Interculturalism in Nigerian Theatre: Mapping the Creative Dialogue Between African and Western Performance Traditions

This study maps the creative dialogue between African and Western performance traditions in Nigerian intercultural theatre, examining how Nigerian practitioners negotiate, resist, and innovate within intercultural performance frameworks. Intercultural theatre, which involves the creative exchange and synthesis of performance elements from different cultural traditions, has been a defining feature of Nigerian theatre since independence, reflecting both the colonial inheritance and the deliberate creative choices of post-colonial practitioners. The research applies intercultural performance theory, particularly frameworks developed by Patrice Pavis and Richard Schechner, alongside African performance theory to analyse intercultural productions and directorial methodologies in Lagos, Ibadan, and Enugu between 2016 and 2024. Data were gathered through interviews with directors, analysis of production materials, and audience reception surveys. The study finds that Nigerian intercultural theatre operates across a spectrum ranging from assimilationist appropriation of Western theatrical conventions to transformative synthesis that repositions African performance traditions as epistemologically primary. The research fills a gap in systematic mapping of intercultural theatre practice in Nigeria and concludes that the most generative intercultural practice is that which maintains critical reflexivity about power asymmetries in cross-cultural exchange. Keywords: intercultural theatre, African performance, Western traditions, creative dialogue, Nigerian performance.