Collection Overview

This collection of contemporary postcolonial plays demonstrates the extraordinary vitality of a body of work that is currently influencing the shape of contemporary world theatre. This anthology encompasses both internationally admired “classics” and previously unpublished texts, all dealing with imperialism and its aftermath. It includes work from Canada, the Caribbean, South and West Africa, Southeast Asia, India, New Zealand, and Australia. A general introduction outlines major themes in postcolonial plays. Introductions to individual plays include information on authors as well as overviews of cultural contexts, major ideas, and performance history.

Dramaturgical Techniques

Dramaturgical techniques in the plays draw on Western theatre as well as local performance traditions and include agit-prop dialogue, musical routines, storytelling, ritual incantation, epic narration, dance, multimedia presentation, and puppetry. The plays dramatize diverse issues, such as:

• globalization
• political corruption
• race and class relations
• slavery
• gender and sexuality
• media representation
• nationalism