Mapping African theatre in the 21st Century: Tradition, transformation and digital futures

Abstract

African theatre remains a dynamic cultural form deeply rooted in indigenous performance traditions while continuously evolving in response to historical, political, and technological forces. This study presents a scoping review of African theatre scholarship published between the years 2000 and 2025, employing the Arksey and O’Malley framework to map the breadth, scope, and trajectory of research in the field. Drawing on fifty peer-reviewed articles, books, and grey literature sourced from databases including JSTOR, Africa Journals Online (AJOL), Research Gate, and Google Scholar, the review examines the historical evolution of African theatre from precolonial origins through colonial disruption to postcolonial and contemporary developments. Key thematic trends identified include indigenous aesthetics and cultural identity, theatre for development and social change, political theatre and peacebuilding, gender and feminist perspectives, and the growing influence of digital technologies and hybrid performance spaces. The findings reveal a geographical concentration of scholarship in Anglophone West and Southern Africa, with notable gaps in Francophone, Lusophone, Central, and North African contexts. The study highlights the increasing importance of digital performance and interdisciplinary methodologies while underscoring persistent challenges such as limited funding, infrastructural constraints, and insufficient policy support. By synthesizing existing literature and identifying underexplored areas, this review contributes a comprehensive overview of African theatre research and offers directions for future scholarly inquiry, policy development, and practice.