French-Language African Drama

Introduction

African drama written in French has been as much a part of the literary tradition as established by French-language African poetry and the novel. Yet, this genre of African literature exists to a large extent in the shadow of the latter two. This is surprising since francophone theater enjoys, on the whole, greater cultural and literary credibility. The authenticity of this particular genre is regarded with a less incredulous eye because it is possible to confirm the existence of drama within the oral tradition. This criterion is not enough, however, to upgrade the literary status of francophone theater, which has been less successful, except for a few select playwrights, both on the continent and abroad.

The francophone theater in this article consists of dramatic works, published and unpublished, written by Africans using French as their vehicle of linguistic expression. Several factors have significantly influenced both the content and the form of literary African drama. A brief summary of its origins will help shed some light on the artistic features characteristic of francophone African plays and their playwrights.

Oral Tradition

Without delving profoundly into the early oral tradition of French West Africa, which is as varied and complex as the many ethnic groups that inhabit this region, it suffices to mention the important role of rites, rituals, and traditional ceremonies in the daily life of precolonial Africans. Although rites and rituals were generally connected with religious practices, they were often accompanied by music, dance, and, in many cases, formal expressions and gestures. The special masks and attire worn for such occasions were also reminiscent of drama. Although many of the traditional African ceremonies represented solemn occasions enacted to pay homage to the ancestral gods or to celebrate rites of passage, some also served as a source of entertainment, such as the ceremonies associated with the celebration of the harvest, hunting, marriages, and births. In a less elaborate form, elements of drama were also present in traditional storytelling. The storyteller, often the village griot (musician-entertainer), brought to life numerous characters through his dramatic impersonation of the various personalities in folktales, legends, and epics.

Colonial Influence

Africans were introduced to the European concept of theater for the most part during the colonial era as a result of the establishment of missionary schools. On one hand, the missionaries introduced drama to their young catechumens as entertainment. On the other hand, the plays they performed were usually based on the lives of different saints and coincided with the celebration of certain religious holidays. One immediately recognizes the similarity between the traditional African ceremonies honoring the ancestors and the tributes paid to saints through dramatic productions. Both underscore some religious practice or event. The missionaries used this rather uninspiring form of drama to inculcate and reinforce Christian values among the would-be catechumens. Thus, this period represented a pseudo-beginning of African drama performed in French, albeit in a European context.

École Normale William Ponty

Another important factor affecting the development of African drama written in French was the École Normale William Ponty in Senegal, which opened in 1913 as a training center for African teachers and officials. By the 1930s, this school was taking the lead in the study of Indigenous African traditions, and as such, it became the catalyst that gave the greatest impetus to the growth of French African drama. It is not surprising that Senegal became the first country to enjoy a modest flourishing of dramatic art; it was a major academic and artistic center during the colonial era and, for some years thereafter, for all of French West Africa.

The amateur performances presented by the students at the École Normale William Ponty represented only a part of the institution’s contributions to the growth of francophone theater. The students were encouraged to research, translate, and stage a major theatrical production derived from their African folklore tradition. Therefore, scholarly pursuits and artistic creativity came together. The various plays produced during the years when this dramatic activity flourished were inspired by the folklore of Senegal, Dahomey, and the Ivory Coast, to name only a few regions. Although the European influence still overshadowed both endeavors, it was an important time because the students drew on their cultural and literary heritage for intellectual and artistic inspiration. The result of this cultural diversity was that, while the Europeans were exposed to African culture and values, the African students underwent a similar experience, and each group came into contact with the folkloric traditions originating outside its homeland.

