Abomey Abomey Abomey is a city in the Zou Department of Benin. Abomey is also the former capital of the Kingdom of Dahomey ("c." 1600–1904), which would later become a French colony, then the Republic of Dahomey (1960–1975), and is the modern-day Republic of Benin. Abomey houses the Royal Palaces of Abomey, a collection of small traditional houses that were inhabited by the Kings of Dahomey from 1600 to 1900, and which were designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985. The commune of Abomey covers an area of 142 square kilometres and as of 2012 had a population of
In Dahomey also thought to have marked a significant shift in black theatre performance. Limited by a demand for the comedy of ethnic and racial stereotypes— particularly black stereotypes as depicted through minstrel performance— African American performers were constricted to perform variations of the "darky" and the Chinese as caricatures. While still featuring such racial caricatures, "In Dahomey" simultaneously builds on depictions of black characters, forging a significant shift in dominant representations of blacks in the theatre during its era and creating. As the first show with an entirely African American cast, "In Dahomey" is said to have been met with hostility.