Children's theatre in Ethiopia

bibliographic database
Line

Periodical article

Title:	Children's theatre in Ethiopia
Author:	Ashagrie, Aboneh
Year:	2012
Periodical:	Aethiopica: International Journal of Ethiopian Studies (ISSN 1430-1938)
Volume:	15
Pages:	105-117
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Ethiopia
Subjects:	theatre children actors cultural history
External link:	https://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/aethiopica/article/view/662/670
Abstract:	When theatre arts emerged in Ethiopia ninety years ago, all characters in a play were performed solely by children in front of the Crown Prince Täfäri Mäkwänn?n and members of the aristocracy. The tradition of considering children as the main force of stage production, and the tendency of showing dramatic performance by students to the benefit of an adult audience, likewise, continued up until the establishment of the first professional public theatre in 1942. It was late in the early 1980s that a change in perspective occurred to urge the indispensability of producing plays solely for the benefit of children. Within a few years, this new idea led to the establishment of the Children and Youth Theatre in Addis Abäba. This article chronologically portrays the history and development of Ethiopian children's theatre and adds in particular to the account of African theatre and to world theatre in general. Bibliogr., ref., sum. [Journal abstract]