The importance of the dramatic performances produced by the students went beyond the walls of the École Normale William Ponty. As Bakary Traoré notes in The Black African Theatre and Its Social Functions (1972; originally published in French in 1958), the number of plays performed by the students in a few major cities throughout French West Africa, as well as a celebrated performance before a French audience during the Colonial Exposition in Paris, testifies to the popularity of the students’ dramatic productions. There were even a few leading African artists who were former students of the École Normale William Ponty, such as Keita Fodéba, noted primarily for his theatrical productions, and Bernard Badié, who translated African folklore and wrote poetry, novels, and plays. Despite the success of the plays, there were some drawbacks, the single most important one being language. French was the primary language used in all theatrical productions because it was the language of instruction and daily communication for the students. Problems of translation from the vernacular languages to French abounded. Moreover, the students’ audience was most often comprised of the European and African elite. Despite these obstacles, the École Normale William Ponty theater marked the emergence of francophone theater in Africa.

Performance and Publishing

Following the decline of the École Normale William Ponty theater in the late 1940s, African drama enjoyed varying degrees of popularity and success. For example, many playwrights did not get to stage their dramatic works. Unlike other genres, which need only to bring together the reader and written text, plays are written to be performed. Performers, costumes, technical arrangements, and rehearsals must all be coordinated and financed. The problem is compounded further when one recognizes many plays were performed but never published. Thus, the task of increasing the theatrical production of French African plays remained, in general, a difficult one for African playwrights. Moreover, most plays that were performed did not open in theaters outside the continent, inhibiting worldwide recognition of African drama, playwrights, and actors.

Nevertheless, some progress was made. The creation of publishing companies interested in the publication of French African plays (for example, Présence Africaine in Paris and the African companies P. J. Oswald and the Cameroon-based CLE) helped to increase the number of dramatic works that appeared in print and to make them available to a larger African and foreign readership. Although there were fewer opportunities to see a theatrical production of an African play in French than to read one, plays were performed in African cities, villages, and, occasionally, abroad. Establishing national theaters, such as the Daniel-Sorano Theatre in Dakar, Senegal, brought about the gradual institutionalization of francophone theater. Television and especially radio quickly became media through which African playwrights were able to produce their plays. As a result, African playwrights were no longer limited to producing their works, mostly for a theatergoing elite.

If African playwrights were successful in their artistic treatment of content and form, language posed a far greater challenge. No matter how acclaimed a literary work was or how well an African writer translated, transliterated, superimposed, or interjected African languages into their work, the continued use of the colonial language somehow always raised questions regarding the authenticity and linguistic merit of African creative writing. African plays written in French are no exception. Using French as the vehicle of linguistic expression suggests that African playwrights created work for a predominantly European and educated African audience.

The performance aspect of drama made it possible for playwrights to overcome the concern about language. In addition to body expressions and gestures, which are always part of a theatrical production, African dramatists made great use of music and dance. The latter was undoubtedly a carryover from traditional art. So, their inclusion in the drama created a familiar cultural setting despite the linguistic barrier for nonspeakers of French.

Integration of Genres

Including music and dance in drama is one of the major features of francophone African plays. It is not uncommon for African playwrights to make use of the vast repertoire of traditional songs and dances. The African playwrights’ techniques in using song and dance in plays may be similar or differ significantly depending on the extent of their integration into the dramatic works. At the beginning of the performance, the playing of the tam-tam captured the audience’s attention and announced the start of the play. Song and dance were often used to recreate a traditional African setting to highlight important moments as the action progressed or to bring the performance to a close. In Guillaume Oyono-Mbia’s Trois prétendants . . . un mari (pr. 1960; Three Suitors One Husband Until Further Notice, 1968), the action in the play culminates in a fanfare of music and dance in which both the actors and the spectators take part. Such a finale places emphasis on the role of the African play as a collective experience.

Other traditional elements originating from the playwrights’ African heritage gave francophone drama its flavor. The overlapping of different genres, another identifiable characteristic of African creative writing, offered the playwrights an excellent opportunity to experiment with content and form. The importance of this aspect of African aesthetics was stressed by the Senegalese poet Léopold Senghor, who rightly noted that a fine line distinguishes the different genres, among which African artists move uninhibited.

