Politics of Benin century until the colonial period, the Kingdom of Dahomey (whose borders encompassed more than present day Benin) was ruled by an "Oba". The French were the colonial power from 1892 to 1960, when independence was finally achieved. Between 1960 and 1972, a series of military coups in Benin (known until 1975 as the Republic of Dahomey) brought about many changes of government. The last of these brought Major Mathieu Kérékou to power as the head of a regime professing strict Marxist-Leninist principles. The Revolutionary Party of the People of Benin (PRPB) remained in complete power until the beginning of the
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.