Theater for Development

Abstract

The Theater for Development (TfD) movement seeks to empower subaltern communities by using their own language and culture to strategize solutions to their problems. This chapter looks at historical and cultural factors in both the pre-colonial and colonial periods, which may have encouraged the rise of TfD. It examines more immediate influences, mostly in the post-colonial period, and how they have created diverse forms of social theater in different continents and regions. After an attempt to elucidate key theories concerning the practice of TfD, the chapter discusses some of its articulations with a broader range of global communications. Arguably the most direct progenitor of TfD can be found in schools and University Drama. One of the major differences between TfD in Africa and in the rest of the Third World lies in patronage, the source of funding and its direct or indirect impact on the ideological stance of theater activists.

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