Description
Book SynopsisThis collection of essays investigates the way Africa has been portrayed on the London stage from the 1950s to the present. It focuses on whether — and, if so, to what extent — the Africa that emerges from the London scene is subject to stereotype, and/or in which ways the reception of audiences and critics have contributed to an understanding of the continent and its arts. The collection, divided into two parts, brings together well-established academics and emerging scholars, as well as playwrights, directors and performers currently active in London. With a focus on Wole Soyinka, Athol Fugard, Bola Agbaje, Biyi Bandele, and Dipo Agboluaje, amongst others, the volume examines the work of key companies such as Tiata Fahodzi and Talawa, as well as newer companies Two Gents, Iroko Theatre and Spora Stories. Interviews with Rotimi Babatunde, Ade Solanke and Dipo Agboluaje on the contemporary London scene are also included.
Table of Contents1 IntroductionPart I Africa on the London Stage, 1955–2013
2 Freedom, London 1955: A Story of Modern Africa Written and Acted by Africans, or Perhaps Not3 Africa on the British Stage, 1955–1966
4 ‘On One of Those Sunday Nights’: 50 Years of Africa at the Royal Court Theatre5 Biyi Bandele’s Theatre of the Afropolitan Absurd
6 Nigerian Political Satire at the Soho Theatre: Class, Culture, and Theatrical Languages in Oladipo Agboluaje’s The Estate and Iyale (The First Wife)7 Black Masculinity and the Black Voice: Casting and Canonicity in the National Theatre GalaPart II Companies and Theatre Practitioners
8 Disrupting Historical Mis-representations and Constructions: Talawa Theatre, Tiata Fahodzi, and Representations of Polyphonic Africa on the Contemporary London Stage9 IROKO Theatre and the African Theatre-in-Education Scene in London10 ‘But [We] Will Delve One Yard Below Their Mines/And Blow Them at the Moon’: Two Gents—‘Africa’, Shakespeare, and the Silent Revolution11 Interview with Ade Solanke
12 Interview with Rotimi Babatunde
13 Interview with Dipo Agboluaje
