African theatre and the University of Leeds

Abstract

This paper discusses the impact that teaching and research on African theatre in the Workshop Theatre of the University of Leeds’ School of English may have had in Africa and elsewhere. After surveying the productivity and influence of the Workshop Theatre to the present, the authors ask if they have contributed meaningfully to the development, the promotion, and the excellence of African theatre. In addition, the authors question if the Leeds University Workshop Theatre should be ‘luring’ African students to Leeds instead of them studying in Africa. Was it a valid premise that African students could only get a ‘good’ education in African theatre if they came to the UK to do it? The best answer to these questions is that most African universities are under-resourced, so that access to good drama resources drives students and scholars abroad. Since most African students have very little opportunity to travel on their own continent, a community of international like-minded staff and students gives an opportunity to widen horizons and take something new back to Africa. Many Western and other international students have been introduced to African theatre in the Workshop Theatre. In addition, the Workshop Theatre has had postgraduates from at least 20 other countries. They learn, therefore, not only about particular plays and playwrights but also about ideas of performance and philosophies of life profoundly different from their own. Three case studies relate the Workshop Theatre's specific engagement with (1) Sierra Leone, (2) Eritrea, and (3) the ‘home community’. The work at Leeds, and that of countless British and international students, has been enriched by African colleagues. The paper ends with the question of how this can be ‘measured’.