The Thesis and Synthesis of Production Philosophy in the African Literary Theatre Directing

Abstract

What type of production is this? Is the performance a tragedy or comedy? Is this performance a revival of the neo-classical theatre or a little to classicism? This production to me has no clear-cut directorial concept or am I wrong? The four questions above are the product of dramatic curiosity and theatrical dissatisfaction on the part of the critical theatre audience. The failure and lack of good production philosophy in play directing, an art humbly led by the play director is, therefore, partly responsible for bad and artistically unsatisfactory performances. Considering the dramatic and theatrical relevance of production philosophy in the theatre, this paper, through the deductive and analytical methods examines the thesis and synthesis of production philosophy in the African literary theatre directing. We observe that a performance will make meaning to members of the audience if it is critically articulated within a well – thought out philosophy other than the ‘fancy of imagination’ of the artistic director and that the thesis (theoretical idiosyncrasies) and synthesis (practical realities) of any production should be understood and merged together in the director’s creative interpretation. We conclude by emphasizing the imperativeness of production philosophy in the making of the African literary theatre directing.