World Encyclopaedia of Contemporary Theatre, Vol. 3: Africa

This is a fine example of the contribution made by Unesco to the recording and encouragement of the world’s cultural heritage. Without its sponsorship it is doubtful whether this long‐term project of writing up the historical development, and current state of theatre, country by country, could have taken off, and have every likelihood of being completed. In its presentation, the volume is loosely encyclopaedic. The arrangement of contents follows a logical sequence of introductory articles that provide overviews of theatre generally in Africa, and of specific and highly characteristic aspects such as dance and mime. Then follow, in alphabetical order,...