1.0 Introduction
In this unit you will be introduced to different forms of traditional performances that could be classified as drama. You will learn that Western parameters of drama should not be used to ascertain what constitutes drama in the traditional Nigerian society. Dramatic performances are part of the traditional way of life as they are seen in traditional festivals, rituals and other performances and ceremonies.
3.1 Traditional Drama in Nigeria
All aspects of oral literature involve one sort of performance or the other. The story teller performs his story, and the poet also performs but the degree of performance of each genre varies and is not comparable to the traditional dramatic performances. Drama as an art form thrives on performance because it involves an imitation of an action, an enactment or a re-enactment of a story in lifelike situations. The aim is to entertain, lampoon, condemn, satirize, educate or to inculcate moral values. In all these, action or imitation of an action is involved.
Aristotelian concept of drama with its emphasis on imitation, plot, dialogue, conflict and so on has generated much controversy on what constitute drama in the context of Nigerian traditional performances. Based on the Aristotelian concept Ruth Finnegan declares that drama did not exist in African societies before colonization. According to her, Africans had what she described as “certain dramatic and quasi-dramatic phenomena” (500). Her stance created a division among Nigerian dramatic scholars on the definition of African traditional drama. Some of them oppose her while others align with her totally or with some modifications. Consequently, there evolved two schools of thoughts on that contentious issue. These are the relativist school of thought and the evolutionist schools of thought.
3.1.1 The Evolutionist School
This school headed by M. J. C. Echeruo and he argues that the traditional festivals are not drama but rituals.(Ogunbiyi 7) They opine that these festivals emphasize songs and dances with little or no attention to plot and dialogue. It insists that until a festival or ritual is forced to yield its story, the dramatic content will remain an integral part of ritual. Echeruo, in his argument insists that there must exist a story to be enacted or imitated for a performance to be classified as drama. In his contribution, Kalu Uka (insists) that “what is usually called drama is not yet drama but “essentially elements of drama” ( quoted in Ogunbiyi 7). Ola Rotimi also hinges his argument on the presence of an imitation of action in the performance for it to be termed drama. He opines that “any ritual display which contains mimetic impulse ought to be classified as drama not ritual” (Ogunbiyi 7).
This school insists therefore that for any performance to be classified as drama, it must contain elements of an imitation of an action and a story to be enacted or re-enacted. They conclude that the ritual festivals in Africa must conform to the Aristotelian concept of plot as the soul of drama, to be regarded as drama.
3.1.2 The Relativist School
The views of the relativist school, championed by Ossie Enekwe and J. A. Adedeji, is that drama and ritual are reciprocal in function and similar in structure so one can easily lead to the other (Ogunbiyi). It means that it is difficult to separate ritual and drama, therefore, drama exists in traditional performances. Supporting this view, Emmanuel Obiechina wonders why Greek’s parameter should be used in the evaluation of drama in Nigeria. This school believes that “theatre is first and foremost an experience” so should be experienced in different ways by people in different cultural milieu.
We believe that drama which is an art is an outcome of a creative instinct. A creative person is an imaginative individual who is capable of impressing an audience with the product of his imagination. Traditional African drama and theatre are embedded in performances. These include, rituals, festivals, story-telling, masquerade poetry composed performances, music/dance, puppet shows and many other forms of performances. We also believe that for drama to exist there must be an element of imitation of an action. Dialogue and unified plot structure should not be considered as obligatory in dramatic performance. However, in some traditional performances ritual and theatre are so interwoven that it becomes difficult to extricate the drama embedded in such performances.
3.2 Festival
A festival is a periodic feast, a celebration of an event. It includes forms of entertainment and performances and which are often held at a particular time of the year. African festival theatre brings together ideas, actions, aesthetics which are partly sacred (religious) and partly secular (sometimes profane). For instance, there could be a new yam festival to thank a particular god or pay homage to him for a good harvest and pray for a better yield in the following year. A man sets out with this noble intent but along the line, gets drunk, molests people or indulges in other unwholesome acts. You see now that there is a mixture of the sacred and the profane in his action.
