This volume draws together seven contemporary plays by female African writers, offering a rare insight into the work being produced by these practitioners. These plays, which are selected from writers across the continent, give a rich portrait of identity, politics, culture and society in contemporary Africa from some of today's finest writers.
The playwrights and plays included are-
Sara Shaarawi - Niqabi Ninja (Cairo) is set in Cairo during the chaotic time of the Egyptian uprising.
Sophia Kwachuh Mempuh - Bonganyi (Cameroon) depicts the effects of slavery through the story of a slave girl, who is a singer and dancer, and wants to win a competition and so free her family from slavery.
JC Niala Unsettled (Kenya) deals with gender violence, land issues and relationships between Kenyans living in and out of the country
Adong Judith Silent Voices (Uganda) is a one-act play based on interviews with the LRA Rebel Victims of Northern Uganda.
Thembelihle Moyo - I Want To Fly (Zimbabwe) tells the story of an African girl who wants to be a pilot. It looks at how patriarchal society shapes the thinking of men regarding lobola (bride price) and how women endure abusive men and the role society at large plays in these issues.
Koleka Putuma Mbuzemi (South Africa) A story of four girl orphans (aged eight to twelve), their sisterhood, and their fixation with death and burials. It explores the unseen force that governs and dictates the laws that the villagers live by.
Tosin Jobi-Tume - Not That Woman (Nigeria) addresses issues of violence against women in Nigeria, and its attendant conspiracy of silence. The play advocates zero-tolerance for violence against women, and urges women to bury shame and speak out rather than die in silence.
Each play also includes biographies of each playwright and the writers' own artistic statements; a production history of each play; and a critical contextualisation of the theatre from which each woman is writing.
