Editorial

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Notes

1. One thinks of Wole Soyinka's Death and the King's Horseman as an obvious example of this eclectic mix of performance forms, allusions to diverse theatrical traditions and engagement with provocative thematic material.

2. For more detailed discussions, see Martin Banham's A History of Theatre in Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), a useful collection of essays on the specific contexts of theatre on the continent. Biodun Jeyifo's Modern African Drama (New York & London: W. W. Norton, 2002) was the first continentally representative anthology, including six plays with background notes and criticisms. It has subsequently been updated, with two more plays added. See also John Conteh-Morgan's Theatre and Drama in Francophone Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994).

3. This was particularly evident in the opening ceremony of the World Cup in South Africa in July 2010, where the continent as a whole was invoked, and artists from six African nations performed.

4. Achille Mbembé, On the Postcolony (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001).

5. Nadia Davids, At Her Feet (Cape Town: Oshun Books, 2005), p. 64.

6. Diana Taylor, The Archive and the Repertoire: Performing Cultural Memory in the Americas (Durham, NC and London: Duke University Press, 2007).