Unstable Geographies, History and Theatrical Expressions: a Study of Three Nigerian Plays.

Abstract

In this paper, we examine the effect of cultural and historical diversities on the theatrical expressions and the type of historical plays written by the new generation of Nigerian playwrights. It is also about how the dislocation of history has affected the arrangement of historical materials forcing playwrights to amend the thematic pre-occupations in their plays. The three plays chosen for this study which are written by two Nigerian award-winning playwrights — Sam Ukala's Iredi War, and Ahmed Yerima's Attahiru, and Ameh Oboni the Great, emerged from the colonial history of Nigeria which has forced the playwrights in their thematic expressions to re-examine the effect of forced cultural fusion — African and European — and also to arrive at a more plausible story which will encourage a new nationalistic spirit in the new generation of African audiences. The plays represent the playwrights' dilemma in representing the historical, cultural, and social dislocations as offshoots of unstable geographies, and at the same time embody the dialectic and didactic elements of theatrical performance.