The First African Play: Fabula Yawreoch Commedia & its influence on the development of Ethiopian Theatre

Summary

-This article discusses both the newly translated playscript of Fabula: Yawreoch Commedia (Fable: The Comedy of Animals) and the influence of this first Ethiopian drama on the subsequent development of national theatre. Fabula is probably the first original African play ever written and produced. We are therefore particularly delighted to be able to offer in this volume a first translation from the original Amharic by Belayneh Abune, a drama scholar, and currently Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Addis Ababa University.

There has been considerable debate amongst authorities on Ethiopian culture about the dates of performance and publication of Fabula. As far as I am able to ascertain this is because no one has read the script for many years. Indeed when I first started searching for it many people interested in the area seemed unsure as to whether a full text still existed. Eventually, however, Belayneh Abune tracked down a text of the second edition in the library of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies at Addis Ababa University, and from this made his translation from Amharic into English. It is particularly helpful that it is this second edition which has been translated since in his Background section of his Introduction the playwright gives much useful information about motivation, publication and performance. Contrary to some previous speculation the writer explains that the original publication of 1912 was not a playscript; rather it was a collection of eight animal fables written by Tekle Hawariat and designed as moral teachings for the young emperor, Lij Iyasu.