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NIGERIAN DRAMA IN ENGLISH I NIGERIA HAS HIGH INDIGENOUS TRADITIONS OF dramatic dance and masquerade associated with religious festivals; the parallels with what is known of the origins of Greek drama are close enough to warrant a full-scale investigation, though it seems that for the most part the festivals have remained at the level of dramatic dancing and have not worked through to a full dance-drama. None the less there is reenactment of moments of myth, and a high level of mimetic expression, and it has become clear that more sophisticated drama will wisely and rightly incorporate these elements. Something of this sort has already grown up in the indigenous languages . In the first place among the children, who would take a legendary story, cast it, and then act it out, improvising the dialogue, which would be studded with dance-movements, and ending in universal singing and dancing. One suspects a similar process behind Greek drama. Alongside this, in Yorubaland, where the traditions are strongest, there are at least three companies of actors and dancers who have been presenting what may properly be called dramas. The best-known of these is probably that of Hubert Ogunde in Lagos. Duro Ladipo caused something of a sensation in Germany with his Oba Koso. Ladipo's company is irresistibly reminiscent of Donald Wolfit's old touring company in Britain-an actor-manager of genius, a pretty girl, a character-actor, and after that the field. Kola Ogunmola is the leader 'of the third group; one would wish that he had the opportunities for playing overseas that Ladipo has had, for he too is a man of rare quality. Basically these groups are reenacting traditional stories in the form of dance-drama. Meantime some important experiments have been going on at the University of Ibadan. Students have written plays, as students will, without producing any masterpieces, but with promise for the future. A surprising proportion of these plays has dealt with the rejection of Christianity and reversion to village religion. The reversion would in no sense satisfy these sophisticated authors; they are rejecting Christianity as an import and imposition from Europe, they have not accepted Marxism or scientific humanism, they want to assert themselves as Africans and do not know how else to do it. A second experiment , or series of experiments, has been carried out by Peggy 10 1968 NIGERIAN DRAMA IN ENGLISH 11 Harper; this is towards the development of a constructed dance-drama as a deliberate art-form, in which the plot is conveyed entirely by dance-sequences without use of the spoken word, in short, a genuine ballet based on natural Nigerian dance-expression. A third experiment of some importance lies in the adaptation of European plays. When the University Dramatic Society wanted a play to take round the country they looked for a play which, worthwhile in itself, would have an immediate appeal to unsophisticated audiences. A play with a European setting would have been unsuitable. They chose Moliere's Les Fourberies de Scapin, and rewrote it with a contemporary Nigerian setting under the title That Scoundrel Suberu. This was brilliantly successful; the amusing part about it is that Moliere was adapting a Roman play, which in its turn was derived from a Greek original. There is plenty of room for more adaptations of this sort; I have often thought that a version of Euripides's Medea with Medea an African girl taken back to British "civilization" by a visiting Englishman could be a powerful play and a powerful indictment of British racial prejudices. Certainly no one need scorn such adaptations; Roman comedy was formed from them; so, centuries later, were French comedy and Italian comedy. Fourthly, there has been some dramatization of novels by Nigerian authors. Two call for especial mention. One of the University Travelling Theatre's most successful ventures was their adaptation of Nkem Nwankwo's novel Danda. The book was not quite so funny as it might have been; the play, with an able actor to clothe the name-part in flesh and blood, and with all the spectacle and infectious enthusiasm of the dance to fill it out, was boisterously appealing. More...

I try not to box my writing into any one genre. My books are about history and politics. However I also want fans of crime, fiction, and thriller books to read and enjoy them. This is why the book contains the reference material you would expect of a history book, but also the dramatic twists and turns, and suspense you would expect of a John Grisham or Robert Ludlum book.

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I am not sure that young Nigerians appreciate just how drama filled their history is. Hollywood script writers could not have written a more conspiratorial thriller with as many plot twists, friends turning on each other, corruption, gun battles in city centers, dazzling women, and rags to riches billionaires.

In his career on stage, he wrote more than 50 plays,[2] most of which incorporate dramatic action, dance, and music, with a story reflecting the political and social realities of the period.[3] His first production was a church-financed play called The Garden of Eden. It premiered at Glover Memorial Hall, Lagos, in 1944. Its success encouraged Ogunde to produce more plays, and he soon left his job with the police force for a career in the theatre.

