Paper proposals invited for papers of 15-20 minutes. Please note corrected deadline of Friday, December 19, 2025 for submission of abstracts.

African and Caribbean Theatre and Performance Working Group
IFTR 2026 World Congress 6-10 July 2026 
The University of Melbourne
Melbourne, Australia 

Working Group Theme: 

“What Theatre Does” – African and Caribbean Perspectives on Performance, History, and Identity

The roots of African theatre are ancient, complex, and deeply embedded in community festivals, seasonal rhythms, andreligious rituals. From precolonial para-dramatic forms like the halqa (circle) in North Africa, gule wa mkulu (big dance) in Southern Africa, and the Yoruba Alarinjo travelling theatre (Banham, 2004), to the syncretic urban forms that emerged during the colonial encounter, performance in Africa and the Caribbean has always been functional. It serves not just as entertainment but also as a “tool for survival” (p. 206) and a “cultural arena” (p.182) for representing the struggles, frustrations, and aspirations of its communities. This performative core, the power of performance to do things, to effect change, and to constitute reality, remains a defining feature in Africa and the African Diaspora. 

Since the political emancipation of the mid-20th century, a vibrant literary theatre has also grown, commenting back on the colonial experience and exploring cultural, political, and linguistic identity. This theatre, whether written in indigenous or colonial languages, often grapples with the tensions between tradition and modernity, history and myth, and the individual and the community.

Contemporary Caribbean theatre and performance are complex forms emerging from the legacies of Indigeneity, European colonialism, slavery, genocide, indentureship, migrations, and transnational communities. African Caribbean and the wider African Diaspora performance traditions have survived the “middle passage,” evolving into unique Creole cultures and forms like carnival, Vodou, and Santeria as sites of resistance, memory, and identity creation (Okagbue, 2004).

For the Melbourne 2026 congress theme, “What Theatre Does,“ the African and Caribbean Theatre and Performance Working Group invites theatre makers, scholars, dancers, performance artists, and cultural activists to explore what African and Caribbean performance does in a world of profound global change. How do oral traditions, ritual performances, masquerades, dance, and literary drama foster artistic experimentation and sustain community? How do they engage with colonial impacts, strengthen spiritual connections, and promote social commentary? We welcome papers and panel proposals that examine the function, aesthetics, and impact of theatre and performance from African and Caribbean perspectives, addressing its role in shaping history, identity, and the future.

Topics and themes may include, but are not limited to:

Performing Resistance: Activism, NGOs, and Decolonial Futures

• Theatre as survival and resistance
• Applied theatre and NGO interventions
• Coloniality/Decoloniality in practice
• Reparations and Social Justice Movements
• Indigeneity – Indigenous African, and Indigenous Caribbean cultural performances
• Caribbean Reparations Commission
• Performance in the UN International Decade for People of African Descent (1st decade 2014-2024, 2nd decade 2025-2035)

Embodied Archives: Memory, Masks, and Disability Cultures

• Oral traditions as living archives
• Masks and masquerades as cultural repositories
• Disability cultures and embodied memory
• Text and performance as sites of history

Stages of Empire: Pedagogy, Academic Freedom, and Decolonial Critique

• Postcolonial theatre and empire’s afterlives
• Academic freedom and pedagogy in African/Caribbean performance
• Indigenous, colonial, and Creole languages in theatre
• Africa and the African Diaspora in conversation

African and Caribbean Queer Cultures, Creolization, Identities, and Transatlantic Connections

• LGBTQIA+ cultures and activism in performance
• African and Caribbean feminisms
• Carnival, Vodou, Santeria, and queer invention
• African Diaspora as resistance and re-creation
• Linking Africa, the Caribbean, and the wider world
• Youth, gender, and intergenerational dynamics
• Disability cultures as inclusive performance practices
• Theatre as community-making across differences 

Sacred Stages: Religion, Spirituality, and Performance as Renewal

• Ritual and religion in African and Caribbean theatre
• Masquerade as sacred mediator
• Theatre as spiritual healing and identity work
• Intersections of faith, embodiment, and activism

Inventions and Experimentations: Performance Artists, Technoculture, and Aesthetics

• Contemporary performance artists in African and Caribbean contexts
• Technoculture, digital theatre, and social media performance
• Cross-genre and hybrid aesthetics
• Applied theatre as methodological innovation

Speculative Futures: Afrofuturism, Africanfuturism, and Global Challenges

• Afrofuturist and Africanfuturist performance imaginaries
• Theatre and migration, climate crisis, and inequality
• Performance inventions for social and political change
• Imagining futures through African and Caribbean aesthetics 

Submission Guidelines

Prospective participants are invited to submit their abstracts and/or panel proposals (maximum 250 words) through the IFTR website (https://conference2026.iftr.org/).

 Please also send a copy of your abstract/proposal and a short bio directly to the convenors. You must be a paid-up IFTR member to submit a proposal.

Convenors:

Dr. Rashida Resario – rresario@ug.edu.gh

Dr. D. Amy-Rose Forbes-Erickson – forbeda@bgsu.edu

Key Dates:

Bursary Application Deadline: November 30, 2025

Final Abstract Submission Deadline: December 19, 2025

Submission of Circulated Papers: March 31, 2026 – Members whose abstracts are accepted will be required to submit a
20-minute presentation in written or recorded form for circulation.

Please note that our Working Group circulates papers in advance to facilitate in-depth discussion during our sessions. The African and Caribbean Theatre and Performance Working Group welcomes new members and encourages prospective members to submit abstracts or simply take part in the group discussion during the conference without presenting.

About the African and Caribbean Theatre and Performance Working Group The African and Caribbean Theatre and Performance Working Group was founded in 2007 when the annual IFTR conference was hosted for the first time in Africa at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, with the aim to explore research concepts and practices from the African continent. Originally named the African Theatre and Performance Working Group, the WG was renamed in 2012 to fully acknowldge trans-Atlantic connections between Africa and the Caribbean. As performances themselves travel easily across borders, languages, and cultures, they are a manifestation of the rich, generative exchange and transformation that occur alongside processes of trade, war, travel, and mmigration. Today, the WG appreciates the mutual influences, shared histories and connections between African performance on the continent and African performance in the African Diaspora. This shift recognizes the historical high mobility of African peoples worldwide. 

Our members contribute to a broad range of international perspectives to our WG’s sessions. We encourage experienced and  new scholars to join. Please reach out to convenors if you would like to become a member of this group.