Agit-Prop Theatre in Sierra Leone: The Work of Pampana Communications

This 14-page paper, presented at the 2008 International Peace Research Association (IPRA) Conference, examines the potential of the arts to promote development in Sierra Leone with specific focus on theatre for development (TfD). It argues that, if used in an effective and holistic manner, theatre can be an effective strategy for promoting development among a largely illiterate population. The author states that funding requirements have confined the practice almost entirely to only one of the three broad methodologies of TfD - the agit-prop methodology, a term defining politicised theatre - rather than more participatory methodologies. He suggests that the predominant use of agit-prop methodology, as dictated by donors, limits the potential of TfD and that a more effective TfD programme would require the use of any of the three methodologies as determined by the nature and purpose of a particular TfD project. The paper presents a case study of Pampana Communication's TfD projects as they, according to the author, epitomise the TfD methodology practiced in Sierra Leone.

Pampana Communications started as a company producing theatre for entertainment with the objective of expanding into drama production for other media such as radio and television. The paper looks at several TfD projects that Pampana has undertaken. One was a resettlement awareness campaign designed to help facilitate the resettlement of refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs). The campaign involved a community theatre tour of camps throughout the country in order to inform or explain the resettlement strategy and persuade the displaced people that they should go back to their towns and villages. Another was a theatre production designed to address human and children's rights issues in rural communities. For this project, the author says that a more participatory approach would have been very effective; however, due to the nature of the grant, agit-prop theatre was used instead in order to reach a wider audience more quickly.

The paper states that the examples of the Pampana theatre projects, which generally typify the practice in Sierra Leone, belong to the top-down, externally generated agit-prop model of TfD, which requires little involvement from the groups intended to be reached. According to the author, this becomes a one-way traffic situation in which the funding agencies provide funds to theatre workers with specific instructions as to the structure, content, and process, and these workers then develop their plays based on these instructions and pass them on to beneficiary communities without any contribution from them. The projects often lack follow-up plans and are rarely sustainable or bring any lasting benefit to the intended beneficiaries.

According to the paper, the better practice is one in which the beneficiary communities are involved in and in control of the whole process - from conception to delivery and consumption, taking into account Augusto Boal's notion of theatre as a new language of discourse and expression. However, this does not mean that agit-prop does not have a place within TfD discourse. As the author states, Pampana, using this method, has succeeded in raising awareness and initiating dialogue on socio-economic and political issues in an effort to bring about change.

The paper concludes that the optimal situation is one in which there is an understanding between communities, theatre workers, and funding agencies that there are broader options available and many possible variations where the beneficiaries have a say in which method is best in a given situation. Ideally, funding agencies would provide funds to use theatre to promote development without any pre-conditions or agenda. Better still would be a situation in which the TfD workers and beneficiary communities are financially independent and can do what they believe is in their best interests.

Editor's Note, December 8 2011: This document is no longer available online. Please contact Katholieke Universiteit Leuven to inquire about requesting a full copy of it.