This book is the first ever transnational theatre study of an African
region. Covering nine nations in two volumes, the project covers a
hundred years of theatre making across Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea,
Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Tanzania, and Uganda. This volume
focuses on the theatre of the Horn of Africa. The book shows how the
theatres of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia, little known in
the outside world, have been among the continent's most politically
important, commercially successful, and widely popular; making work
almost exclusively in local languages and utilizing hybrid forms that
have privileged local cultural modes of production. A History of
African Theatre is relevant to all who have interests in African
cultures and their relationship to the history and politics of the East
African region.