Community theatre as instrument for community sensitisation and mobilisation

Abstract

Environmental protection, sustainable economic development and good governance are important issues of the century, and theatre can play an important role in addressing them. This paper contends that community theatre is likely to offer a sustainable alternative approach towards addressing these and other current myriad issues confronting the African continent. Recognising that rural communities are proactive agents of change, their exclusion from the design, development and implementation of community theatre activities, coupled with the difficulties in sourcing and securing funding for the promotion of conventional theatre activities, are only a few of the problems likely to be encountered. The paper highlights some of the potential implementation constraints and proposes strategies that could be deployed to effectively develop and establish community theatre as part of the African traditional system with a view to influencing change at all levels of the community in particular and the nation at large.

Keywords: African traditional system, community theatre, environmental protection, sustainable economic development