Senegalese dramatist Abdou Anta Kâ combined drama and legend in La Fille des dieux (Daughter of the Gods), first performed in 1957. The play is based on a popular song whose hero, Awa, reappears in the dramatic version. The setting is somewhat vague, perhaps a deliberate act on the author's part to create a sense of remoteness in time. More interesting, the playwright has Awa narrate intermittently a creation story, the events of which parallel certain ones in the play. Like the moon and Massassi, the first man and woman sent away to earth, Awa and Madhi were forced to leave their native village to seek refuge in the forest. Similarly, the hunter recounts the legend of Arissâ, a sixteen-year-old girl who died to save her village. Through telling this legend, the hunter convinces Awa, who identifies with the character of Arissâ, to sacrifice her life to save the village responsible for her exile. The notion of legend takes on a dual meaning in the play, that of both story and history. Kâ uses this particular aspect of oral tradition to underscore the dramatic quality of his play.

Verbal communication in proverbs, a technique that African novelists have popularized, is common in African plays. In Bernard Dadié’s Béatrice du Congo (pr. 1969), much of the dramatic discourse of the African characters includes proverbial expressions that serve indirectly as philosophical commentary on the events in the play. The character Niambali takes on the role of the African griot in Cheik Aliou Ndao’s Du sang pour un trône (pb. 1983; blood for a throne). In the past, the griot was the repository for the safeguarding and preservation of the history of the community. He was also considered to be a skillful and creative storyteller. Niambali is invested in both of the functions of the traditional griot. It is he who sets the tone for the spectators. In his monologue, which marks the play's beginning, Niambali briefly describes the historical setting of the events about to occur. He addresses the spectators directly to show that they participate actively in the play. Niambali’s brief monologue also accentuates the storytelling element conveyed by his presence and later through the dialogue.

The adaptation of traditional artistic forms for dramatic works provided a means by which the African playwright could mediate the problem of language. Furthermore, although traditional material stands out because it is embedded in a non-African language, this imaginative use of literature would still be found in literary texts written entirely in the vernacular.

The African playwright often diverges from the European notion of drama on the level of language, setting, and dramatic presentation. In terms of structure, however, most plays follow a standard organization that divides a play into several acts and scenes. Ndao breaks with tradition in Du sang pour un trône. The entire play is considered a single act, suggesting a certain notion of uninterrupted action. The nine so-called “ruptures” could be viewed as a compromise with the conventional structure of European drama. Still, it is also apparent from the example of Ndao’s play that French-language playwrights in Africa began looking for more imaginative ways to approach various aspects of drama.

An essential characteristic of francophone theater is that it represents a form of entertainment. In the preface to his play Three Suitors One Husband Until Further Notice, Oyono-Mbia reiterates this idea by pointing out that the raison d’être for his creative writing is to entertain, not simply to moralize. However, he does not deny the didactic quality of his plays. Francophone theater, in general, seeks, through entertainment, to educate and inform its audience. A look at the recurrent themes treated in French-language plays reveals how African playwrights dealt with the relationship between the medium and the message.

Themes and Genres

Historical plays constituted many of the dramatic works of the francophone theater. There were several reasons for this kind of play's popularity. On the one hand, the themes found in historical plays represented a carryover from the negritude movement, which emphasized the importance of revalorizing the African past, people, and culture. A dramatic performance was the most poignant way to reveal the importance of African civilization. There was also a wealth of traditional material that could be a source of creative inspiration for African playwrights.

Kâ’s Les Amazoulous (pr. 1968) is an example of a historical play. This dramatic work is based on the life of the legendary figure Shaka, the subject of numerous literary works and history texts. In his play, Kâ presents Shaka as the man and the warrior whose heroism has reached epic proportions. As a result, the author relates Shaka’s life to the issues affecting the quality of life of Africans and, at the same time, immortalizes the past of an important African figure. In like manner, Ndao, in his historical play Du sang pour un trône, dramatizes the struggle for power between Macodou Fall, the father, and Samba Lawbe, his son. Through the character of Niambali, he also alludes to the power struggle in real life. Thus, Ndao establishes a symbolic relationship between the events of the play and the sociopolitical climate in Africa.