He later joined the Nigerian police force in March 1941 in Ibadan.[6] In 1943, the police force posted him to the Denton Police Station, Ebute Metta, where he joined an African initiated church, the Church of the Lord (Aladura). In Lagos, he created an amateur drama group, the African Music Research Party, in 1945.[7]

The folk opera premiered at Glover Memorial Hall with the chairman of the ceremony, Dr.Nnamdi Azikiwe, in attendance.[8] The play incorporated realism and dramatic action in the acting, dancing and singing of the performers, separating it from the common Native Air Operas predominant in Yorubaland at the time.[9] This was an innovation that contributed to making it a success.

At the request of the Alake of Abeokuta, Ogunde performed "The Garden of Eden" at the Ake Centenary Hall. Encouraged by the success of the play, he went on to write more operas. He wrote and co-directed three religious-themed plays: Africa and God (1944), a folk opera infused with Yoruba cultural themes that were non-existent in The Garden of Eden, Israel in Egypt (1945) and Nebuchadnezzar's Reign and Belshazzar's Feast (1945). In 1946, he resigned his post with the police to become a professional dramatist.

As has already been stated, Ogunde's African Music Research Party, founded in 1945,[10] was the first contemporary professional theatre company in Yorubaland. Previous performance groups were masked theatre troupes called Alarinjo who were dependent on the court or church for support, and who grew in popularity as a result of word of mouth.[10] Ogunde distinguished his group by using promotion methods such as advertisements and posters, and by changing the round stage used by alarinjo performers to one with a proscenium. In addition, he introduced dramatic action and realism in his plays, depending on the audience for commercial support. Through these acts Ogunde began the rise of modern professional theatre in Nigeria, a movement in which he remains the most influential practitioner.[11]

In 1950, Ogunde continued writing plays with political undertones. Bread and Bullet, first performed in 1950, is a play about the coal miners' strike in Enugu that resulted in the shooting of twenty-two people in that year. In Northern Nigeria, the performance of the play was limited to certain areas due to allegations of seditious dialogue.[15] It was during this time that Ogunde introduced the English language to the dialogue of his plays. In January 1950, he staged a reproduction of his 1945 play Black Forest, re-arranging the play to introduce English and Yoruba dialogue. The African music featured was created by both Western and African instruments. The re-produced Black Forest and Bread and Bullet changed his style of drama from Yoruba folk opera to an improvisational theatre where dialogue is spoken.[16]

In 1964, he produced two important plays: Yoruba Ronu and Otitokoro. They both spoke of the political events in Western Nigeria, events which led to the declaration of a state of emergency in 1963. He was the most prominent of the dramatists of the folk opera. He composed over 40 operas in Yoruba. His play Yoruba Ronu (or "Yoruba Think") was a satirical account of the strife that plagued Yorubaland in the 1960s. The protagonist of the play, Oba Fiwajoye, is betrayed by the actions of his deputy. He is given over into the hands of his enemy, Yeye-Iloba, leading to the imprisonment of him and two of his political allies. The deputy then ascends the throne and rules as a tyrant before he is eventually killed by the people.

In 1986, he was invited by the Nigerian government to form a national drama troupe.[14] During this time, he represented Nigeria in the Commonwealth Festival of Arts, performing a play called Destiny (which was a re-arranged Ayanmo that he had released earlier in 1970).[14] Destiny was a production with thirty dancers. In the play, Ogunde incorporated some of his favorite dance steps, Ijo-Eleja (or the dance of the fishermen), Asan Ubo-Ikpa from the Ibibio culture, and the kwag-hir from Tivland.

Population Media Center (PMC) is a nonprofit, international nongovernmental organization, which strives to improve the health and well-being of people around the world through the use of entertainment-education strategies, like serialized dramas on radio and television, in which characters evolve into role models for the audience for positive behavior change. Founded in 1998, PMC has over 15 years of field experience using the Sabido methodology of behavior change communications, impacting more than 50 countries around the world. www.populationmedia.org 17dc91bb1f