
A masterclass exploring theatre in French-speaking Africa!
The Académie Charles-Dullin, in partnership with the Institut français and the Campus of the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), has produced a masterclass on theatre in French-speaking Africa. Available free of charge online, this masterclass offers you the opportunity to meet theatre professionals in French-speaking Africa via 12 videos, which give the floor to 22 playwrights, directors, actors and cultural entrepreneurs from 15 African countries.
Updated on 30/03/2022
2 min
The masterclass will be available on the website of the Académie Charles-Dullin, a training organisation specialising in MOOC production and masterclasses in theatrical practice, and will be hosted by Fun Mooc (France Université Numérique - a platform set up by the Ministry of Higher Education and Research which offers a list of free online courses open to all). It is available in subtitled versions in 4 languages: French, English, Spanish and Portuguese.
Throughout the year, webinars will also be offered to allow space for reflection and discussion on the themes of the masterclass.
The objective is above all to discover French-speaking theatre, its history and its problems, but also to allow the networking of the various stakeholders while facilitating discussion and the sharing of experiences.

Let's talk about theatre in French-speaking Africa!
This masterclass is a foray into the history of an art form that professionals present as "a weapon of collective and individual transformation". In its quest for artistic and political empowerment, theatre in French-speaking Africa takes a variety of forms of expression.
Beyond specific forms, the actors who support African theatre campaign as much for its institutionalisation and professionalisation as for the emergence of specific sources of funding. This is why the masterclass will also focus, through experiences, on issues of creation and dissemination: economic models, networking, new scenes, perspectives and sustainability... through iconic personalities and also with a new, active and daring generation.
The masterclass is addressed to professionals in the theatrical ecosystem of French-speaking Africa (directors, actors, administrators, technicians, etc.) as well as to organisations interested in theatrical practice as a lever for development and awareness and to any audiences worldwide who want to discover and better understand the theatre.
The masterclass in 3 points!
The format
With a total duration of 2h45mn, the 12 videos are divided as follows:
- A brief history of theatre in French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa
- Highlighting two forms of theatre for social action: Koteba and intervention theatre
- To understand the impact of theatre on an individual, collective and societal scale, its significant role on the economy and its influence in thinking about territories and their development
- To identify the needs for structuring the artistic sector in Africa and the challenges to be met in order to consolidate its place on the international scene.
The speakers
- Carole Karemera, Actress, dancer, saxophonist, director | Belgium - Rwanda
- Ousmane Alédji, Writer, playwright | Benin
- Sèdjro Giovanni Houansou, Author and director | Benin
- Jacques Banyankindagiye, Director General of the Maison de la Francophonie in Burundi | Burundi
- Serge Aimé Coulibaly, Dancer, choreographer and actor | Burkina Faso
- Etienne Minoungou, Actor, director, playwright | Burkina Faso
- Aristide Tarnagda, Author, playwright, actor and director | Burkina Faso
- Rivardo Niyonizigiye, Actor, scriptwriter, writer | Burundi
- Edouard Elvis Bvouma Author, director and actor | Cameroon
- Vincent Mambachaka, Actor, director | Central African Republic
- Sylvie Dyclo-Pomos Author, actor and director | Congo
- Dieudonné Niangouna, Playwright, Actor, Director | Congo
- Israël Tshipamba, Director, author, playwright | Congo (DRC)
- Fatou Sy, Author and playwright | Cote d'Ivoire
- Souleymane Bah, Author, director | France - Guinea
- Adama Traoré, Playwright, director and actor | Mali
- Victor De Oliveira, Actor and director | Mozambique
- Patricia Gomis, Dancer, actress, director | Senegal
- Djibril Goudiaby, Actor, director | Senegal
- Bonaventure Madjitoubangar, Actor | Chad
- Elemawusi Agbedjidji, Author, actor and director | Togo
- Basile Yawanké, Actor, author, director | Togo
The producers
Académie Charles-Dullin
Founded in 1921, by the actor and director Charles Dullin, the ECD has developed an original and innovative approach to training in directing through MOOCs and masterclasses focused on the fundamentals of theatrical practice. The online training courses are open to all and are aimed at professionals, amateurs and theatre enthusiasts. The Académie Charles-Dullin's pedagogy is that of the "school of the eye", based on the idea that it is by discovering the different ways of practising theatre that one can find one's own.
In its MOOCs, the school has conducted more than 50 interviews with leading directors from the European theatre scene. These artists share their experience and vision of theatre in thematic courses written by experts and professionals in the field. Since 2018, more than 11,000 people have registered across the countries of the French-speaking world.
THE AFD
Agence Française de Développement is part of the French official development assistance system, which finances projects that contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through various means (grants, loans, etc.).
The AFD Campus is the AFD Group entity dedicated to training its partners and sharing knowledge and experience. Operating from Marseille, and in many countries, it has provided an original educational offering to support major economic, social and environmental transitions. Its innovative methodologies, based on the cross-fertilisation of knowledge, the facilitation of collective intelligence and active learning formats, enable development stakeholders to learn differently and to acquire the skills and attitudes required for the success of high-impact initiatives, projects and policies.
The Institut français
The Institut français is a public institution responsible for French cultural actions abroad. The Institut français, under the aegis of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture, actively contributes to France’s soft diplomacy. Its projects and programs take local contexts into account and can be successfully implemented thanks to the vast network of the French Embassies’ cultural services, as well as the many Instituts français and Alliances Françaises present across five continents.