;uld so, s l ~ o i ~ l c l Ijc numrctl hy ;dl At[ih[s,

allowed to grow to ~llalurily and ll~cn lia~ ~~cssccl fiw [llc pro~~io~ion a n c l 1.c-

direction of the modern African theatre praclice. WFnsrrr nF N I W ~

Conclusion O,WR ptp*

The Afi-onloon tlieatre is a revolutionary crusade in search of a new

modern African theatrical root. This researcli work was partially inspired by the

songs of burning spear (an African reggae artist in Diaspora who propagates the

African identity and liberation

Business", which reads, "Any

through music. His album track titled "Rasta

nation without a root is like a tree without a

root", talks more about modern African theatrc practice. This inspirational song

gave the researcher the needed encouragement to research on the practice of

content and conceptualizatioii.

Our moderr1 African theatre Ims being seen as a neo-colonial theatre in

African costumes. Moqt rnodern Ali.ican theatre pertbrmances ape the Europeari

and American theatres. So, the need to go back tc- ,wr African theatrical root

to re-discover our lost and forgotten theatrical practices that were termed

"barbaric" and "primitive" by our past colonial masters becomes imperative to

the growth and reconstruction of the modem African thealre.

The ASro~~looil tl~ca(rc is a ~woilm*( o f this gcnuinc sc;tr-ch f iw ;ill

authentic modern African Theatre devoid of western theatrical - practices that arc

alien to the African theatrical culture and philosophy. This research work calls

all African theatre artists to wake up from slumber and embrace the Afromoon

theatre as a new means of propagating the rnodern African theatre.

This research work advocates for totar de-colonisation oi' the Ah-ican

llicatrical mind ti-om the westcrn tlic:~rric;d incloctrination of their c*ulfural v;,lues

and practices from the practice of new modern African theatre.

The researcher concludes by calling on all Afkican Theatre Artists to

embrace this triumphant entry of the new Afromoon theatre into the modern

Thcatre practice of the African corrtinent.

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Hal1)T. Edward. Beyoid Culture. New York: Anchor Press, 1976.

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Harper, Peggy. "Dance". In Tlte Livirq Culture of Nigeria. Ed. Saburi 0 . Biobaku. Lagos: Thomas Nd, (Nigerian) Ltd., 1976 (p. 25-p. 28).

Kenndey, Scott. In Search of Africnn Theatre. New York: Charles Seribners, 1973.

K e ~ D a v i d . African Popular l7zcurre: From Pre-Coloniol Times to the Present Day. London: James Currey Press Ltd., 1995. .

Nkosi,Levis. Tasks and Mush: Ti'zrtries and Styles of Africun Literature. United Kingdom: Longman Group Limi te'd, 198 1.

Nkw%Marius. Igbo r * !rural fkritage. Vol. 1, Enugu: University Publishing Company, 1984.

Nzekwu,Onuora. "Masi,ucrade" Jn Ycmi Ogunbiyi's Drumu und Thoutre in Nigeria: A Criricul Sourcc Bvok. Lagos: Nigeria Maguinc, 108 1 .

Obiechina,Emmanuel. Funcrdonal ~ i l e o l ~ t g ~ ~ for Ajricun Stutcs. Oni tsha: Alio Press, 1978.

Ogbuefi,Cordclia. Errglish us u Second Lnwguage in Nig~ritr: An Introtiuctor\) Tow. Enugu: Magncl I ~ L I S I I I C S S I:~tkxprisc, 2003.

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Onyencke,Augustine. The Dead Amotg the Living: Musquerurdes in Igho Society. Euugu: Holy C;"ost Congregation, Province of Nigeria, 1987.

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,Sofola. Artist and the Trug~dy of u Nation. Ibadan: Ibadan Cathop Publishers Nig. Ltd., 1995.

JOURNALS

Abdul,R. Na' Allah. "Classifying Contemporary Nigeria Drama: An Audience- centred Approach". Theatre Forunil. Vol. 3, No. 1, 1092 (p. 23-26).

