The Theatre of Wole Soyinka: a Study of a Selection of His Plays.

Abstract

This dissertation reviews previous studies done on the works of Soyinka and outlines what seem to be a preponderance of the biographical approach to the study of his plays. In contrast, it adopts a theatrical or "vertical" approach using the critical method developed by Bernard Beckerman in Dynamics of Drama. Most of Soyinka's plays contain elements of ritual. The theatrical approach recognizes the ritual affinity of the plays and , at the same time, views them as the playwright's artistic creation. Based primarily on the "activities" within them, Soyinka's major plays are classified into four categories which constitute the principal chapters in this study. The dissertation analyzes two plays from each division that are considered adequate representations of their categories, discussing them "segment" by "segment," the way they would unfold before an audience in a performance. It interprets the "activities" of the characters from the perspective of their cultural matrix and considers the relationship between the "activity" and the "imagined act" within the segments. It notes the relationship of the segments to one another and the kind of impact such a relationship would make on an audience. It points out the dramaturgic or theatrical flaws in the segments, where there is one, and attempts a suggestion of the meaning of a play only on the basis of the constellation of images emanating from the various segments. In all, eight of Soyinka's major plays are studied. The Strong Breed and Death and King's Horseman represent the category called "Tradition and Revolt;" Kongi's Harvest and A Play of Giants, "The Political Plays;" The Trial of Brother Jero and The Lion and the Jewel, "The Trickster Plays;" finally, A Dance of the Forests and The Road, "The Metaphysical Plays." Through the analysis of structural relationships within the plays, the dissertation demonstrates the relevance of the theatrical or "vertical" approach to the study of Soyinka's plays. Most of the plays exhibit structural ambivalence. The dissertation concludes that Soyinka's dramatic imagination is versatile, that his theatre is eclectic and that the structural ambivalence in the plays is an aesthetic expression of Soyinka's philosophical ambivalence which is actually the pivot of the eclecticism of his theatre.