Béatrice du Congo, another historical play, deals with the question of assimilation. This was an important part of the French civilizing mission in Africa. Dadié’s humorous portrayal of the Congolese king who sought to imitate European values criticizes this policy of assimilation. This is indeed a play that attempts to raise the political consciousness of the spectator by dramatizing the adverse effects of colonialism on Africa and Africans.

The initial appeal of the historical plays, based on the use of legendary figures as the central and dramatic focus, gave way to the dramatic realization of modern issues. Historical plays have been classified among the most successful literary accomplishments in francophone African drama. Yet, some have interpreted the political message they have evoked as promoting a unifying national identity or perpetuating elitist politics. One critic, John Conteh-Morgan, remarked that works by such playwrights as Dadié, Aimé Césaire, Felix Tchikaya U’Tamsi, and Maxime N’Débéka, although few, represented nonetheless a “powerful minority” within the impressive body of plays in francophone Africa. In light of this, there has been a move to revisit the importance of historical plays in evaluating the evolution of African drama.

The subgenres that have followed the historical genre reveal a shift in vision and thematic preoccupation. The daily concerns of surviving in the complex world of modern Africa have become a new source of inspiration and are being combined with traditional dramatic modes in innovative ways. Ancient and outmoded aspects of traditional art are gradually fading from prominence, but aspects of it continue to coexist with modern African performance.

Another category of plays deals primarily with the theme of modernism versus tradition. These plays dramatize the problems produced by a society in transition. Oyono-Mbia’s Three Suitors One Husband Until Further Notice focuses on the changing attitudes of the young, who want greater control over their lives but do not quite succeed in attaining it. The characters Abessolo and Atangana are constantly alarmed by the lack of regard for tradition. There is, for example, the problem of the young people who eat the meat of animals that are taboo. Oyono-Mbia also emphasizes the generation gap through the main character, Juliette. The primary action revolves around the members of the heroine’s family, who attempt to find a husband for her. Juliette becomes a victim of the whims of her family and the villagers, who all look to benefit from the dowry and arranged marriage. Oyono-Mbia’s play humorously criticizes the dowry practice and the lack of meaningful communication between the older and younger generations.

Rabiatou Njoya’s La Dernière Aimée (pb. 1980) is mentioned here primarily because it is a play written by a woman. On the whole, female writers represent a small minority in French-speaking Africa. Their creative works are important because they provide a woman’s point of view. Through her female characters, Njoya explores the effects of polygamy on the African woman’s life. For the most part, the female characters are portrayed as victims who have little or no control over their lives. Although the theme is not new, its treatment in the play reveals the growing interest in the sociocultural problems of the Africans.

Modern Innovations

Given the modest yet noteworthy beginnings of literary drama in francophone Africa, the creative productivity continued to increase, confirming the important place of drama in modern African society. This growth compelled more critics of African literature, in general, to take a look at its content and form in order to reexamine issues of authenticity, traditional aesthetic influences, and artistic uniqueness (that is, as the features distinguishing French-language drama from its Western counterpart), and to study dramatic works conceived and performed exclusively in the African languages. Moreover, the search for verbal and cultural authenticity served again to catalyze other significant approaches to creating African plays.

Studies have revealed the inspiring efforts of acclaimed playwrights, amateur dramatists, and actors who have experimented with genres, the end result of which has been the diversification of dramatic form and content. This kind of innovative exploration has ranged from the use of pidgin French, to drawing on local and popular language usage in an attempt to minimize immediate association with the parent language of France, to developing plays characterized by a more complex intermixing of traditional genres such as music, dance, mime, masks, and ritual.

