Background
Amid the plethora of academic and cultural mediums, African Theatre, or rather the theatres of the peoples of Africa, remain peripheral. When there is any attempt to give the subject space, it is often a cursory wink and one does not need a second pair of eyes to stumble on ignorant, flawed or limited comprehension of the African character and body in performance spaces, oftentimes riddled with Eurocentric nuances, subjectivities and impressions. It is against that backdrop that The African Theatre Magazine is intent on making the bold attempt of creating an Afrocentric space for African Theatre.
By centring African Theatre in media and cultural discourses, the Magazine seeks to reinvigorate cultural identities, uniqueness and diversity of a continent in a melting pot, with over 54 nations and its diasporas, and each with its heterogony of lore, stories, histories and theatrical cultures. Through news, profiles, reviews, features, photography and other forms, The African Theatre Magazine celebrates the African artist and their art beyond the narrow prisms of ideology, genre, or age.
It is thus a platform for African theatre artists, thinkers, scholars, theorists and all enthusiasts for the theatres of Africa to tell our stories, redefine ourselves and control the narrative. This is a place to share our Africanness and Africaneity through the stories we tell and how we tell them. Welcome. You are home. – Nalubowa Aidah, Founder.
Vision
An authoritative source of African theatre information and a platform for artists, scholars, and patrons to celebrate authentic Africanness.
Mission
To Preserve, Promote and Immortalise African theatre through research, documentation, training, and dissemination.
Our Values
- Identity, Representation and Agency; the power of people to have the space to define who they are, be in charge of who tells their stories and how those stories are told.
- Diversity and Pluralism of people, cultures, ideas, and practices and how they inform each other.
- Collaboration and Networking; Community building within and beyond, and the power of Partnerships.
- Cultural Preservation and the abundance of our varied stories and the processes of history-making.
- Innovation, Creativity, and Storytelling; the richness of all our stories and our practices.
- Professionalism; the importance of effectiveness, efficiency, and producing quality work.
Why Theatre?
It’s simple, really. There is no space dedicated to theatre alone on the continent. And in the world where theatre has to compete with music, film and TV all which are so easily accessible and offer streaming opportunities and instant gratitude, unfortunately theatre becomes the ugly step child.
So, we want to protect that child.
Some people have suggested that we cover other performance arts to get more readers, but that’s a slippery slope in our view. When we start covering other arts, we’ll slowly start to give more space to popular films and musicians, and with time theatre will be relegated to a small corner like it is in most arts and culture spaces. So, we are a little protective.
When film, music, or dance intersect with theatre, we will certainly give it space. But that’ is the extent to which we can go.
There is so much to cover about theatre and draw more people to the craft. And we have the unique opportunity to do that at The African Theatre Magazine.
