To speak of theatre in Benin, and of African theatre in general, we must define clearly the lines dividing ritual performances, which still flourish today, and those closer to what Europeans understand by theatre. They feature performers who act and sing, and symbol-laden speeches. They make social comment, there are costumes and scenery, and clear messages, which compare easily with Commedia dell'Arte buffoonery. The design and symbolic play of the Gueledes masks reflect the energy of these ancestral practices. A look at the state of theatre in Benin at once reveals the colonial influence.
Quality varies considerably, but public interest is rising steadily.
This taste for theatre does not, however, seem to be encouraging the emergence of a professional theatre. In the absence of resources and, often, training, scenery and costumes are also amateur-made. Indeed companies are groups of amateurs bitten by theatre, with little opportunity to improve the artistic level of their creations. The lack of rehearsal space or of a national theatre, the virtual inaccessibility of professional artistic training and the total unavailability of subsidies are not exactly encouraging. The Benin International Theatre Festival, created jointly in 1991 by the ministry of culture and communication, the French Cultural Centre and a number of international partners, certainly affords a new opportunity for the country's creators to encounter other theatrical forms, especially African ones.