One example of the appearance of new forms was the notion of “total theater,” which characterized the plays of the Cameroonian playwrights who promoted this type of drama. The emphasis was placed on producing plays that had an aesthetic relevance to the modern African audience. There was a desire to creatively validate the existence of distinct dramatic forms in Africa. In particular, experimentation with space maximized the union between actors and the audience. The plays incorporated moments when audience members spontaneously sought to take on a role in the performance, transforming themselves from spectator to actor. In a very different mode, Were Liking’s “ritual theater,” which explores the manifestation of spirituality and religion in the context of drama, is regarded as a significant literary contribution by a Cameroonian female dramatist.

Advancements and Detractions

It has already been noted that the presence of École Normale William Ponty was a historic milestone in the arts, its tenure designating the official period of the appearance of French-language drama. This era has been followed by the establishment of national theaters, the financial support of the French government as part of a campaign to promote its language in other French-speaking countries, the creation of theaters abroad interested in presenting the plays of African playwrights, and the organization of theater troupes and programs to provide avenues for increasing the number of professional actors.

Festivals, conferences, and radio broadcasts are some of the venues that have enabled African dramatists to acquire a larger theater audience. Important collaborations with experts in the field and staged performances of African plays abroad have given rise to an international presence. The portable nature of African theater has also facilitated its sustained popularity, especially with local dramatic forms that are less reliant on costly stage and costume production and the technologically equipped theaters found in Western society. The participatory nature of drama in Africa, determined by the interactive role of the onstage griot as interlocutor or the inclusion of the audience as actor, has also reinforced the importance and popularity of drama as a vital artistic expression for both the purpose of entertainment and the valorization of the collective human experience in Africa.

Although these factors highlight the advancements and growth of francophone African drama, other situations have hindered its development, notably the scarcity of professional theater troupes and actors and government policies in certain countries that have defined the parameters of artistic expression of dramatists, who, in turn, must be cautious to avoid obvious criticism of the government in their plays. In some cases, this has resulted in the creation of plays written and performed in exile.

Furthermore, cultural neocolonialism is reinforced by institutions and social structures' ongoing promotion and importance of French verbal and dramatic expression, whether the play is written in French or not. For example, the policy regarding submissions to a dramatic competition sponsored by France illustrates this issue. New plays submitted to the Inter-African Radio Drama Competition, established by the French Office de la Coopération Radiophonique, encouraged freedom of artistic expression, yet all plays had to be in French. However, favoring the French language did not appear to stop the flow of African playwrights submitting their work and seeking an outlet for the production of their plays. Presumably, in the face of circumstances arising from the language issue, French-language dramatists of Africa remain conscious, but perhaps not self-conscious, about the implications of cultural neocolonialism for their literary works.

As the twentieth century drew to a close and most African countries grappled with some combination of economic, political, and social problems, the development of the arts, and African drama in particular, was not necessarily a high priority. Yet, drama in francophone Africa is similar to the ebb and flow of its Western counterpart, which enjoys periods of heightened output when the arts flourish because of public interest, accomplished playwrights emerge, and stable private or public financial support is provided. Although such imperatives in forging a fertile terrain from which drama can flourish are less certain in francophone Africa, the persistence of those writing, performing, and promoting drama continues to bear fruit.

There was a rapid increase in the study of African drama in the early twenty-first century, and some suggested that, given the right social and political conditions, African drama and its playwrights and actors could become household names among French-language audiences. Playrights such as Gustave Akakpo, Kossi Efoui, Yolande Mukagasana, and Bernard Binlin Dadié, as well as many other noteworthy authors, contributed significant works of African Drama during this time, including La Soeur de Zarathoustra (2008; The Sister of Zarathustra), Escale dans le temps: le combat pour la dignité de l'Afrique (2017), and Testimony from Rwanda 94 (2019). Koffi Kwahulé’ is among the early twenty-first century's most well-known and highly-awarded playwrights. He published his first play in 1992, Cette vieille magie noire (That Old Black Magic), which won an international playwright competition in France and began his career. He went on to publish many successful plays, including La Mélancolie des barbares (2013; Melancholy of Barbarians).

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