Page 20 - Thietre Arts

Theatre Arts For Secondary Schools

Figure 1. 8: African storytelling by the fireside

The audience of storytelling is always live and actively interacts with the storyteller
throughout the performance. As the story continues, the audience has to respond, for
example, enhe! which gives the narrator an idea that the audience is following the story.
The audience responses to the stories vary across ethnic groups. Some ethnic groups
respond with exclamations eeee! or mmmh! while some respond with exclamation
Naam Twaib! particularly in coastal areas and dii! in Kaguru of Morogoro Region in
Tanzania. Mastery in the art of narrating stories makes the audience active, creative
and engaged. In some ethnic groups, a storyteller can ask the audience what they
have learned from the story. She or he can therefore find out whether the intended
message such as educating or warning has reached her or his audience as planned.

Activity 1.4

Use reliable online sources, library or ask your elders to find out the phrases that
storytellers and audiences use in the beginning of storytelling sessions in your
ethnic group.

Rituals
Rituals are repetitive patterns of behaviour that are performed for a specific purpose.
They can be defined as a repetitive set of rigid rules or actions that stick an individual

12 Student’s Book Form One

18/10/2024 18:39
Theatre arts form 1.indd 12
Theatre arts form 1.indd 12 18/10/2024 18:39