AFRICAN THEATRE 11

Festivals. Call for papers

A roll-call of venues and examination of programmes indicate that Festivals are thriving in Africa, and that theatrical encounters are taking place at those events. For an older generation of theatre people, Dakar 1965, Algiers 1969 and Festac ’77 resonate.

For those who have come to theatrical maturity more recently, some of those names now have a new meaning: in 2009 international spotlights shone on African productions at a Second ‘World Festival‘ in Dakar and then at a second ‘Panaf’ in Algiers. Meanwhile in Nigeria, the National Theatre in Iganmu, built for Festac, continues to provide a venue for performances and is the focus for discussion about Nigerian cultural policies and national theatrical ambitions.

The list of hosts to regular theatrical gatherings on the continent is impressive and triggers a tureen full of alphabet soup. The list includes Cairo (CIFT - Cairo International Festival of Experimental Theatre), Cape Coast (Panafest – Pan-African Festival of Historical Drama), Grahamstown (National Arts Festival), Harare (HIFA - Harare International Festival of the Arts), and Yaoundé (FATEJ - Festival Africain de Theatre Pour L'Enfance et la Jeunesse). While the bi-ennial East African Theatre Institute (EATI) Festival is peripatetic, rotating around the member countries.

The resilient and flexible festival format has been used by various groups including educators, politicians, cultural engineers, nation-builders, and prophets. After organisational tweaking and adding resonant rhetoric, they have used the format to give expression to a wide variety of ideologies, historical experiences and aspirations. For example, the Worldwide Festival of Black Arts / Festival mondial des arts negres referred to above as Dakar 1965 embodied Leopold Senghor’s vision of Negritude - with a carefully worked-out definition of who it was for and what it was about. The second World Black Festival had a significantly different agenda, just as the Second Panaf (2009) was, in turn, unlike the Panaf of 40 years earlier. Festivals have moved with African thinking and in response to urgent issues. For this reason the 6th EATI Theatre Festival (2008), held in Addis Ababa during a time of mounting regional tension bravely undertook to celebrate ‘Cultural diversity for African Solidarity and Peace’

Large-scale Festivals such as those mentioned affect cultural planning because of they become ‘flag-ship’ projects carrying personal reputations and absorbing huge amounts of money. They also provide intense experiences that can have an enduring impact on creative individuals and even shape national theatrical traditions. So, incidentally, can more modest Festivals organised on town, district or national levels. The power of theatre is such that they can decisively challenge and enrich the lives of creative young people.

It is against this background that the editors of African Theatre have decided to dedicate an issue of the journal to the historical, critical and comparative analysis of Festivals. Contributors are invited to work around the theme, to, for example, examine the organisation, impact and legacy of the drama component of post-Independence festivals in Africa.

Suggested lines of enquiry include the analysis of particular issues as reflected in African theatre festivals (issues might include Negritude, censorship, funding) or studies of particular national traditions through Festivals. (Egypt, Senegal, and South Africa are among the countries that have very impressive national traditions of theatre festivals.) There is also scope for analysing the impact of Festivals on a particular man or woman of the theatre, for comparative studies of, for example, schools drama festivals in different countries, or for looking at the impact of performing in international festivals on a particular drama group.

While the bulk of the volume will be given over to refereed, academic articles, space will be reserved for a play-script – preferably one written for a Festival. There is a certain amount of flexibility and room may be found for an interview with, for example, a Festival organiser.

Submit abstracts and contributions, following the style-sheet printed in each African Theatre title, as Word documents to James Gibbs at Jamesgibbs@btinternet.com or 8 Victoria Square, Bristol, BS8 4ET. Deadline for Abstracts: May 15, 2011; deadline for Papers: August 31, 2011. Maximum number of words: 5,000. Contact James Gibbs if an initial response to a proposed submission is required.