The Theatres of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia: Performance Traditions of the Maghreb(Studies in International Performance)

Traditionally, Western theatre studies was concerned almost entirely with Europe and the United States. During the late twentieth century this interest expanded to include other important traditions in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America, but the Arab world remained largely unexplored by theatre scholars, mistakenly assuming a monolithic Islamic opposition to such expression. In recent years this prejudice has begun to fade and significant studies of this region, so central to modern global concerns, have begun to appear. So far, these have primarily considered Middle Eastern theatre. Theatre and performance in the Maghreb (Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco) still remain largely unexplored even by Arab scholars, although all three of these nations have produced major modern theatre artists and provide rich and fascinating case studies of the negations between tradition and modernity within the modern post-colonial and global culture. This book provides the first detailed analysis of their contributions.

Table of Contents:
List of Illustrations Introduction PART I: THE PRE-COLONIAL MAGHREB The Roman Maghreb Orature The Halqa Shadow Plays and Costumed Performers Carnival and Ritual Performance PART II: COLONIAL THEATRE IN THE MAGHREB Nineteenth Century European Theatres The First Arab Performances The Developing Maghreb Stage The Theatre of Resistance Islam and the Colonial Stage From the Second World War to Independence PART III: POST COLONIAL THEATRE IN THE MAGHREB The Early Theatres of Independence, 1956-1970 Developing National Traditions, 1970-1990 Entering a New Century, 1990-2010 Conclusion Bibliography Index

About the Author :
KHALID AMINE Professor of Performance Studies at Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Tetouan, Morocco. He was a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Interweaving Performance Cultures, Free University, Berlin, Germany (2008-2010). Since 2006, he has been President of the International Centre for Performance Studies (ICPS) in Tangier, Morocco. Among his published books are Fields of Silence in Moroccan Theatre and Dramatic Art and the Myth of Origins: Fields of Silence. MARVIN CARLSON Sidney E. Cohn Distinguished Professor of Theatre, Comparative Literature and Middle Eastern Studies at the Graduate Centre, CUNY, USA. He has received an honorary doctorate from the University of Athens, Greece, the ATHE Career Achievement Award, the ASTR Distinguished Scholarship Award, the George Jean Nathan Award and the Calloway Prize.