Festival theatre is different from theatre festival. The former is a theatre produced as festival. The latter is a conscious attempt to declare theatrical productions in a given environment. Festivals are important in the Nigerian traditional society because of the following reasons:
. Festivals uphold and promote solidarity and collective consciousness among a particular people.
. They are characterized by collective euphoria where the sacred and the profane are interwoven. Usually there is a suspension of the rules and norms of ordinary life.
. They are characterized by non-work posture. Leisure is the central element in festivals so people look forward to festivals as a period of enjoyment and relaxation. There is usually a gradual change of occupational activities. Many festivals take place during the period of ‘rest’ for the people when there is less to be done in the farms. Festivals provide a forum for an entertainment and recreation for the people.
3.3 Ritual
Ritual is an honest act which follows a particular pattern, is performed for a particular effect (result) and in accordance with the tradition. In the early times, sometimes, the seasons did not come as expected or calamity may strike in a community. In this event of an abnormality in the cosmos, men felt that the gods were angry and that they had
offended the gods, one way or the other. They then devise means or ways of atoning for their sins and or appeasing the gods. Sometimes this appeasement is conducted only once but at other times it becomes a regular form of ceremony for the community. When it becomes a regular occurrence following a definite pattern to achieve a specific result, it becomes ritual. So, ritual is a continuous practice of a group of people either to satisfy custom or cause certain things to happen. It is a kind of rite that is performed faithfully, a re-enactment that looks like drama but different from drama because of intent. When the intent is simply to entertain, it is drama and audience is made up of human beings. But if the intent is to achieve a particular result and audience is supernatural, it is ritual. The audience is the people to whom the message is directed and the priest is medium through which the message is relayed, and the suppliants are the actors. Ritual is a transformation of belief into action through enactment.
3.4 Ancestor Worship
In the Nigerian traditional communities ancestral worship is very common. Deceased relatives, especially the elders, are regarded as ancestors and are believed to have some influence on their younger generations. People therefore, are cautious not to offend their ancestors but whenever such thing happens, such ancestors are appeased. Apart from the appeasement, ancestors are invoked or revered from time to time as the occasion demands to intercede or intervene for the living in some critical moments. In some Igbo societies for instance, after breaking the kolanut, a piece of the kolanut is thrown outside for the ancestors to eat before the mortals would eat their own share. Even in the prayers preceding the breaking of the kolanuts, the ancestors are invoked for protection as we have seen in Unit 3. Also, before taking a gulp of palm wine, part of the wine is used to pour liberation to the ancestors before the mortals drink their own.
In many homes, there were, and are still shrines for the ancestors. In some communities, particular tree are dedicated to them. In Awka, Anambra State usually a tree is planted in honour of an ancestor whenever a first male child is born. It is called “Ogbu chi” Ogbu is a type of Boabob tree and this tree represents the person’s god. From time to time, he is expected to perform some sacrifice at this tree or make some supplications. These minor gestures are performed freely by any adult male, preferably the eldest in the family. However, whenever there is a serious problem or in a communal reverence, the diviner is usually consulted and he prescribes the requirements for the ceremony. In this case, the priest acts as a mediator between the living and the dead. While the living worship the dead in with reverence in supplication, penitence, invocation or thanksgiving. This in some cases these ceremonies or assumes a higher sacrifice dimension, and culminates in a festival. You can see that some form of representation and imitation of action is involved. The priest yields his personality as a person and assumes the role of a priest.
Some of the ancestor worships involve masquerades. In some communities the masquerades represent the ancestors. Adedeji explains that “Alarinjos are bound to the Egungun culture by ancestor worship and participate at Egungun festivals. He also explains that Sango a one time Alafin of Oyo introduced the phenomenon of the ancestor worship called baba (father) or later Egungun (masquerade). In other tribes and traditional societies, ancestor worship is equally present in different names and dimensions. Try to find out how the ancestors were worshiped in your own community. We are concerned with the ancestor worships at the communal level. Some of them take place periodically while some occur as the need arises.
