Women's Voices and African Theatre: Case Studies from Kenya, Mali, The Democratic Republic of Congo

This report begins by quoting ARTICLE 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It states: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers.

Introduction

Theatre in most of Africa has for centuries been an important social phenomenon, playing a central role in religion, ritual and social practices, as an art form and as a vehicle for passing on information and traditions, as well as for expressing ideas. In recent years, theatre has started to play a role in development and as a means of political expression. Women and women's groups have also started to make use of this powerful expressive medium to promote equality in the home and in society, as well as to educate and advocate around their issues. This report explores the significance of theatre as a means to freedom of expression for women in four African countries: Zimbabwe, Kenya, Mali and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It provides an historical overview of the development of theatre in those countries, as well as of the contemporary theatre scene. It also focuses specifically on how, and whether, women are able to access this form of communication, and the reasons it is particularly important to women in Africa. Finally, it provides recommendations for reform both generally in relation to theatre and more particularly for enhancing access by women to this important medium for social change.

The concept of theatre has particular connotations in Africa due to its historical use for religious and ritualistic purposes, as well as to celebrate social events. In the pre-colonial period, a combination of activities including poetry, myths, songs, dance, acting, wrestling and even serving various dishes took place over a period of time, sometimes days or even weeks, in one all-encompassing performance. Modern theatre, particularly popular theatre or theatre for development, has evolved from these traditional activities and the term in Africa has, therefore, a broader connotation than in other parts of the world.

Popular theatre has a strong cultural grounding in Africa, which makes it an important and powerful expressive medium. Most African societies have strong oral traditions, to which theatre is closely related, indeed of which it is part and parcel. Social traditions, at least in the rural areas where the bulk of the population lives in most African countries, are for the most part highly communal, involving the participation of people from the whole community, often outdoors. It is relatively simple to integrate popular theatre into these social traditions; the proverbial gathering under the Msasa tree. For these reasons, among others, popular theatre is an important communication genre in Africa, which has the potential, if nurtured properly, to make a very important social contribution. Indeed, in many parts of Africa, popular theatre, or theatre for development, is the most common form of theatre.