Drama 586 Seminar in Dramatic Theory

An exploration of theater, dance, and oral performance from Africa, this class will primarily focus on West Africa and South Africa with brief forays into Kenya and the DRC. We will consider a range of performance forms, including oral traditions such as the Sundiata Epic and Ananse storytelling; plays by writers such as Wole Soyinka, Ama Ata Aidoo, and Athol Fugard; as well as contemporary dance by artists such as Mamela Nyamza, Gregory Maqoma, and Faustin Linyekula. The class is designed to: 1) provide graduate students with a foundational orientation to the performative cultures and critical debates animating African performance; 2) prepare graduate students to teach with confidence African content in their future teaching careers; and 3) cultivate cross-cultural literacy and intercultural understanding through the arts.