Community in Motion: Theatre for Development in Africa

(Hardback)

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Africa has internal cultural resources that have positively influenced its development. Community in Motion explores the relationship between theatre and Freirian pedagogy. It underscores the urgency of refocusing development strategies on human rather than technical resources by showing how culture has traditionally played an important role in African development, and demonstrates the similarities between traditional African cultural paradigms and Freirian pedagogy. The author describes selected significant Theatre for Development programs in diverse parts of Africa and determines the extent that these programs find congruence with the teachings of Paulo Freire. Case studies of Botswana, Zambia, Nigeria, and Kenya explore in detail the ongoing work in Zimbabwe, specifically the Zimbabwe Association of Community Theatre (ZACT). ZACT's work is analyzed in the context of Freirian pedagogy in order to highlight the development of a community-based theatre operation that is national in its scope and international in its influences.

Reviews

.,."extremely informative."-International Theatre Institute
...extremely informative.-International Theatre Institute
[c]an be used as a supplement to other works on theater in Africa.-African Studies Review
Byam has written an intriguing book on (community) theater for development, indicative of the problems that typically confront informal education initiatives.-International Journal of African Historical Studies
...extremely informative.International Theatre Institute
"can be used as a supplement to other works on theater in Africa."-African Studies Review
..."extremely informative."-International Theatre Institute
"[c]an be used as a supplement to other works on theater in Africa."-African Studies Review
"Byam has written an intriguing book on (community) theater for development, indicative of the problems that typically confront informal education initiatives."-International Journal of African Historical Studies

Author Bio

L. DALE BYAM teaches Dramatic Arts at New York University and is an Educational Consultant for a number of education theatre firms and an international development agency./e