Introduction
In this unit we will learn more about the development of Nigerian drama from the traditional itinerant dramatists to the plays written in the western literary tradition. We have itinerant dramatic and theatrical groups or performances in other parts of the country but the Alarinjo will be used here as a representative study. We will also see the influence of the Lagos concerts in the development of Nigerian drama.
We will try to trace the development of Nigerian drama from the itinerant drama groups through the concert parties to the European concept of proscenium stage plays.
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3.1 Alarinjo
The Alarinjo is regarded as the first professional traveling theatre among the Yorubas. This theatre group evolved from the Egungun cult in Yorubaland. According to J. A. Adedeji, the Alarinjo was originally part of the Egungun Society, the ritual of ancestor worship at about the 16th Century. It transformed into a court entertainment due to an aborted plan by some of the members to prevent an Oyo king, Alaafin Ogbolu on exile from going back to his home land. It happened that a member of the King’s council the Oyo – Mesi, who was a representative of the Egungun Society initiated a dramatic strategy to foil the move because many of the people have acclimatized and settled in exile so the do not want to go back to the old Oyo.
Usually, before a king goes back to an abandoned home, he sends emissaries to inspect the erstwhile sites which may have been in ruins and determine the level of security there. It is expected that they must “propitiate the gods, and make sacrifices before the final move in took place” (Adedeji 222). The dramatic strategy devised by the councilors was to use some ghost mummers (masked actors) to scare the emissaries. The intent perhaps, was to create a seemingly state of insecurity.
The actors were made up of six stock characters, each representing a councilor, the hunchback (Bashorun), the albino (Alapinni), the leper (Asipa), the prognathus (Sanu), the dwarf (Laguna) and the cripple (Akiniku). Initially the plan seemed to work as the emissaries were frightened and went back. However, through another strategy by the Alaafin, the actors were captured by six brave hunters. The King’s Ologbo (Ologbin) was instrumental to the capture of the actors. He was a member of the Egungun cult, so was aware of their plans and revealed it to the king who sent the six hunters to capture them. The ghost-mummers were taken to the king as court of entertainers and placed them under Ologbin Ologbo. They were made to entertain the councilors who masterminded the plan. They enjoyed the entertainment but never forgave Ologbin. The drama became know as the “Ghost” and was managed by Ologbin. It was later presented publicly though the councilors invoked rain to stop the performance but the king stopped the rain and the performance went on. The councilor later poisoned Ologbin and he died but the king honoured him by burying him in the court when they settled finally in the old Oyo.
Meanwhile, the story of the “Ghost Catcher” became a state performance that was re- enacted three times a year – during the Orisa Oko (farm god) festival, during the festival of Orisa Mole, and during the Oduduwa festival. It was also enacted during the installation of a new Alaafin. The theatre became permanent part of court entertainment in old Oyo. Ologbin before his death, got a wooden mask and costume for the group while he coordinated the improvisations.
The Alarinjo, thus, was founded by Ologbin Ologbojo and it became a family affair, members formed a guild. When he died, his maternal relation, Esa Ogbin took over his position as the head of court entertainment. He improved on his predecessor’s art and popularized the theatre. It flourished but among the lineages who were members of the guild. Gradually, many guilds emerged but each guild guided its secrets very well. Competition set in, consequently specialization and professionalism became inevitable. The desire for excellence by individuals helped to promote their style and later the actor without a mask emerged as they travelled from place to place to perform. Thus just like the medieval drama moved from the church to open spaces, the Alarinjo moved from the court to open spaces where their performance evolved from the “Ghost Catchers” to other forms of dramatic and theatrical performances.
Self Assessment Exercise
Link the “Ghost Catcher” episode to the development of Nigerian drama.
3.2 Concerts
As we said earlier, the Europeans came to Nigeria with their religion, education, government and culture. They had a culture of going to the theatre to watch musical concerts and this was introduced in Nigeria. Also in schools, some dramatic skirts were referred to as concerts.
3.2.1 Foreign Concerts
The missionaries, the colonial administrators and other foreigners who worked in Nigeria were used to concerts as forms of entertainment and relaxation in Europe. Sometimes, especially during the visit of an important personality from Britain they tried to organize a ball and other forms of entertainment.
The missionaries and teachers in particular tried to influence their parishioners and pupils with the European civilization. This includes European forms of entertainment which was of course regarded as being superior to that of Nigerians. The European concerts therefore became one of the “steps of doctrinal and cultural indoctrination” (Gbilekaa 3) Professional artists were not there to present the kind of concerts that obtained in Britain but they entertained themselves one way or the other.
