NIGERIAN DRAMA AND THEATRE

The origins of Nigerian drama are not different from Greek

drama or European drama. In general Aristotle in his Poetics traces the
origin of Greek drama to the communal celebration of
Dionysus which gave place to formal acting. The plays of Sophocles,
Euripides and Aeschylus belong to the formal and written tradition of
drama. Nigerian/African societies traditionally celebrated harvest and
agricultural seasons with song and dance. The entire community
participated in the performance. People wore masks, sported
traditional 'agbada' and sang and danced to the accompaniment of
drums and hours besides the command performance, there was also
the tradition of story telling. Often the story-teller chose a story of a
mythological character or a historical character whose life and
adventure forward the basis for his narration. It is to be noted that the
story-teller played the role of a central character and the other
characters as well. Thus he was playing the twin roles of narrator and
actor,
Unlike a modern play which is time bound and which is
governed by classical rules of the comities of time, place and action.
The oral performance lasted for several nights and the audience sat
through the performance. Not only the narrator lived the role he
played, but also made the audience identify with the character he
represented and thus there was a close relationship between the actor
and the audience.
Another important development in the history of drama is that
festival drama and natural theatre which for a long time confined to
their respective communities later evolved into traveling companies.

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Joel Adedeji who has worked on Yoruba theatre discusses the basis of
the traveling companies and suggests that they had derived from
"Alarinjo" theatre, traveling group of entertainers which grew out of
the Yoruba court and cult performances after 16, 17, 18 centuries" l. It
may be argued that drama is part of the life of the people that social
functions, religious ceremonies and traditional festivals lend
themselves easily to dramatic performances. But in the past these were
not well organized; in the absence of written plays and national
theatres, not much could be achieved. It is only about twenty years ago
that we saw any attempt to organize drama. A beginning was made
with folk-opera.

Folk-Opera
This is drama in which music and dancing play an important part,
since folk-opera is a means of communication as well as an outlet for
emotion. But it is usually looked upon as a soft of popular
entertainment which treats any topics from social satires, biblical
stories and political events to historical tragedies. There are many
folk-opera groups in Nigeria today and because their plays are
presented in the vernacular they are very popular with the masses.
This has not always been so; it was necessary for the pioneers in this
field to work hard to satisfy the taste of their audience and overcome
many obstacles.
Hubert Ogunde's is the foremost among a very large number of
traveling theatre companies. His theatre shows the influence of
western dramatic modes combined with the 'Alarinjo theatre'. The
Egungun and Gelede, masquerades and the music traditions of the
different kingdoms in Yoruba land exercised a great deal of influence.
It is Ogunde who started the dialogue drama. Ogunde's theatre

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reflected the modes of the people of western Nigeria between 1946
and 1966. He changed the style, the forum and the content of his work
to suit the territory in which he performed. He concretized a number
of political issues through characterization and story to Yoruba
audience. In all that he performed there is Ogunde's personality There
are four phases in the development of
Ogunde's theatre: -
l) The phase of cultural nationalism from 1944-50
2) The consolidation of the company through independence from
1954-64
3) The post independence party polities 1964-66 and
4) The company since the civil war 1972 and later.
Though Ogunde's first plays were folk opera meant for the
church, his plays Strike and Hunger performed in 1945 had political
dimension. Another play of his Tiger's Empire also attacked
colonialism. The company he started called the African Music
Research party indicated Ogunde's interest in Yoruba music which
had been downgraded by the colonialists. He produced plays
throughout West Africa between 1945and 76 and made his roots in
traditional festival drama quite clear.
'I was playing drums with the masquerades in
home town when I was young and these
Egungun people gave me the arch inside me
to start a company of actors'?
Ogunde's Yoruba folk opera uses all the resources of a
drumming orchestra, flutes and drums, dancing, mime, and it is sung
in Yoruba by role actors. It used a variety of subjects tribal myth,
biblical story, social and political satire, entertainment etc, The

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Yoruba audiences admired them because they reflected the desire for
a creation for a modern state free from colonialism.
A year later Ogunde changed the name of his company to
Ogunde Theatre Company but the themes were moralistic;
colonialism was shown to be immoral. In 1947 Ogunde established
the Ogunde Record Company which recorded and marketed his songs.
He also extended his theatre company into regularly traveling group
between 1945 and 1947.
After Nigerian independence Ogunde formed the Ogunde
dance company and traveled overseas. In this period he wrote his
famous play Yoruba Ronu which was about the political quarrel in the
western region of Nigeria. The play was very critical of politicians and
so his entire company was banned. The Ogunde's concert party was
declared unlawful which was revoked later in 1966. In 1972 Ogunde
started Ogunde Theatre Company. He revamped his earlier hope in
operas and Halfand Half was greatly appreciated by Yoruba
audiences. His later play Murtala was a blind play free from political
reference and cultural nationalism. Ogunde's contribution to the
Development of African Drama is best summed up by Etherton thus:
"Ogunde's theatre company is Hubert Ogunde His theatre is a
Yoruba theatre, performed in Yoruba which embraces wit and
poetry. The fans come to see and hear him: and to an outsider it
appears that no member of his cast can steal the focus of the
audience for him. This is the essence; it seems, of the most
successful of the traveling theatres: the creation of 'personality' a
unique person, through whom Yoruba of all walks of life can find
central image of their contemporary world. Ogunde is the
entertainer, the successful business man, the cherished head of

