African Theaters Now: A Conversation

This exceptional panel discussion aims to lead to a better understand of the term “African theatre”, the evolution of theatres among the 52 countries of Africa, and this contemporary moment in Africa’s theatres. Who is making theatre today in Africa – who’s writing, who’s producing, who attends? What kinds of theatres are being created? What are the prevalent concerns being developed in 21st-century African theatres? What are the challenges of producing theatre on the continent? How does theatre play a role in the lives of contemporary Africans?

Some big questions to answer there, so it’s just as well the panel includes some big names. Opening remarks come from Abhishek Majumdar, Arts Professor of Theater and Program Head, Theater, at NYUAD – a playwright, essayist, scenographer, and director working in India and internationally. The panelists are …

Hope Azeda Playwright and founder/director of Mashirika Performing Arts and the Ubumuntu Arts Festival. She is one of the leading figures in contemporary Rwandan theatre as director, writer, mentor, and advisor.

Judith G Miller Professor of French Literature, Thought and Culture at NYU. Her many publications include several on Francophone African theatre.

Wole Soyinka Nobel Laureate in Literature (1986) and Arts Professor of Theater at NYUAD. A towering figure in world literature, he is a multifaceted artist-dramatist, poet, essayist, musician, philosopher, academic, teacher, human rights activist, global artist, and scholar.

The moderator is Robert Vorlicky, now Associate Professor of Drama, Tisch School of the Arts, NYU and a former Visiting Professor of Theater at NYUAD. On the editorial boards of several academic journals and book series, he publishes widely and speaks nationally and internationally on US drama and African theatre.