DEVELOPMEMNT OF DRAMA AND AFRICAN REDICAL REVOLUTION

DEVELOPMEMNT OF DRAMA AND AFRICAN REDICAL REVOLUTION

INTRODUCTION

Femi Osifisan makes the story to represent African traditional features which helps to subvert the European conventional theatre.

A narrator who is an embodiment of African indigenous oral tradition. Femi Osifisan leads the group of playwrights advocating social change unlike their predecessors Osifisan dignifies every of our tradition in his book.

Wole Shoyinka couldn’t exclude himself also using his book he propagate the mythical stories of his people as well as showing how the Europeans consider our culture.

We can metaphorically say that Olunda represent Wole Shoyinka and Femi Osifisan, who had gone to aquire the knowledge of the westernials, coming back to use this knowledge they have acquired against them. Using their knowledge to create their own concept of theatre and adapting it to propagate our culture.

DEVELOPMEMNT OF DRAMA

The theory of African drama and theatre theories begins from the Europeans, as westernization came into being in African, so was there ways of life and culture, in this regard the Europeans have no respect or acknowledgment for our cultures. Though western education was introduce and impose but through this western education African playwright have in one way or the other promote the socio-political and economy interest of it people acquiring western education came with the knowledge of story writing,  poems and dramas even though we had them in existence but they were no means of expression except through oral literature were taught in school. Femi Osofisan and the like, of other were taught under the influence of colonial.

Drama originated from the greek, then latter the romans adopted it and what we now know to be Greco roman theatre today, however African drama also borrowed from them, it emacted from it one way or the other. So gradually playwrights begin to spring up. As writer comes up they begin to use it as a means of promoting their culture and religion playwright like Wole Soyinka, Ngugi wa’ thiogo, Femi Osofisan and the like of other, took a radical steps to use this westernize writings to tell their own story in their own way, in a way of subduing the theatrical import from Europe. This contemporary writers stops at nothing to achieve their aims.

Ngugi who happen to be a Kenya writer, wrote about her people, wrote to her people, in one of his books petals of blood, Ngugi demositrated in all ways possible her culture, language, music and mythical stories. But since our case study of the radical revolution in subverting Europeans, theatre will be Femi Osifisans one legend many season and Wole Soyinka’s, death and the king horseman.

These two books will be used to experiment the concept of myth on African drama. This two books are based on myth and legend but there sources are contemporary history, since the writers are contemporary writers, Femi Osifisan an a contemporary writer who enjoy, the use of Yoruba mythical and legendary story in telling is own story.

AFRICAN REDICAL REVOLUTION

Afrcan Radical revolution of there theatre and drama have specific aim, one of the major aim which is to subvert the import theatre by the Europeans, using Femi Osifisan and Wole Soyinka’s play. We would example how the radical change have been able to take place writers like Femi Osofisan have thrive on mythical stories to tell about god, gods, goddess, a hero, or a group of race, with the aim of creating a distinct indentify for African dramatory, to discredit the theatrical conventions of the inventors by using their own styles and techniques in writing their own plays, to promote African tradition and ways of life, this is a way of telling tradition and ways about life, this is a way of telling the ignorant about African religion, the richness in culture and religion.

Femi Osifisan’s one legend many season (2001) Femi Osofisan’s inhabit the africanism in this text looking at the way the story was told, which usually we can find in a European play, in this way Femi Osifisan have been able to bring himself out of the European conventions of story tell, he was able to introduce the use of a Narrator in his story, which normally looking and Sophocles, Oedipus the king in any part of the story we can find a narrator, telling us and leading us through the story. The first factor we would examine is how Osofisan is a radical writter.

A NARRATOR.

In a typical African society, where oral story telling flourish, children are seen sitting under the moonlight with the guidance of an elderly telling stories of heros, legends, queens, powerful kings etc. in this Osofisan adopted the using of the Narrator is play, from the own first scene of the play the  is Narrator guides us to the end the play, so the idea of story telling in the indengenous society is been brought into the story it should be noted that oral tradition has also been a significant mode of transferring feelings and attitude to the younger generation for countries.

This is to reflect the ways of African as well as disregarding any European theatrical convention or rules and regulation guiding the writing and invention of plays.

The narrator opens the scene, with his bole in his hand ready to attend to his audience.

          My stoms began one afternoon, in the often of alowolodu and makon,

          As you all know he had been dead or a number of years but is name

          ………………………….

This is the narrator giving us an insight into the story telling us a story by a wicked man. The use of narrator is not found at all in an European play or theatre in this regard Osofisan have been able to promote the oral telling them, “though you have brought western knowledge of writing”, we still had means of pass on our stories to our children” this very important factor have been able in one way or the other to subduing the European conventums of drama and theatres. One important radical movement of Osifisan, he has been able to emulate African culture and traditional which include material, oral, master story telling and clidatic etc. usually the aim of moon light story is for it to be deductive and as well pass on the cultural heritage of the people.

In death and the king’s horseman we have a voice leaking use through the story, this plan, is by Wole Soyinka a typical African man, with the voice of a person standing as the narrator we are be lead through in story, it gives us an insight to what is about to happen next in the play from the first scene of the play Wole Soyinka uses this voice to introduce the scene to us an the action that is about to take place.

A passage through a market on its closing stages. The stalls are emptized, mats folded. A few woman pass through on their way home, loaded with baskets on a cloth stand, bolts of cloth are taken down….

This illustration above is illustrating a typical African store at the verge of closing for the day the first is about to open but with the help of voice we get to know that the market is rounding off for the day.

In Femi Osofisan’s one legend many season anointer factor we would be bringing out is the use of audience participation, if we are familier with sophder’s Oedqus the king we would see the different we are talking about here, Osofisan allows audience participation, this for reasons I can pinpoint out

(i)       To subvert the European theatre

(ii)      To promote the African culture

(iii)     To carry the audience along with the story, just as Batho Brecht said or how epic theatre revolution that audience are not met to be left out, the fourth wall should be broken, but Osofisan did not only break the fourth wall, he brought the audience part of the characters to participates in the unfolding actions.

Another factor we should consider is that looking back in the ancient story telling if the narrator of the folk lore have said it to an extent, he allow his audience to pick out the didactics inside the story or ask little auction along the line. This factor Osofisan did not leave it out in potraying the African society of story telling in this story we could, notice when Orekelewa (goddess of the present) telling a story at every house she go to, where she was telling the story of IJAPA THE TORTOISE AND ELERI THE MOUSE – after she had said it for a while the narrator breaks to involve the audience into the story.