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 the family. He is now frequently described as the father of
Nigerian theatre. It is probably more accurate to describe him
more generally as a father-figure, an embodiment of success, and
his art as a popular expression of Yoruba sensibility"?
Next in importance after Ogunde is Kola-Ogunmola whose
contribution to the development of African theatre is considerable. His
plays Palm wine drinkard, Love of Money and conscience are
moralistic in the manner of Ogunde. It is often pointed out that his
plays are, superficial. By contrast, Duro Ladipo's plays have fine
structure and they are an imagination dramatization of key Yoruba
myths. His play Oba koso combines symbolism, both in the dialogue
and spectacle on the stage. Although Ladipo toured with his company
performing his plays he was not as popular as other theatre
personalities because his plays were consciously artistic. Nevertheless
he is likely to be remembered for the written text Everyman Eda.
The most recent theatre personality who has started a traveling
theatre is Moses Olaiya Adejumo popularly known as Baba Sala. Like
Ogunde he established a member of successful enterprises besides his
main theatre company, His theatre is more eclectic than Ogunde's. He
has brought in number of popular elements into the theatre. He
established his particular style and the important contribution of Baba
Sala is the transformation of Yoruba theatre into an urban theatre.
The 1960's saw establishment of department of theatre arts of
the school of music and drama in the universities. A number of
universities in Nigeria started courses in drama and theatre studies
aimed at rediscovering African personality often long years of colonial
domination through a revival of African culture. Thanks to the
influence of classical and European drama African plays have been

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modeled after Greek plays Sophocles, King Oedipus was transposed
as The gods are not to blame The Nigerian playwright used king
Oedipus as the basis but gave it a Yoruba setting. This is the beginning
of the change from drama as performance to drama as literature. The
plays of Wole Soyinka and J. P Clark afford less scope for traditional
performances although they have not totally abandoned Yoruba
performance traditions. This is due to the fact that both Wole Soyinka
and J. P Clark had been educated in missionary schools and
government colleges where English literature was taught. Soyinka and
Clark were contemporaries and though they belong to different regions
and sects, yet they were exposed to nearly similar academic courses.
The New Drama
Developing side by side with folk-opera is what is usually referred to
as 'The new drama'. This is an attempt by educated Nigerians to set
up national theatres in which plays written by Nigerians can be
produced by Nigerians. Most of these plays utilize Western
techniques but make them serve local needs. These plays are all about
Nigeria, and their construction deviates very much from orthodox
European ideas. It seems that here the foundation of a national theatre
is being laid. Many drama groups are co-operating to achieve this
objective. We have time here to discuss briefly only a few of the most
important ones.

The 1960 Masks

This group was formed by Wole Soyinka in 1960 very close to the
date of Nigerian independence. It contains some of the most talented
Nigerian actors and actresses, but unfortunately they are busy people
and can spare only a small proportion of their time for stage-acting.

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This group has not been doing as well as was originally anticipated,
since some members of the group got married and left, whilst others
were promoted and considered the stage below them. It is surprising
that, with such frequent changes in its membership, the 1960 Masks
have been able to accomplish anything at all. Yet the group has been
able to stimulate interest in drama and to show that the stage can be
used as an instrument of social change. It has also demonstrated that
stage-acting is not a pastime reserved only for irresponsible or
unemployed members of the community, as was formerly generally
believed. Connecting the names of respected members of society with
drama has helped in no small way to enhance the prestige of actors in
society. The 1960 Masks have successfully produced A Dance of the
Forests, Dear Parent and Ogre and The Republican.
The original aim of the group, which was to keep a professional
nucleus of actors working all the time, has not been achieved. But the
Orisun Theatre formed later by Wole Soyinka may be helpful in
training young people for the stage. Already it has produced two of
Wole Soyinka's plays The Lion and the Jewel and The Trials of
Brother Jero, and a few satires such as his Before the Blackout. The
Orisun Theatre is becoming more and more involved in social and
political satires and its present effort is so spasmodic that the fate of
the 1960 Masks may be repeated. What is needed now is for serious
plays to be produced. A talented group should be able to produce
many such plays a year.

