THEATRE AS A TOOL FOR SOCIAL RE-ORIENTATION: THE EXAMPLE OF GLOBAL RIGHTS & YARAC VOTERS’ EDUCATION PROJECT IN PLATEAU STATE
CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
Theatre can be defined as a performance for the purpose of entertainment, information, education or communication. The performance can take place either in a building meant for theatrical performances, in the street or market square. “As much as theatre entertains, it also has the capacity to provoke thought or action about significant issues” (Illah, 4). However, Theorists argued that theatre has thrived in the hand of the bourgeois for such a long time. They used it as an instrument of oppression and coercion. This created a class in the society that fostered and aided the oppression of the masses placing theatre in the hands of the privileged few in the society. Be that as it may, dramatists like Arthur Miller began to project the tragic situation of the common man with his work, Tragedy and The Common Man. His theory was further developed by Augusto Boa! who removed theatre from enclosure of conventional stage craft to place it in the hands of the masses. Boat’s treatise is contained in his work, Theatre of the Oppressed. According to Ngugi Wa’ Thiongo, theatre is a weapon and it is the people who should use it. In specific respect to Africa he wrote: “If theatre is going to grow in Africa, it must be fairly based on the lives of the peasants and workers” (6)
Therefore, theatre has evolved over the years to become a communication tool for development. In what is known as Theatre for Development, theatre is part of the process of changing habits, attitudes, values and practices that may be, in some cases no longer relevant. It allows everybody to take part (participation) in an activity (problem) that concerns them (development).
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THEATRE AS A TOOL FOR SOCIAL RE-ORIENTATION: THE EXAMPLE OF GLOBAL RIGHTS & YARAC VOTERS’ EDUCATION PROJECT IN PLATEAU STATE
