The Concept of “Actor” in African Masquerade Performance

Abstract

The concept of the "actor" in African masquerade performance fundamentally challenges Western theatrical definitions of acting, performance, and representation. In Eurocentric theatre traditions, the actor is understood as an individual performer who consciously impersonates a fictional character before an audience, maintaining a clear distinction between self and role. African masquerade performance, by contrast, operates within a cosmological, ritual, and communal framework in which the performer is not merely acting but is believed to undergo a process of spiritual and ontological transformation. This article interrogates the notion of the "actor" in African masquerade by examining its philosophical foundations, ritual logic, performance structures, and socio-cultural functions. Drawing on performance theory, ritual studies, and African aesthetics, the paper argues that the masquerade performer occupies a liminal position that transcends conventional actor-character binaries. Through a comparative theoretical analysis of the Yoruba Egungun masquerade tradition, the study demonstrates that African masquerade performance redefines acting as embodiment, possession, and mediation rather than representation. The article concludes that any serious theorisation of African drama and theatre must reconceptualise the "actor" to account for indigenous epistemologies, ritual authority, and communal meaning-making.