Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Notes on Contributors
- Obituary of Efo Kodjo Mawugbe
- Introduction by James Gibbs
- Festivals as a Strategy for the Development of Theatre in Zimbabwe 1980–2010
- The Legacy of Festac '77
- Festac, Month by Month & Soyinka's Involvement
- The Dakar Festivals of 1966 & 2010
- African Renaissance between Rhetoric 30 & the Aesthetics of Extravagance FESMAN 2010 – Entrapped in Textuality
- Theatre Programme for FESMAN & Commentary
- The Pan-African Historical Theatre Festival (PANAFEST) in Ghana, 1992–2010
- PANAFEST through the Headlines
- International Festivals & Transnational Theatre Circuits in Egypt, 1988–2010
- The Jos Theatre Festival 2004–2011
- The Grahamstown Festival & the Making of a Dramatist An interview with ANDREW BUCKLAND
- Playscript
- Book Reviews
Playscript
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 May 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Notes on Contributors
- Obituary of Efo Kodjo Mawugbe
- Introduction by James Gibbs
- Festivals as a Strategy for the Development of Theatre in Zimbabwe 1980–2010
- The Legacy of Festac '77
- Festac, Month by Month & Soyinka's Involvement
- The Dakar Festivals of 1966 & 2010
- African Renaissance between Rhetoric 30 & the Aesthetics of Extravagance FESMAN 2010 – Entrapped in Textuality
- Theatre Programme for FESMAN & Commentary
- The Pan-African Historical Theatre Festival (PANAFEST) in Ghana, 1992–2010
- PANAFEST through the Headlines
- International Festivals & Transnational Theatre Circuits in Egypt, 1988–2010
- The Jos Theatre Festival 2004–2011
- The Grahamstown Festival & the Making of a Dramatist An interview with ANDREW BUCKLAND
- Playscript
- Book Reviews
Summary
Introduction: A review of a production of APTS,
subsequently retitled Prison Graduates
The production of Efo Kodjo Mawugbe's APTS, Acquired Prison Traumatic Syndrome, given in the presence of the playwright at the Efua T. Sutherland Drama Studio, Legon, Ghana, on 27 August 2005, represented a major outing for a new play of national significance. Sadly, the production was not as bold as the text.
In the course of the fluid, wide-ranging drama, the audience was repeatedly reminded that there were parallels between events in the play and the history of the nation in which it was being performed. The challenge of independence was alluded to again and again, and the audience became aware that they were watching a drama addressed to the Ghanaian nation as an historic milestone approached.
There are those, Michael Etherton among them, who have pointed out that it has been the fate of African dramatists to have their multi-layered texts reduced to simple, or simplistic, statements on national debates. My impression is that, though his play is not simplistic, Mawugbe would not mind the national parallels being drawn.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- African Theatre 11: Festivals , pp. 100 - 139Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2012