Adedeji,A. Joi.1. "Theatre Forms: The Nigerian Dilemma". Nigeria Magazine, NO 128-129, 1979 (p. 26-34).

, "T11c I'lace 01' D r a m in yo rub:^ Religious Obsc~-va~icc". 0di1. Vol. 3, No. 3, 1966*(p. 88-99),

Akunna, ljeoma. "Dance and Physicality: The African Experience". The Performer. Illorin Journal of the I'erforming Arts. Vol . 1, No. 1, 1999 (p. 22-28).

Amankulor,J. Ndukalai. "Theatre in Search of Form: Modern Nigerian Drama and it:; Audience". Nigeria Magiqz'ne, Vol. 54, No. 2, 1987 (p. 75- 7'7).

--- "The Art o f Drama in Traditional African '1iieatr-e: Issucs and Concepts", Tllc Muse: Lilcrary Jour-ual of' the Engl is11 Association a1 Nsukka, No 13, 1981 (p. 35-44).

Aniakor,Chike. "The Challe.nge of Traditional African Theatre: Towards its Adaptive and Transposable Potentials". University of Nigerian Journal of Literary Studies, No. 1, Enugu: New Generation Books, 2001 (p. 53-82).

119 1

Bakar5Jumo. "Community i i~.m I*; oject in Tanzania". At'rican Event, 1 089 (p. 34-36).

Enehwe,Ossie. "Modern Nigerian Theatre: What Traditions? " . r\l sukka Studies in African Literature. Vol. ! No. 1, 1978 (p. 28-38).

"Structure in the Modern Nigerian Theatre" Readjngs in African Humanities. Ed. lhekweazu. Enugu: Fourth Dimension, 1985 (p. 155- 166).

"Theatre in Nigeria: Thc Modern Vs thc Traditioiia'l", 'x'aie Theatre, No. 1, 1976 (p. 63-67).

Kirby,E.T. "Indigenous African Theatre". The Drama Review, Vol. 18, No. 4, 1974 (p. 22-46).

Nwarnuo,C!%:-is. "New Di~ncr~sions in ASrica~~ 'I'lleatre" . Nigeria Magazine, No. 151, 1984 (p. 40-45).

Ogundeji P. Adedotun. Ritual as Theatre, Theatre as Ritual the Nigerian &ample. Monograph series, Vol. 2, No. 1, Ibadan: Atlantic Books. 2000.

Otteh,U. Livinus. "The Director and the Direction Process: An Appraisal". Theatre Forum, Vol. 3, No. 1, 1992 (p. 1 1-12).

Soyinka,Wole. "Theatre in Search of Forum: Modern Nigerian Drama and its Aueience" by Amankulor Ndukaku in Nigerian Magazine. Vol. 55, No. 2, 1987 (p. 75-77).

*

U k q a l u . "Drama in Nigeria Society". The Muse: Literary Journal of the English kssociation at Nsukka, No. 5, 1973 (p. 11-15 anJ 36-38).

Fagbenle, Tunde. "DoorilLd on Foreign Language and Culture?". Sunday Punch; June 4, 2000 (p. 9).

Hornby, A. S. Oxford Advanced learner'^ Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Hug3F. Reading. A Dictionary of the Social Science. London: Rothedge and Ketgan Paul, 1977.

Terry, Hodgson. 'The I h r . ! i d Dictionary 01' Ilr-;m;i. London: R.'I7. R;~txord. 1988.

Encyclopedia Britannica. EIcv~ntll Ecli!iw, Vol . 5 , !..ondon: Cambridge Univcrsily P w s , 1080.

The New Lexicon Webster's Eincyclopech Dictiona~y of the E~glisli Language. Deluxe IZdition. !)anbury C.T. Lexicon Publicatiotw. I nc., 1 W2.

AUDIO TAPE

urni in^ ~ d p a r . Album , 1 , "Rasta Business". Track Four, Canada: Poli '\

Rhytlm, Ltd . , 1995.