AFRICAN DRAMA at JORDAN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

Introduction

Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" (Classical Greek: δρᾶμα, drama), which is derived from the verb meaning "to do" or "to act" (Classical Greek: δράω, draō). The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a collective form of reception. The structure of dramatic texts, unlike other forms of literature, is directly influenced by this collaborative production and collective reception.[1]

Drama is a branch of literature and is a performing part ofart.[2] Drama composes of a series of exiting events. It can be shown on TV, in radio of theatre. Besides, drama is a type of ritual, a way of expressing oneself and a form of entertainment.[3] From such definitions given from those references one notices that Drama emerges from the society by the fact that it entertains and it is representational to the society. Already from the very beginning the word art has been given attributed to Drama. Then one could comprehensively define drama as the representational form of art which expresses the social realities of a particular society which are either actual or fictional. In drama common things are done skillfully in a way that the actors impress the audience. It is believed that, people all over the world in all periods of history have used drama in religious and social festivals. In many parts of Africa, for instance, people celebrate the arrival of their ancestors in their region a long time ago by acting it out that is by repeating the arrival in a dramatic way.[4] Drama expresses the feelings of the people about their concrete or imaginative realities in the society.

   What are the essential elements of drama?

The basic elements of drama are: theme that is the central idea in drama or rather any interpretation, action or plot(means the follow ideas in a play, characters, language, music and spectacle. Also it includes other elements like voice, body movement, emotional expression and memorization. The use of all these elements in a piece of art constitutes drama. All these act as essentials to any type of drama. However, they may not necessary be applied at once in a play.

     Different Types of Drama

You'll discover many types of drama when studying drama and theater. The symbol of drama, the laughing and weeping masks, represent the two main types of drama, comedy and tragedy. Within those categories lie the many forms of drama that entertain people today.

 Comedy

When we talk about comedy, we usually refer to plays that are light in tone, and that typically have happy endings.  The intent of a comedic play is to make the audience laugh. In modern theater, there are many different styles of comedy, ranging from realistic stories, where the humor is derived from real-life situations, to outrageous slapstick humor.

  Tragedy

Tragedy is one of the oldest forms of drama; however, its meaning has changed since the earliest days of staged plays. In ancient times, a tragedy was often an historical drama featuring the downfall of a great man. In modern theater, the definition is a bit looser. Tragedy usually involves serious subject matter and the death of one or more main characters. These plays rarely have a happy ending.

 Farce

Farce is a sub-category of comedy, characterized by greatly exaggerated characters and situations. Characters tend to be one-dimensional and often follow stereotypical behavior. Farces typically involve mistaken identities, lots of physical comedy and outrageous plot twists. The things which are presented most of them are not really but rather fictions. It is dominated by unlikely situations and events.[5]

  Melodrama

Melodrama is another type of exaggerated drama. As in farce, the characters tend to be simplified and one-dimensional. In this type of drama the actors and the actions are so much exaggerated and often have a happy ending.[6] This is done in order to arouse the feelings of the audience and to deliver the message intended.

  Musical

In musical theater, the story is told not only through dialogue and acting but through music and dance. Musicals are often comedic, although many do involve serious subject matter. Most involve a large cast and lavish sets and costumes. As a student of drama it is important to be able to recognize these different types of drama. Be aware that in modern theater, the lines between these types of drama are often quite blurred, with elements of comedy, drama and tragedy residing in the same play.

    Importance of Drama

It is improper not to admit that drama occupies most of our lives. This is so because life itself is a drama in which every person has a part to play. There are formal performances that are those with an organized system and informal ones which we some time do without much attention to them. The informal performances are more dominant in children. They act concrete things they see in the society and others are imaginative. It is then believed and evident that, drama assists in the development of the following aspects in a human being who engage into it.

 The use of Imagination

The actors in a drama present either real or invented realities only to meet the feelings of the audience and convey the intended message of concrete realities in the society. Before any presentation is done, there should be a deep reflection on what is going to be performed. The actors reflect imaginary how to make the performance impressionable to the audience and so convey the message intended to the audience in a dramatic way. Even if the issue was real in the society, it will be presented in a way that the society members will be aroused emotionally to the issue and tae the expected reaction by the dramatists.