3.5 Masquerades
In most traditional African societies, masquerades are seen as gods or heroic ancestors. They take different forms and there are many varieties depending on the region, the purpose, the content and the pattern. They are usually masked figures of various kinds. A mask is a covering or a disguise used to transform the identity of the individual or the wearer into that of another character. So there is an element of impersonation. In traditional African societies, we can identify different types of masks according to their functions based on the areas of the body covered. (Thus we head pieces, face masks and body masks).
3.6 Story Telling as Theatre
In traditional African society, story-telling is in some cases seen as theatre. Stories are told as forms of entertainment. These stories are often enacted in the sense that to a greater or smaller degree, the speech and gestures of their characters are imitated by the narrator, and the action is largely exhibited through dialogue. The theatrical and sometimes dramatic performance is heightened by the frequent occurrence of music and sometimes rudimentary dance movements. Usually, at the beginning and end of the story, there is a form of witty exchange between the narrator and the audience. This is called focus formulae in oral literature. The popular one in English is ‘story-story, the audience responds story’. This is to get the attention of the audience and sometimes to create humour. These used draw the middle and is used by the story teller to draw attention to the moral aspect or the significance of the story. Also, in the course of the story the narrator introduce a song by, or representing the actions of one of the characters and this is taken up antiphonally by the audience, which acts as the chorus. In this way the audience partakes in the dramatic enactment of the story. Occasional too, the narrator could moves among the audience to emphasize a point or imitate a particular character. It includes mime gymnastics and acrobatics that are sometimes structured to or orchestrated by music.
3.8 Carnival
Carnival is a public celebration that is held periodically at a particular time of the year. It involves the community appearing in groups according to affiliations like age-grades or families. Each group tries to beat the other group in their presentations which involve flamboyant costumes, music and dance. In the riverine areas, the carnivals are in form of boat regatta in the rivers while in other communities, the performers perform along the streets. In Lagos the Fanti cultural carnival is very popular.
3.8 Puppet Shows
Puppets are models of human beings or animals that are manipulated to move by means of devices. These devices could be human hands/fingers or strings. These models are created according to the roles and the stories to be presented. They are used in dramatic
performances. They come in different shapes and sizes but the sizes are made as small as possible for easy manipulation. In the Nigerian setting, the puppets are used for both entertainment and edification. A common feature of puppet shows in Nigeria is that they reflect moral prejudices sanctions of communities and the depiction of social ills. They inform, educate and entertain through laughter. The actions of the puppets are usually explained through dialogue, narration or music/dance.
Puppet shows are popular in the Northern part of Nigeria. In the Kwagh-Hir theatre a narrator tells the story in fragmentary episodes with jokes that help to liven up the mood of the participation while the performance by the puppets is going on. Some of the puppets are naturalistic while others are grotesque and ridiculous, but “all reflecting moral prejudices and sanctions of the community” (Enem 250). The incidents they reflect cover both abstract and realistic situations, attitudes and behavioral patterns of the people and other universal human situations.
Here Puppets are manipulated to present dramatic performances. They come in different shapes and styles depending on the characters they represent. The common feature is that they reflect moral prejudices, sanctions of the communities and other social ills. Usually, they inform, entertain and educate through laughter comedy/satire. The actions of the puppets are explained through music, songs and narration.
