African Theatre and Globalisation: Nigerian Performing Arts in International Festival Circuits

This study investigates the participation of Nigerian performing arts groups and productions in international theatre festival circuits, analysing how globalisation shapes the representation, reception, and commercialisation of Nigerian performance on the world stage. International festival participation offers Nigerian theatre significant benefits including global visibility, audience diversification, and intercultural artistic exchange, but also raises questions about cultural authenticity, curatorial gatekeeping, and the commodification of African performance for Western consumption. The research examines the festival participation histories, curatorial selection processes, and artistic reception of six Nigerian theatre companies and productions at major international festivals in Europe, North America, and South Africa between 2015 and 2024. Data were gathered through interviews with company directors, festival programmers, and critics, supplemented by review of promotional materials and festival reviews. The study finds that Nigerian theatre on international circuits is frequently curated through a lens of African exoticism, favouring productions that conform to Western expectations of traditional African aesthetics over contemporary or experimentally hybridised work. The research concludes that Nigerian artists and cultural organisations must develop strategic self-representation capacities to navigate international festival circuits on their own terms. Keywords: globalisation, Nigerian theatre, international festivals, cultural representation, postcolonial performance.