Senouvo Agbota Zinsou
Encyclopedia
Senouvo Agbota Zinsou is a Togo
lese playwright
and theatre director.
, Zinsou studied in France
, receiving degrees in theatre
and communications. In 1968, after working with several student companies, he co-founded a university theatre company. He began receive attention outside Togo when his play On joue la comédie received first prize at the Radio France Internationale's 1972 "Festival of Black Arts and Culture" in Lagos
, Nigeria
. He directed a production of the same play which later toured France
. Since 1978, Zinsou has been director of the Troupe Nationale du Togo, a theatre, ballet and music company. He directs the company in productions of his own plays, including L'Arc en Ciel and Le Club. Zinsou premiered La Torque qui Chante (The Singing Tortoise) in 1966 during the Francophone Summit in Lomé in a production that was later performed in France
at the 1987 Limoges Festival. Zinsou is also a prize-winning short story writer, whose fiction and plays are published in France by Hatier. Other works include Yévi et L'éléphant Chanteur and Le Médicament.
Togo
Togo, officially the Togolese Republic , is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital Lomé is located. Togo covers an area of approximately with a population of approximately...
lese playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
and theatre director.
Career
Born in LornéLorne
Lorne is a given name and place name especially popular in Canada, due to the Marquess of Lorne, who was Governor-General of Canada . Lorne may refer to:-Given name:*Lorne Anderson , Canadian hockey player...
, Zinsou studied in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, receiving degrees in theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
and communications. In 1968, after working with several student companies, he co-founded a university theatre company. He began receive attention outside Togo when his play On joue la comédie received first prize at the Radio France Internationale's 1972 "Festival of Black Arts and Culture" in Lagos
Lagos
Lagos is a port and the most populous conurbation in Nigeria. With a population of 7,937,932, it is currently the third most populous city in Africa after Cairo and Kinshasa, and currently estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa...
, Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
. He directed a production of the same play which later toured France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Since 1978, Zinsou has been director of the Troupe Nationale du Togo, a theatre, ballet and music company. He directs the company in productions of his own plays, including L'Arc en Ciel and Le Club. Zinsou premiered La Torque qui Chante (The Singing Tortoise) in 1966 during the Francophone Summit in Lomé in a production that was later performed in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
at the 1987 Limoges Festival. Zinsou is also a prize-winning short story writer, whose fiction and plays are published in France by Hatier. Other works include Yévi et L'éléphant Chanteur and Le Médicament.