b'T3 Journal - Student Writing in Drama, University of Exeter 2020-21 Helen Romeu Coombes Kirkwood, S. MicKinlay, A. and McVittie, C. 2013. The MutuallyTo what extent can African and Black British Constitutive Relationship between Place and Identity: The role of Place-Identity in Discourse on Asylum Seekers and Refugees. Journal of Community anddialects on the London stage be used as sites of Applied Social Psychology. 23(6), 453-465.Macpherson, R. 2021. PDF of Tanja Script sent in email to Aoife Rush,resistance and empowerment? An examination 19 January 2021. of Inua Ellams Barber Shop Chronicles. Macpherson, R. 2021. Private Vimeo link for Tanja sent in email toDissertation ExtractsAoife Rush, 19 January 2021.Pavis, P. 1985. Theatre Analysis: some questions and a questionnaire. NewHelen Romeu Coombes Theatre Quarterly. 1(2), 208-212.Rush, A. 2021. An exploration of the representation of cultural identities through the actors body in Small Island. DRA3076. University of Exeter.Hybridity and creolising EnglishUnpublished Essay.Seu, B. I. 2003. The Woman with the Baby: Exploring Narratives of FemaleSince the decolonisation of many countries following theused as an effective political tool, exemplified in Ellams Refugees. Feminist Review. 73, 158-165. Second World War, Anglophone African nations havewriting. This creolisation of English is not unique in the Smith, K. 2014. Challenging dominant narratives: stories of women seeking asylum.been left with the issue of choosing an official languageBlack British theatrical canon; many Black playwrights Doctoral thesis, University of Huddersfield Repository. for a multilingual society, and the neocolonial implicationshave demonstrated a sensitivity towards linguistic and Somers, M. R. 1994. The narrative constitution of identity: A relational andthat choosing English as this official language presentscultural mixture since their arrival to mainstream British network approach. Theory and Society. 23 (5), 605-650. (Myers-Scotton 1993: 9). This debate has carried over intostages in the 50s (Pearce 2017: 105). This pattern suggests Stand and Be Counted [SBC]. 2020. TANJA. [Online]. [AccessedAfrican literature, where certain writers have debated thethat this unique use of English may not simply be a finan-2 February 2021]. Available from: https://www.sbctheatre.co.uk/ effectiveness of the English language in resisting culturalcial practicality. Trinidadian playwright Mustapha Matura productions/tanja. imperialism and redefining African identity.stated that for him, writing in dialect was an important Thompson, J and Schechner, R. 2004. Why Social Theatre?. The Dramapolitical act (Matura in Inchley 2015: 82). Rather than Review TDR. 48(3), 11-16. Two representatives of this polarising debate are Nigerianconsidering the reasons why writers of colour use English, Yuval-Davis, N and Kaptani, E. 2009. Performing Identities: Participatorynovelist Chinua Achebe and Kenyan writer and scholarI find it much more effective to consider how they use it Theatre among Refugees. In: Wetherell, M. ed. Theorizing Identities andNgugi wa Thiongo. Achebe chose to write in English, ar- and to what political effect(s), as Matura suggested. In this Social Action. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 56-74. guing that this language, though originally forced on indig- light, I am inspired by Nigerian dramatist Ola Rotimi, who Zarrilli, P. 2013. Introduction. In: Daboo, J. Loukes, R and Zarrilli, P.enous communities as a means of control, now accuratelyemphasised that 2013. Acting: Psychophysical Phenomenon and Process. Hampshire:reflected the state of English-speaking African countries Palgrave Macmillan. and could be used to unite people (Achebe in WilliamsThe real issue should not be why an African writer resorts et al. 1994: 429-430). Thiongo, on the other hand, optedto perpetuating a colonial tongue. Rather, for the debate to write in his native tongue of Gikuyu, stressing that theto be worthwhile, it should bear on how the writer uses African writer who uses European languages is no differ- that tongue to express the conditions and yearnings of ent from the politician who says Africa cannot do with- his linguistically diverse peoples. (Rotimi in Carlson 2006: out imperialism (Thiongo in ibid: 449-450). Barber Shop126; emphases added).Chronicles sits somewhere in the middle of this spectrum, as Ellams writes in English but in a creolised and hybridThiongos questioning of the effectiveness of English form, mixing African and Caribbean pidgins and creoles,in postcolonial writing is a necessary conversation to and Black London slang with Standard English.have. However, it is specifically Ellams use of that colonial tongue that makes it so effective in resisting and Achebe and Thiongos debate becomes much more com- challenging the cultural hegemony of the stage, as it de-plex and nuanced when attempting to apply it to theatrecentre[s], destabilise[s] and carnivalise[s] (Hall in Williams writing. The theatre industry and its workers, like anyet al. 1994: 402) the very language that was used to sup-other industry, is reliant on making a profit. Furthermore,press Black communities in the UK and abroad. Further-it would be naive to not consider the obvious practicality inmore, I argue that Ellams use of African and Black British using the English language for an English-speaking audi- dialects and his playful creolisation of English is not sence. Unfortunately, Ellams cannot take as many libertiesimply a practicality but a political act of subversion. with his writing as Thiongo as he is aware of the limita- The way in which he uses these dialects as tools of resist-tions that a mostly monoglossic audience presents.ance and empowerment will be explored in the sub-Counter to Thiongos beliefs, however, English can besequent sections. 38 39'