KHALID AMINE Professor of Performance Studies at Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Tetouan, Morocco. He was a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Interweaving Performance Cultures, Free University, Berlin, Germany (2008-2010). Since 2006, he has been President of the International Centre for Performance Studies (ICPS) in Tangier, Morocco. Among his published books are Fields of Silence in Moroccan Theatre and Dramatic Art and the Myth of Origins: Fields of Silence. MARVIN CARLSON Sidney E. Cohn Distinguished Professor of Theatre, Comparative Literature and Middle Eastern Studies at the Graduate Centre, CUNY, USA. He has received an honorary doctorate from the University of Athens, Greece, the ATHE Career Achievement Award, the ASTR Distinguished Scholarship Award, the George Jean Nathan Award and the Calloway Prize.

• List of Illustrations Introduction PART I: THE PRE-COLONIAL MAGHREB The Roman Maghreb Orature The Halqa Shadow Plays and Costumed Performers Carnival and Ritual Performance PART II: COLONIAL THEATRE IN THE MAGHREB Nineteenth Century European Theatres The First Arab Performances The Developing Maghreb Stage The Theatre of Resistance Islam and the Colonial Stage From the Second World War to Independence PART III: POST COLONIAL THEATRE IN THE MAGHREB The Early Theatres of Independence, 1956-1970 Developing National Traditions, 1970-1990 Entering a New Century, 1990-2010 Conclusion Bibliography Index