University of Ibadan Traveling Theatre

This is sponsored by the School of Drama, University of Ibadan, but
membership is open to all students of the university who are interested
in drama. Initially, this group concerned itself mainly with the

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production of scenes from Shakespeare's plays. But it influenced the
growth of drama in a big way when it produced a stage adaptation of
Danda, a novel by Nkem Nwankwo. This was the first major
contribution of any department at a university to the new Nigerian
drama and appeared too many to reveal the university's concern for
the development of drama in Nigeria. Danda was taken too many parts
of the country and was acted each time before large audiences. The
actors showed greatly improved techniques and dramatic skill; the
stage management was excellent. The sound knowledge of stagecraft
revealed here is sure to have an invigorating effect on Nigerian drama.
This group has much to offer in the way of Nigerian drama. It is
unfortunate that they do not produce plays more often and travel round
to the regions more frequently.

The Eastern Nigeria Theatre Group

This group is directed by John Ekwere, a playwright and producer. It
was originally known as the Ogui Players and at first it concentrated
on adaptations. But it now produces original Nigerian plays and
achieved fame with its successful production of J. P.
Clark's Song of a Goat
The work and achievement of Wole Soyinka is larger than any
other Nigerian writer including J. P. Clark. His work shows a marked
contrast in terms of themes and techniques. He was a poet, a
playwright, human rights activist. As a political activist, Soyinka
satirized the colonial rule in a number of plays. He was equally
opposed to the post independence regimes which were tyrannical and
corrupt. His revolt against political authoritarianism often made him
face hardships including imprisonment. He sympathized with black

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people's movement against racial discrimination but he was not a
champion of negritude. The award of the Nobel Prize in 1986 was a
result of recognition which he compelled by a sheer genius of his
work. Some of his works include plays — The lion and the jewel, The
swamp dwellers, Madmen and specialists, Death and the King's
Horseman, Jero 's metamorphosis, Trials of brother Jero. Novels —
The interpreters, poems, to name a few.
J. P. Clark's work is not as large as Soyinka's but it is nearer to
African life. His works include plays — The masquerade, The raft,
Ozidi, The song of a goat, books — America Their America, and
poems such as Abiku Fulani cattle, Agbor Dancer, The imprisonment
Obatala — and so on.
Contemporary African drama is the most difficult to integrate
into modern African life because most African communities have
highly developed drama traditions that are embedded in local oral and
religious traditions. In traditional Africa, festival drama represented
the height of individual and communal self-expression, and was not
encouraged by Western education or Christianity. Within traditional
African life, every art form gravitated toward festival drama. Both the
individual and his/her community collaborated to articulate,
emphasize, communicate, and transfer core knowledge, values, and
aesthetics during those performances.
The festival drama was among the first African traditions to
come under attack by Western officials during the colonial period. In
many cases, conversion to Christianity or school admission depended
on whether the African would stop participating in this

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method of communal self-expression. In the colonial and mission
schools, the systematic separation among African languages, oral
narratives, and the multimedia expressive performances of the
festival drama isolated Western-educated school children from their
non-Western-educated counter parts. The new African "converts"
ignorance of traditional African was later complemented with the
introduction of contemporary African drama in the schools and
churches: most Western-educated Africans or still encouraged to
view the traditional festival drama as a nonprogressive, stagnant
form.
Frequently, drama meant presentations of scenes from
colonialist reading materials and Western-educated Africans'
experiences within the new dispensation. Consequently, local
communities, including schoolchildren, saw "plays" as foreign,
unreal, and fantastic (re) presentations with no immediate or relevant
social functions. That 'feeling persists today as projects such as
Theatre for Development, in which Western and local sponsors try to
use theatre to teach contemporary African communities how to live
viable lives, consistently fail. Theatre for Development addresses
such issues as personal and community health practices, crime
prevention, education, abortion, AIDS, and other topics of interest to
sponsors. The major difference between this approach and traditional
festival drama is the lack of spontaneity: neither the theatric forms nor
many of the required performance tools grow naturally from the
people's attitudes, beliefs or practices. This does not mean that
contemporary theatre.

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is ineffective but its methodologies tend to deny African communities
their right to provide their experiences with relevant and compelling
origins, possibilities, problems and solutions.
Contemporary scholars, however, are beginning to look
again at the role and function of the mimetic dance of
masquerades, performances like the Yoruba egungun and gelede,
the Igo egwugwu and mbari, and other traditional and ritualized
depictions of African life across the continent. The problem is
that for most artists and producers, these ritualized depictions are
still seen largely as props rather than as essential elements in
contemporary Nigeria/African drama's engagement or
dissemination of African thought, life, and experience,
significantly this means that Nigeria/African dramatic practice is
no longer ignored by artists, as contemporary dramatists continue
to find ways to advance African thought on stage and in film,
television, and video productions.