 Power of creative self-expression

Drama helps to build the sense of self-expression. This is important for the children. They learn to use the language skillfully, they learn to walk gracefully and easily and they learn to work with others as well as the ability to express themselves through voice and gestures using their body. Besides, drama builds ones behavior as the actor becomes the society figure. Also through imagination the actor introspects the self and correct errors which would undervalue him or her. This is evident for nowadays; drama is used in the learning institutions.

  Decision Making and Problem solving

Human beings decide and find solutions to various problems in their life. Drama develops the skills to perform these vital duties of human life. Decision making and problem solving requires an inquisitive mind. The imaginative nature of drama helps the artists to develop in them the power to handle their matters rationally. Besides, it is because drama uses performances where the actors need to live in a way that, their real life leaves no questions to the audience thus try as much as they can to avoid any kind of failure in life thus increase of life sills.

 Understanding of self and the world

Drama presents the reality in the society. The actor also belongs to the same society. In such situation one is in the position of knowing how the world is via the societal observation. What happens in ones society has no difference to the happenings of the other parts of the world, there fore through drama the realities in the society are uncovered. Then eventually one understands the self through scrutinizing his or her position in the vast world. For instance, the personal relationships, the nature of human beings, and the reason to why we do what we do. More over, through drama one discovers his or her talents and the weaknesses.

  Self-confidence, a sense of worth and respect and consideration of others

Dramatic performances build in self-confidence for the actors realize themselves to be capable, a sense of worth that is one discovers his or her own importance as a human being who can do some thing appreciable in the society thus giving one a sense of esteem which is important for human life and respect and consideration for others. In drama, many actors are involved. From such, people already learn to work with others who in different situations integrate for various activities. This builds in some one a sense of togetherness. For one to be able to work with other, it is necessary that the sense of respect and consideration for others is built in you for you to work as one. These aspects are developed by drama for it aims at improving the nature of human being that is to shape human beings’ behaviors. Drama presents the reality in the society for people to change normally from bad to good and preserve those which are good. Drama lie any other form of art reflects the thinking of the particular people and their philosophical beliefs.

    Challenges experienced in drama

There are many challenges or problems which are mostly faced in drama. These problems or challenges can be noticed starting from the time of preparation till the actual time presentation on the stage, even those which are in the written form, they suffer again problems in their own essential form. Below are some of the challenges.

 It suffers the problem of interpretation

One of the challenges of drama in most of the cases is the problem of the chief emphasis, and how the ideas, character, atmosphere can be presented to the audience. In drama, it requires much attention especially on the side of interpretation due to societal social difference on language and cultural beliefs, environment and people present on that particular environment being emphasized. All these can affect the outcome of the play[7].

 It suffers the setting system

The settings of the play can affect the whole system in drama, it is a challenge since particular type of a play has to have its own setting system which can match with the plotting system and personalities as well as the message to be presented to the audience. In short, setting in a drama becomes a challenge since it need to be authentic, appropriate, attractive, realistic and romantic, not showing any problem of human relationship, and at the same time, showing the real life as it really is[8].

Difficult in Character analysis

Another challenge comes again on the character formation and their role, since each and every type of drama or play has to have special characters, it becomes very difficult to find the good characters and train the real characters who can manage to reveal their true self, showing the true to life story, those leading character who can present the real driving force and convincing points in their action[9]. 

Lack of technical ways of presenting a specific drama

A drama has to show whether it is a medieval mystery play (bible stories or allegorical mysteries), chronic play (historical scenes and characters), or masques (allegorical, involving much in singing and dancing). Hence, there must be a consideration on the types of drama or play to be considered with clear outlook of which it becomes an obstacle if somebody knows nothing about them.Again, Drama is the most dependent of art forms. The director, actors, scene and costume designers must interpret before the audience something of which can be taken as a challenge again[10].

 Lack of some essential requirements by the Actors

There are some small things in a play which are very essential and needs to be observed by the characters when dramatizing, these thing can be; the respect of the player when playing his part, his fellow players, and his audience, the aspect of having the imagination, enough to create character for us instead of merely exploiting his own personality, and at the same time,  the player should have a technical equipment in his 'voice, facial expression, bodily poise, gesture, and by-play that enables him or her to project the character as he or she conceives it[11].

