Masquerading and Puppeteering: A Comparative Analysis

Indigenous African performances had existed on the African continent long before the advent of the colonizers and they are highly functional in nature. Though several attempts were made by the west to discredit these performances, they have persisted over the years and can withstand the western concept of drama. Prominent among these performances are the masquerade and puppet theatres widely practiced in many African societies today and have stood the test of time. Both are vibrant theatrical practices in the African dramatic space though their formations differ and so are their performance modes in motives and motifs. Using Richard Bauman’s theory of performance as a framework, their performative modes are teased out. While masquerading is characterized by masked individuals who dance or perform energetically with delicate dance steps and symbolic body movements that include footwork and elaborate gesticulations, puppetry which comes in varied forms such as marionettes, rod puppets or hand puppets entails controlled manipulation to simulate real life events. The study concludes that though both art forms differ in presentational styles, they are like other performing art forms that are impossible without the involvement of the human content