The idea of the African Forum for Social Theatre began through discussions on the sidelines of various meetings, whether in Casablanca, Tunis, or at the Theatre Forum Festival in Dakar, Senegal. It has since expanded to include Egypt, Mauritania, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and Cameroon.
These connections led to the first seed of the Forum project in 2017 through a meeting organized in the city of Casablanca, Morocco. The meeting was supported by the Thouraya Rich Foundation and Abdul Aziz Al-Tazi, and it was attended by six countries from North and Central Africa. This meeting laid the foundation for an ambitious dream, which is the establishment of an African Federation for Social Theatre.
But before any establishment, we had to first answer a set of questions. What is social theater, and what gives a certain theatrical style its social characteristic while depriving another? What does this type of theater offer to our communities, and what is its necessity? And what is our contribution as cultural institutions in this matter?
During the meeting in Casablanca, we realized that answering these questions requires a comprehensive project that creates a space for deepening the discussion and implementing its outcomes in reality. Thus, the “African Forum for Social Theater” was born, supported by the Arab Fund for Culture and Arts (AFAC).
After its structuring and support from AFAC, the project aims to coordinate between groups working on social theater in Africa through meetings, trainings, collaborative creations, and field research. This is to create a supportive artistic network that works towards spreading social theater as a tool for expression and the development of artistic skills, and involving the audience in an artistic and cultural experience as a right of citizenship.
The dream that began with the meeting in Casablanca, followed by meetings in Tunis, Alexandria, and other places, aspires to its ultimate goal of creating an African organizational entity that brings together all institutions, groups, and artists working on social theater. This aims to transform this art form into a force of suggestion and change in our societies and to become a radiant center for the aesthetic aspect of African theater.
And the dream continues…,
