Introduction

When most people hear the words "theatre" and "Africa" together, they probably wouldn't realize the connection between the two.  Especially during the 19th century (1800-1900's) because a country like Africa probably won't know what theatre is.  Well, with the help of the Europeans that had visited Africa, especially South Africa, they had introduced to them the world of theatre.  However, way before the europeans came, the African people had their own form of theatre.  Their use of folk-tales and how they would reenact them using dance, music, and various forms of costumes, that was their theater.  And then once the Europeans came, they mixed their old ways with the European's way and then African playwrights were born.

Dance as a form of Theater

With Africa, theater doesn't involve acting but rather all the performing arts as well.  Music and dance are incorporated into their ways of storytelling.  What may look like a traditional dance, it is also telling a story.  For instance in the clip below, it may seem like dance but it is really telling a war story.  Over the decades the original story has most likely changed.  Before the days of writing, back then people had to rely on oral story telling, where often times the story has changed over time.  It's as if you played a game of telephone, where one person starts off saying one thing and as each person passes along the message, the end person has a completely different story.

http://youtu.be/o1_cMTjoNtM

Dutch and British Influences; S.J. du Toit

One of the main influences in African theater were the Dutch and the British in South Africa.  When they came to South Africa in the 1800's, they taught the African natives about religion and opened their eyes to new ideas.  In 1801 the African Theater was built in Cape Town.  There was finally a place where visitors to Africa could be entertained by watching plays that European theater companies would perform.  The Dutch came first which is why most of the language spoken in South Africa has dutch roots to them.  The term "Afrikaans" is Dutch and the natives, such as S.J. du Toit whom you'll soon learn about, call themselves Afrikaans.  When the British arrived, they had influenced the natives as well, with their religion and other ways.  The African natives had learned the ways of the theater and the most famous play that came out of the 19th century was Magrita Prinslo written by S.J. du Toit (pictured below).

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/SJ_du_Toit_aan_die_Kweekskool.jpg

S.J. du Toit's "Magrita Prinslo"

The most influential play to come out of Africa from the 19th century.  According to Marisa Keuris, who wrote a paper about the significance of the play, "du Toit’s play lies mainly in the fact that it is considered by most theatre historians to be the first published play in Afrikaans in South Africa (Keuris, pg2)."

“Magrita Prinslo, translates to "Love faithful unto death” by du Toit, is a play in five acts/thirteen scenes, it is considered to be a romantic melodrama that tells the story of two lovers that have been separated by the Great Trek, but they reunite at the end of the play.  This play was the first full length play to be published in Afrikaans.  It was first performed on January 27 and 28, 1897 as part of the Second Afrikaans Language Congress in the Paarl Town Hall.  The cast was made up of 20 delegates to the conference.  It was modernized and re-worked in 1917 by S.P.E. Boshoff called "Magrieta Prinsloo" and it is from this modernized performance that had often been reproduced from. 

African Puppetry

Puppetry is an ancient art for that has been believed to have been originated roughly 3000 years ago.  Puppetry can be found in many places, mostly ancient places.  It is also seen as one of the earliest forms of theater, in fact some historians believed that puppets pre-dated actors in theater.  The use of puppets were not just for entertainment purposes but often used to communicate and animate the ideas and needs of human societies.  Within the country of africa, sub-saharan Africa may have inherited the tradition of puppets through Ancient Egypt.  The people of Africa in the 19th century used these puppets in ritual dramas and also in their hunting and healing ceremonies.  Below there is a photo of an African puppet believed to be from the mid-nineteenth century.  Today, puppetry is still found in Africa and it is still popular.  It is often in ceremonial context and they incorporate them into folk forms that include music, dance, storytelling, and masked performances.  The use of puppets still functions as a way to transmit cultural ideas and values to the people of Africa that don't have access to books, cinema, education, and television.

http://www.aaawt.com/morin/html/item/afam_puppet_folk.html

African Puppetry Series - Compagnie Julie, Niger

Masked Performances

Aside from puppetry, masked performances were also very popular in Africa during the 19th century and years before it.

West Africa
Masks were used in masquerades as a part of religious ceremonies to communicate with spirits and ancestors.  Although it was a religious ceremony, the African people treated these ceremonies as more of a performance. Usually carved with extraordinary skill and variety by artists that have had training from a master carver.  The art of mask making is a tradition that has been passed down within a family through generations.  These artist that make the mask were and still hold a respected position in the tribal society.  It is believed that the person that creates the mask embodies the symbolic and social/spiritual knowledge. 

Animal Masks 
Many masks from Africa during this time and even today represent animals.  Many tribes believed that if their masks were like animals then it would help them communicate with the spirits who lived in the forest.  The Bwa and the Nuna use these masks to called on the spirits to stop destruction. The Dogon of Mali also had animal masks and they used them in their complex religion.  They use roughly seventy-eight different types of masks within their three main cults. There ceremonies are mostly kept secret. They have an antelope dance/performance that they would perform for non-Dogons. The antelope played a key role in the Dogons life as it had symbolized a hard working farmer, the Dogons were/are known for being agriculturists.  The video in a later post displays a mask dance that the Dogons would have performed and that is still done today. 


Cultural Beauty 
Masks were used to show a culture's way of seeing feminine beauty. 
In a description found on the Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedia website about masks, "the masks of Punu of Gabon have highly arched eyebrows, almost almond-shaped eyes and a narrow chin. The raised strip running from both sides of the nose to the ears represent jewellery. Dark black hairstyle, tops the mask off. The whiteness of the face represent the whiteness and beauty of the spirit world (Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedia, Africa)."  It also states that it was only the men that were able to wear the masks and they would be the ones performing the dances even though they were depicting a woman.  They would perform with high stilts while wearing the women masks.  The photo below, as described in the caption provided from the Academic Dictionary and Encyclopedia website, is of a 19th century Gabon masks.  

Fang mask used for the ngil ceremony, an inquisitorial search for sorcerers. Wood,Gabon, 19th century http://en.academic.ru/pictures/enwiki/70/Fang_mask_Louvre_MH65-104-1.jpg

Masked Performance: Dogon Mask Dance

Bibliography

Keuris, Marisa. “Theatre as a Memory Machine”: Magrita Prinslo (1896) and Donkerland (1996). N.p., n.d. Web.
"S.J. Du Toit." - ESAT. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 June 2013.
"Africa.html." Reading. Africa.html. Web. 01 June 2013.
"Mask." Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 June 2013.
"South African Puppetry." Handspring Puppet Company. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 June 2013.