Drama Evaluatton in Ethiopian- - . Professional Theatres
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Date
2001-01
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
To identifY the quality of a ceria ill drallla is usualiy difficult. The maill reason is Ihat quality is
not measurable and basically depelldellt on personal taste or experience. Accordingly, when we
consider the drama evaluation activity ill Ethiopian professional Theatres, we could observe lots
of arguments and cOlllroversies. However, in spite of its contentious nature, there is no
significallt study that treats the issue proper/yo Therefore, the principal objective of the study was
to describe and examille Ihe lIIain f eatures of the drama evaluation practice in the theatres.
Accordingly, the sludy was lIIaillly cOllcerned with identifYing the ways alld approaches used to
select scripts for productioll. III this regard, the study allempted to consider the available
theoretical concepts, which are thought to be helpful to compare and contrast the drama
evaluation trend in Ethiopia with other approaches. Similarly, those related lileratures that
nudge the issue of drallla evaillalion activity in Ethiopia are included to indicate and represent
the differences and arglllllellis Ihat have been forwarded in relation to this activity.
The analysis in chapter Ih ree cOllsisted the results of a survey carried out by the researcher on
the main traits of Ihe drallla evaluation practice in the theatres. Thus, primarily it allempted to
make some descriptive assesslllent on the development of the drama evaluation activity to give a
preliminary insight and backgroulld information. The next section considered the issue of the
standards, which were being set to evaluate scripls. The issue of applying a standard is
controversial in such a way that one group allests the importance of specified criteria that
constitute a standard to dislinguish a good play ji-om the bad ones. On the other hand, there is
another group that substantiales the impediment of any standard for innovative works and
demands its rejection. Th e study Iried to show the impacts of these contradictDlY ideas on the
development of theatre ill Elhiopia. The other two sections discussed the issue of evaluators and
analysis of the debates arolllld Ihe drama evaluatioll practice. The intention was 10 recount the
main problems concerning Ih e evaluatioll activity. The discussions on the sample case studies
were intended to prove Ihe flaws alld outcomes of the evaluation reports.
The results of the study indicated that drama evaluation activity in Ethiopiall professional
theatres faced a lot of problems. These problems are mainly due to the way the theatres are
organized, the applied slandards, and the way evaluation COlllmillees worked. The study also
forwarded some suggestions Ihal ill elude the reorganization of the theatres, the establishment of
a position of a permallelll professional evaluator with defined duty and accountability, alld the
avoidance of applying a cerlain stalldard to evaluale ali types of plays. As the study is believed
to be an incipiellt attempt ill Ihis area, the suggestiolls forwarded were intended to initiate new
ideas and approaches to Ihe mores of theatres.
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Keywords
DI"ama Evaluation