ABSTRACT
It must be noted, however, that even as such initiatives are banned or frustrated by govern ments, the space voided by them is quickly occupied by forms of institutionally inspired theatres. The form of Theatre-for-Development, and more recently in Zimbabwe, the phenomenon of theatre road-shows for the advertisement of manufactured products, are clearly attempts at redefining people’s attitudes to developmental policies and to industry by means of theatre. The place of contemporary theatre in Africa cannot be fully comprehended without account being taken of the subtle and not so subtle ways by which institutional forces
attempt to impact on the lives of ordinary people through theatre. We need to develop a rigorous critical idiom by which to analyse all these dimensions of African theatre if we are going to make any sense of its relationship to history.
