Who's Afraid of Anglophone (Cameroon) Theatre?

By Bate Besong

First published in West Africa (London), 7-3 July, 1997 1106-1107; 14-20 July 1997, 1146

An unpublished 1979 doctoral dissertation submitted to the School of English, University of Leeds, England by Hansel Ndumbe Eyoh reports the Francophone Cameroonian playwright Guillaume Oyono-Mbia as having said that although Cameroon enjoys the position in Africa, being by far the country with the largest number of known dramatists – in the French speaking section alone –

“The Anglophone region of Cameroon has been less fortunate” for neither the existence of the Editions CLE in Yaounde…nor..the training programme organisized by the French and the American cultural centres in Yaounde and Douala nor the theatre Ecole in Yaounde, have affected play-wrighting from this region” (vi-vii)

Nalova Lyonga and Bole Butake in a review in ABBIA wonder whether it is because of the dramatic and structural complexity of a play, which repel the amateur. They argue that while Sankie Maimo is a gifted  poet, he does not seem to have successfully grappled with the dramatic mode. While commending the content of his play The Mask (1980), as “political, it touches on issues about scheming, espionage and unfounded recrimination; he shows these as haunting facts which constrain members of society to wear masks.’ (1978:158), they conclude that he has still got to master form.

This first important critique, which attempts to explain the paucity of dramatic writing and literature of Anglophone Cameroonends with what sounds like a triptych: “Hardly has any well-known shown interest in them” (159)

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Comments

[Ndim Bernard Ngouche]

There is every reason for the Francophones to nurse fear for Anglophone drama. Francophones only write what the government loves to hear for they are mostly cowards. They are choir masters singing to the joy of their masters. Anglophone writers write drama that is grim and bites to the core whereas their French Counterparts only go for the low lands.

[dango tumma]

only illetrates would belief that southern cameroons (english) is a part of cameroun(french)interestingly,those propagating this lies are frenhc camerounese and ignorant southern cameroonians who havent read their history, that ahijo illegally rushed in his military and occupy their country by force in 1961, just after the plesbiscite on the federation of independence states
of the cameroons.