Play as Aesthetic in African Theatre for Development

This book focuses on the study of how play acts as an aesthetic framing device in African Theatre for Development. The question of the aesthetic in this mode of applied theatre has been a problem for most theatre practitioners, academics, students, community activists and development workers operating in African and other related contexts.This book marks a breakthrough in this new field of study as it enables those working in development communication and action media in general to understand how cultural practices are implicated in development discourse. The book demonstrates how play frames community theatre for development by allowing participants to engage in spontaneous activity. By selecting situations from real life, participants can construct fictional narratives that give form to the imagination. These narratives create new frames of existence that act as rehearsals for action. Although the playing process is experienced as both real and not real, it is within such liminal experiences that possibilities are created for a real encounter with development.