3.2.2 Academy Concerts
The Academy was a socio-cultural club that was concerned with the promotion of arts, science and culture in Lagos. They organized social activities like debating, singing, poetic recitations, classical music and staging of concerts. The first patron of the Academy was Bishop Ajayi Crowther and his sons were members. Other members were drawn from the Lagos elite group. Some of them were J.P.L. Davis, Robert Campbell, J.A. Otunba Payne, Charles Foresythe and many others. Their first concert was like a variety show that featured songs, recitations, music and drama sketches.
Majority of Nigerians living in Lagos at this time were illiterates so they had nothing to do with the concerts which were European in terms of form and content. However the Saro-elite who were slaves who returned from Europe and; the emigrant communities made up of mainly Sierra Leonians and Brazilians patronized the concerts. The slaves felt superior to the indigenes since they regarded themselves as civilized black-Europeans. Ironically the indigenes looked down on them because they were slaves. This slave emigrant community and the Christians regarded the Nigerian traditional entertainment as heathen and uncivilized so focused on the foreign forms of entertainments.
Unfortunately, the Academy was short-lived as their building was regarded as a brothel. People though members of the elite class who felt that they were responsible gentlemen in the society stopped patronizing them on moral grounds.
A member of the Academy, Otunba Payne founded Philharmonic Society to continue the entertainment tradition of the defunct Academy. Their philharmonic hall at Tinubu Square was later changed to Phoenix Hall. The society organized concerts, songs and music also but later evolved as a band that performed at occasions and in their own concerts. Another prominent band group later was the Lagos Espirit de Corps who performed at important occasions for the colonialists and local chiefs.
3.2.3 Saro–Elite Concerts
The Saro–elite saw the European concerts as forms of status symbol and patronized them. By attending such concerts, they felt that they had high Victorian tastes and were enjoying the European style of leisure and recreation. As we said earlier it was ironical that while they regarded themselves as being superior to the natives, the natives looked down on them and despised them. They are regarded as slaves and in the society, the slave has no worth, no status in law and in the society. The Europeans were not particularly liked by the people so these ex-slaves were seen as fake Europeans who were neither Nigerians or Europeans so has no locus standi to make contributions on important issues in the society.
The feeling of arrogance and superiority of the natives became so manifest that the Saro elite did not only notice it but it affected them. The natives felt that they could not condescend to attend concerts that did not reflect the Nigerian culture. This disdainful treatment they receive from the natives deflated their ego, affected them morally, socially culturally and psychologically.
They were discriminated against in almost every fact of life-schools, churches, and the civil service. The Saro elite abandoned the Brazilian and Sierra Leonean emigrants who were still Eurocentric in their attitudes to life and started staging their own concerts which infused indigenous Yoruba materials. These concert “could be appropriately labeled a theatre of protest, discontent and disillusionment” because they were mainly “a reaction by these elites against discrimination in the church and in the colonial service” (Gbilekka 9). The mixture of traditional Yoruba materials or presenting the concerts in Yoruba was a way off seeking acceptability and integration by language.
Some of the concerts were adaptations of bible stories which were presented with a mixture of songs and recitations., some of the titles were “Cornelius Agrippa” “The Seven Champions of Christendom” and “the Raising of the Dead”. Some of the concerts were presented in Yoruba language. The concerts were criticized by the foreigners and their allys. The critics regarded the concerts as sacrilegious and blasphemous especially for the use of indigenous musical instruments, dance and language.
Many of these concerts were presented in school or church halls. The Europeans were disappointed that the educated Nigerians could support the “desecration” of schools and churches. However, they knew that they could not stop this form of entertainment so they decided to build a hall that people could hire for secular or religious shows. Consequently, the Glover Memorial Hall was built in 1899.
The negative attitude of the Europeans against the indigenous culture jolted some educated Nigerian who started to view Christianity with skepticism. They regarded Christianity and colonialism as collaborators, so, decided to study and reflect their own indigenous culture. This led to the establishment of the Bethel African Church. Gradually members of the European churches seceded to form their own churches, where they could infuse traditional materials, especially music and dance, in their worship and performances. The secession of these churches was influenced by the nationalist movements.
3.2.4 Schools/Churches Concerts
Missionary schools contributed a great deal to the development of drama in the colonial era. They had dramatic clubs or entertainment societies that organized concerts at the end of their school calendar or during festivities like Easter and Christmas.
The Catholic Church was by far the greatest producer of drama during this period. Drama, being a concrete art, is usually used for entertainment, information and education. This church therefore utilized the dramatic medium to teach English Language in order to enhance the communication between the foreigners and the indigenes. Drama also facilitated the teaching of local language schools. The church founded more secondary schools and this contributed immensely to the growth of dramatic presentations. The French priests who founded St Gregory’s College in 1818 organized grand concerts where drama sketches and plays by playwrights like Moliere were staged. The Reverend
Sisters who founded St Mary’s convent were not left out of these performances which were usually parts of Easter and Christmas festivities. These dramatic presentations were so effective and popular that the “Catholic Church built a hall that could sit about 800 (eight hundred) people for perhaps staging of concerts” (Gbilekaa 6).
