3 Review(s)

Bringing together in English translation eleven Francophone African plays dating from 1970 to 2021, this essential collection includes satirical portraits of colonizers and their collaborators (Bernard Dadie's Beatrice du Congo; Sony Labou Tansi's I, Undersigned, Cardiac Case; Senouvo Agbota Zinsou's We're Just Playing) alongside contemporary works questioning diasporic identity and cultural connections (Koffi Kwahule's SAMO: A Tribute to Basquiat and Penda Diouf's Tracks, Trails, and Traces...). The anthology memorializes the Rwandan genocide (Yolande Mukagasana's testimony from Rwanda 94), questions the status of women in entrenched patriarchy (Werewere Liking's Singue Mura: Given That a Woman...), and follows the life of Elizabeth Nietzsche, who perverted her brother's thought to colonize Paraguay (Jose Pliya's The Sister of Zarathustra). Gustave Akakpo's The True Story of Little Red Riding Hood and Kossi Efoui's The Conference of the Dogs offer parables about what makes life livable, while Kangni Alem's The Landing shows the dangers of believing in a better life, through migration, outside of Africa.