Bunmi Popoola

Theatre of Racial Conflict Bunmi Popoola

Theatre of Racial Conflict is intended to initiate a debate around the issue of black theatre underpinned by colour identity as opposed to cultural identity. The idea is to take the colour out of theatre or performing Arts and make it more culture focus. As a theatre director the inspiration for this book comes out of burning desire to change the narrative of corrupted African cultural identity, recognising that to do otherwise is to embrace nothingness, and to embrace nothingness is to relinquish power and be subjected by those whom cultural identity we as African people emulated, embraced, replicated, and plagiarised unashamedly to our detriment without regard for our own cultural identity. It amounts to nothing more than self-enslavement. Black theatre, in contrast to Yoruba theatre, Zulu theatre, Shona theatre, Jamaican theatre, African American theatre obscures our individual story. Black theatre is a product of racist means of devaluing our story. Black as related to African people, and as applied to theatre is obsolete.