 

Lack of good presentation of the essential features in a play or drama

In every drama there has to be a clear and good presentation of essential features which has to be in an orderly manner, things like climax, dramatic irony, catastrophe, foreshadowing, metaphors and similes, all these need to be presented. Whether the play is tragedy or a mere light comedy, it has to be seen and observed by the audience.

         An Understanding of Africa Drama

Then to my understanding, African drama means the artistic presentation from Africa and for the Africans. This means the Drama to be African; it should be about the Africa and or the Africans themselves. African drama talks of Africa as a continent or the context of the African societies or about the people of Africa. It can be presented by the Africans themselves or the non-Africans on the African soil or outside the African soil. In ancient Africa, there existed various forms of art which expressed an occasional or occupational role in the society. This is to say that in Africa no artistic work was done for nothing. The different forms of art which took place in Africa did not only intend to entertain people but to portray an important occasion or occupation preceding the particular form of Art. In Africa the Artistic works were in different forms like drama, music, story telling and dances. Besides, these arts were expressed orally and nothing was done purposeless.

As opposed to western drama, African drama has a unique feature of being based on the community. In Africa, drama was not meant for business purpose but a communal based function. It means the audience and the actors are closely connected with each other. For instance, in some societies, people performed various dramatic ceremonies connected with crops, healing, birth and death.[12] Some other dramatic performances were linked with rituals. In such circumstances, drama was not only used as an entertaining tool but also as a means for keeping memory of the event which took place in the society. This nature of African Drama is quiet different from western drama where the actors commercialize their art. They act in a theatre before the audience after being paid or for one to attend the performance he or she must pay money. Today the Africans have changed; Drama as it is with other forms of art has been commercialized.

Cyprian Kikoti sharing hehe local brew "ulanzi"with his friend

Conclusion

Drama is very important in the life of human beings. It has been witnessed that drama as one of the forms of art has existed ever since human beings started living together. This means that drama reflects the feelings of the people in the society. This is actually the connection between art and society that drama ( for of art ) expresses the reality found in the society and the people involved are the members of the society.

Together with the importance of drama discussed above, today drama has become a source of employment. Many people are involved in drama which are commercially based. It has saved to reduce the number of unemployed members of the society. Besides, drama entertains the people and acts as healing to people’s stresses of life. This is so because the themes which are raised in drama teach people. As a result of this, people change their attitudes towards various social realities.

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[1] htt://www. dramaed.n.

[2]A.S.,HORNBY, Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English,365.

[3]Drama, in African Encyclopedia, 171.

[4]Drama, in African Encyclopedia, 171.

[5] Cf., A.S., HORNBY, Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English, 4^th ed., 440.

[6]Cf., A.S., HORNBY, Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English, 4^th ed.,775.

[7] Cf.Aristotle, The Poetics of Aristotle, 169. Trans. Stephen Halliwell.

[8]Cf . R, Alice. To Act, To Do, To Perform: Drama and the Phenomenology of Action, 81.

[9]Cf. B, Bertolt. Brecht on Theatre: The Development of an Aesthetic,176.

[10] Cf. R, Joseph. The Player’s Passion: Studies in the Science of Acting,87.

[11] Cf. B, Augusto. Theater of the Oppressed, 57.Trans. Charles A. McBride and Maria-Odilia Leal McBride.

[12]Drama, in African Encyclopedia, 171.

How do I look Guys??? (Tito Philip)

Richard Lusaluwa Kelvin unasikitika nini???

Moses Rondo  giving a presentation on African Drama

The lecturer Mr. Koffi Soukou Laurent (left) and The Dean of Students/Head of African Studies Department Mr. Henry Umeodum

Local brew from the Wahehe of Iringa. They call it "uulasi" - ULANZI

Richard Lusaluwa wifuluma hela!!!!!

Mathew Gaithan Kilamlya druming.

Sometimes our young men and women after acquiring education think that African lifestyle is primitive. They shun it and try to copy from Europeans and Americans. This brings forth the issue of African identity. WHO IS AN AFRICAN???