African Theatre—docility and Dissent (original) (raw)
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This volume of essays started life as a special issue of Research in African Literatures that we co-edited in 1999. We wish to thank all the contributors whose essays are reprinted in this book and the new contributors who responded positively and in a timely manner to our invitation for articles, in spite of their busy schedules. We also acknowledge the support of Abiola Irele, then editor of Research in African Literatures, for the idea of a special issue on drama and performance and his encouragement throughout the preparation of that issue.
THE SOCIOLOGICAL INDICES OF AFRICAN DRAMA: A STUDY OF WOLE
ABSTRACT A persisting tendency in African Drama has remained a careful evaluation and a critical analysis of the African society for the purpose of heralding the cultural virtues and attacking the vices prevalent in the African society for a general social transformation. Drama has been defined as the mimesis of life on stage before a given audience and a replication of the human society on stage. Therefore the purpose of this research is to highlight and discuss in details the sociological elements evident in African Drama. Having drawn analysis from Wole Soyinka’s The Beatification of Area Boy: A Lagosian Kaleidoscope and Olu Obafemi’s Scapegoats and Sacred Cows from the sociological theoretical framework, it is evident that the sensual entertainment evident in African Drama notwithstanding, its ultimate focus is to instruct the audience about the prevalent social realities in the society and inform a radical social transformation.
Analysis of Selected Contemporary African Drama in Building a Just and Safer Society
Clem ent Oluj ide Ajid ahu n, ~h.D Dep artm ent of Eng lis~ Stu? ies Ade kunl e Ajas in Univ ersi ty Aku ngb aAk oko , Ond o Stat e Abs trac t The Afric an natio ns, over the years ; have been intrac ta?IY enm_ eshe d and embroile d in a numb er of socio -polit ical and ethno -relig ious cnse s which ha~e broug ht a num ber of deva statin g and shatt ering cons eque nces on the contm ent. The fund amen tal caus e of these crise s has been trace d to the socio -inju stice structure and inequ alitie s in Africa . This pape r is a critic al evalu ation of the dram atic work s of some conte mpor ary dram atists in Afric a that addr ess thes e issue s. The pape r interr ogate s the artist s' them atic preo ccup ation with thea tre as a dynami c and formi dable instru ment in diagn osing the ills of the socie ty -and in provi ding the progn osis. Som e of the artist s whos e work s are di~cu~s ed In this pape r inclu de Fem i Osof isan, Niyi Osun dare and Qiu Obaf emi. Thei r Milrx i~t ideol ogies , as depic ted, on stage and as reve aled in their plays $how that the socie tal crise s rangi ng from socio -polit ical to ethno -relig ious uphe 9 v~ls are en-gend ered by socio -injus tice and inequ alitie s perp etua ted by the b9µr geois ies again st the teem ing mass es. The theat re to them is a pote nt tool and cf subv er-sive weap on for arou sing the cons cious ness of the mass es agai nst all forms of socio -injus tice and inequ ality in the socie ty. In the plays critiq ued in this pape r, the artist s, in uneq uivoc al terms , main tain that the emp lacem ent of the s,pcia l justic e str~c ture and equa lity are indis pens able in orde r to have a safe r world .
World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre: Africa (review)
TDR: The Drama Review, 2002
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AFRICAN THEATRE, HISTORY AND POSTCOLONIAL RESISTANCE: AN APPRAISAL OF OLA ROTIMI'SOVONRAMWENNOGBAISI
Journal , 2018
The upward trend in African historical plays drew much attention of researchers to the relationship between history proper and the historical plays or imaginative reconstruction of history. The contention was that, although these plays were primarily regarded as fiction or imaginative reconstruction of the past based on the playwrights' interpretation of history, many theatre scholars argued that the value of these plays prevailed over history to the audience if there is a clash with history proper. This began with Aristotles's assertion that "poetry/literature is more philosophical and elevated than history", and that literary plot tends to be unabridged, corrective and therefore more permanent. Following on from that, this paper theorized, in this work, that historical plays resist and counteract imperial discourse, or jaundiced imperial historians in their biased history of their clash with African monarchs and heroes. Secondly, the paper argued that through the shades of Cultural Resistance that hybridize conventional theatre, postcolonial plays are central in the promulgation of anti-colonial resistance and therefore have the tendency to change a distorted history. Hence theatre, the most symbolic form of art, can be historically corrective and evocatively accurate. To illustrate this, the paper examined a postcolonial play; Ola Rotimi'sOvonramwenNogbaisi. The play reconstructs and corrects a badly damaged and awfully misrepresented African monarch; Oba OvonramwenNogbaisi of the old Benin Empire. The researchers examined the colonial resistance captured by the play, through postcolonial theory, and cast light on the attitudes the play reflects regarding the coloniser and the colonised, the extent to which the play helps in decolonisation process and how the play reconstructs the images of the damaged heroes, so as to restore national pride and integrity.
The Emergence of African Drama
As in all ancient societies, dramatic arts in ancient Africa began when a performer or a group of performers placed himself or themselves in front of an audience or onlookers facilitating entertainment. If we consider the development of Western drama which claims its beginning in ritual derived from celebrations emanating from the ancient Dionysius religious festivities, we may also assert that dramatic art or theater in ancient Africa derived from similar instances or occasions. That is to say, drama in Africa derived from religious activities exploited by the indigenous people of Africa as a result of the exploration of ritual related to these religions. Furthermore, as an example, an in depth examination regarding Nigeria's ancient history will show that the elements which foment dramatic expression and performance were present and ubiquitous. Ogun, the Yoruba deity goes back to the Iron Age. Ogun is first and foremost the divinity of war and humanity. Many festivals are held in Ogun's honor, such as the Odun Ogun, in Yorubaland. Ijala songs are Yoruba poetic chants devoted to salute and praise Ogun. 12 Therefore, we will accept the premise that drama is a consequence of religion and ritual.