This document describes the development of theater in Africa, over the last 20 years, from a medium of entertainment for the colonial elite to an African theatre, after independence. It describes various approaches to the use of theater as a medium of education and development. Nine chapters in the book concern: (l) background to African drama; (2) theater and society in Africa; (3) the future of African theater; (4) taking theater to people; (5) creating a representative African theater; (6) theater and development in Africa; (7) theater for development in Malawi; (8) theater for development in Zambia; and (9) analysis of theater for development work. The study points out that a truly popular theater would presumably be one in which the people themselves, in spite of the handicaps imposed by the lack of formal education, could initiate and develop theatrical explorations of their predicaments and, by doing so could engage in a long-term process of social self-education. An 81-item bibliography concludes the document. (NLL)