ABSTRACT

A white American raised in cosmopolitan New York City, I am a founder of the theatre method being introduced to predominantly rural Burundian people as a conflict resolution tool. Playback theatre has theoretical roots in the oral traditionwe use no set texts in our work-and it was born of frustration with modern conditions of elitism, alienation, and art. Could such a theatre approach emerging out of the ferment of American experimental theatre in the 1960s have any relevance for the social conditions in Burundi, where there has been so much civil disruption and where the per capita income is $700?1