ABSTRACT
After the independence of many African countries from the colonial powers in the twentieth century, the question of identity became apparent due to the impact of colonization and the ongoing influence of neo-colonialism and globalization. In the context of performance, dramatists and critics such as Wole Soyinka, Ngugi wa Thiong’o among others who belong to that century made attempts to articulate, discover or re-discover the African identity. In the wake of the twenty-first century, modern African drama is still characterized by a similar identity crisis. Consequently, the notion of “crisis” is engaged in this chapter to explore ways in which the contemporary twenty-first century African playwrights are grappling with prevailing ontological realities on the continent. The essay argues that a preoccupation of “theatre of crisis” is a continuous question around identity, power and finding voices to speak up within the neoliberal realities. It concludes with a postcolonial reading of Afrika Ukoh’s 54 Silhouettes and Donald Molosi’s Motswana to buttress the need to de-center existing hegemonies and create space for a holistic narrative of a people.