Gradually, other associations in the Catholic Church like the Catholic Young Men Associations on also presented dramatic performances on their founders/feasts and other significant feasts in the liturgical calendar. The dramatic performances were so popular that they became household issues in and outside Lagos. One prominent feature about the dramatic presentations of the Catholic Church was that they deal with both religious and secular issues. They staged classical plays and musical renditions. Their plays therefore attracted audience from every facet of the society. The popularity of these dramatic performances became so high that the Church Missionary Society (CMS) accused the Catholic Church of using the performances to lure converts to their own denomination. This is an indication that the concerts were very important to the church.
The secular nature of some of the concerts influenced non-Catholics and led to the establishment of other entertainment societies and clubs like The Rising Entertainment society, Brazilian Dramatic Company, The orphan club; the peoples union, and the Lagos Glee Singers. Also individuals like Robert Coker and Nathaniel King also organized concerts.
These individuals, groups and churches organized the concerts for entertainment and for economic reasons. Like in the Western tradition, tickets were bought by members of the audience. Tickets for the performances by the Catholic Church were very expensive. Sometimes, some youths who could not afford the tickets threw stones at the roofs of the buildings where these shows were held. The exorbitant rate for the tickets excluded majority of the people who could have attended the shows. Thus the colonial theatre in Nigeria was not as popular as expected because it catered exclusively for “only a section of “Victorian” Lagosians. A majority of the “natives” who were illiterate were “uncultivated” and quite naturally cut off from this cultural life which the elite group promoted and acutely supported (Ogunbiyi 20). Inspite of the exclusion of a particular section of the Lagos Community in Grand and public performances, pupils and students in schools presented concerts and dramatic performances as part of the school calendar.
3.3 Indigenous Plays
The secessionists churches multiplied rapidly. One common feature of these churches is their tilt towards cultural nationalism. They exploited indigenous forms of expression and communication in their mode of worship. They infused traditional music and dance into their liturgy. The Aladura’s exploited the traditional medium spirit (divination) for their prophecies and healing. All these reflected in their own dramatic performances. Theatre groups started emerging and some of them were supported by the church. Some of the groups started writing their drama scripts.
King Elejigbo and Prince Abeje of Kontagora by D. A. Oyedele was the first Nigerian play. It was performed by Egba Ife drama group, but was jointly sponsored by Bethel African Church and the St Jude’s Church Ebute Metta. It was presented in the Glover Hall and the success recorded propelled the group to stage other plays. Other dramatic groups joined in writing and performing indigenous plays but as time went on vulgarity and out-right profanations found their way into these plays. More people criticized the plays and their presentations. This, the outbreak of the first world war and other historical, religious and cultural issues led to the decline of these productions. The Church in particular in their protest against this form of drama, banned their performances from their premises.
4.0 Conclusion
The Alarinjo theatre evolved from the Egungun masquerade group. It started with the re- enactment of the plot by the Oyo-Mesi to prevent Alaafin from going back to old Oyo from exile. The initial actors were made up of six stock characters whose subsequent performances contributed to the development of Nigerian drama.
Lagos concerts at the onset was modeled after the Victorian England forms of entertainment. The theatre was then elitist and geared towards conversion and indoctrination. Christians, Schools, Churches, groups and individuals were involved in the concerts. Consequently, they produced different forms of concerts. The Catholic Church played a prominent role in the evolvement of drama from these concerts. The secessionist churches contributed immensely to the development of indigenous plays as they injected the indigenous language and the African concept of Total Theatre into the performances and were responsible for the staging of the first indigenous plays.
5.0 Summary
We have seen in this unit how Nigerian drama developed from the Egungun Masquerade cult through the Alarinjo theatre. Nigerian drama also developed from the Lagos concerts of the late 18th Century. Originally, the concerts were elitist and the intent was for winning more souls by Christians. Gradually the concerts moved from the religious to the secular, and evolved into full-blown drama.
6.0 Tutor Marked Assignment
Trace the development of the Nigerian drama from the perspective of the secessionist churches.
7.0 References/Further Reading
Adedeji, J. A. (1981) “Alarinjo: The Traditional Yoruba Traveling Theatre” in Yemi
Ogunbiyi (ed) Drama and Theatre in Nigeria: A Critical Source Book Lagos:
Nigeria Magazine.
Echeruo, M. J. C. (1981) “Concert and Theatre in Late 19th Century” in Yemi Ogunbiyi
(ed) Drama and Theatre in Nigeria: S Critical Source Book. Lagos: Nigeria Magazine.
Gbilekaa, Saint (1997) Radical Theatre in Nigeria Ibadan: Caltop Publication.
King, Bruce (ed) (1971). Introduction to Nigerian Literature. Ibadan: Evans Brothers.
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