In Bornu also the puppet show is a popular form of entertainment. The puppets are called the dogodogo in Kanuri and the manipulated is known as dogodogoma. Unlike in the Kwahir puppet shows that involve many manipulators the Bornu show features only one manipulator who carries the puppets in a hyena bag. He plants a stout forked slick, places his bag in front of it and sits behind the stick. He uses his flaming gown to build a tent which is supported by his head and the stick and brings out his hand above his head to manipulate the puppets. He delivers the lines in a still voice to the accompaniment of drums from drummers behind him. Each scene tells a story on social issues R.R Ellison recounts that the action is highly dramatic in one scene, a thief enters a man’s house and is just about to escape with his last when the man’s wife raises an alarm and the husband emerges and “gives the thief a sound beating. (252)
3.9 Popular Theatre
This is a form of theatre that is commonly approved and widely liked by the common people in a given community. The performer here does not need a text, or an elaborate stage but a place, time and an audience. Here entertainment and amusement are foremost is the minds of the performers and their theatres are so flexible that they can adapt easily to any environment. The Yoruba traveling theatre was a popular form of entertainment in the communities.
3.10 Music and Dance
Most of the traditional performances are embedded in music and dance. However we have decided to discuss them separately because they on their own are forms of traditional performances. Also some dances contain some re-enactment of stories. A good example is the Ohafia War Dance, some dance dramas from northern Nigeria or the Egwu Amala from Delta State.
Dance is usually accompanied by music. In traditional Nigerian society, dance is a form of entertainment during festivals and other traditional ceremonies and rites. Some of the dances are for mere entertainment while many of them are re-enactment of feats/incident or the dance is usually used to communicate or promote dramatic intention.
Music is while according to Meki Nzewi, “dance is stylized and structured movement in time and space. Dance involves or at the marginal, implies music” so both are somehow inseparable “Dance includes mime gymnastics and acrobatics, structure to, or orchestrated by music.
Many people conceptualize dance of mere entertainment but in the oral literature, some forms of dance are drama. Dance drama is very common in the traditional society. The Egwu amala of the Delta Igbo is a good case in point. In the north wooing and marriage are common features in their dance drama.
4.0 Conclusion
Drama is an art that is an outcome of the imagination, the creative instinct of man. In drama, the artist strives to impress an audience with the product of his imagination. In the same vein, the artist in oral literature tries to impress his audience with his art which is a product of his imagination. Traditional Nigerian drama is embedded in performances, like ritual, festivals, puppet shows, ancestral worships, masquerades, carnivals music and dance. Some of these are so interwoven that it is difficult to separate them.
5.0 Summary
In this unit you have been exposed to different forms of performances in Nigeria. However, it does not encompass all the wide range of performances in Nigeria. The popular Yankamanci, Hausa comedians’ performances and other dramatic skits, satires and full blown comedies performed in different parts of the country are not included here. You have learnt also that drama is significant in traditional performances but varying degrees.
6.0 Tutor Marked Assignment
Write a short note on one traditional performance in your community which you think is drama.
8.0 References/Further Readings
Ellison R.T.E. (1981) “A Bornu Puppet Show” in Ogunbiyi (ed) Drama and Theatre in
Nigeria: A critical source Book. Lagos: Nigeria Magazine.
Enem, Edith(1981). “Kwagh-hir Theatre” in Yemi Ogunbiyi (ed) Drama and Theatre in
Nigeria: A Critical Source Book. Lagos: Nigeria Magazine.
Nzewi, Meki (1981) “Music, Dance Drama and the Stage in Nigeria” in Yemi Ogunbiyi (ed). Drama and Theatre in Nigeria: A Critical Source Book. Lagos: Nigeria
Magazine.
.
Ogunbiyi Yemi (ed) (1981) Drama and Theatre in Nigeria: A Critical Source Book.
Lagos Nigeria Magazine.
Taiwo, Oladele (1985 ed) An Introduction to West African Literature. Nairobi: Nelson
Finnegan, Ruth.(1977).Oral Literature in Africa. London: Oxford University Press.
Echeruo, M.J.C ( 1981). “The Dramatic Limits of Igbo Ritual” in Yemi Ogunbiyi (ed)
Drama and Theatre in Nigeria: A Critical Source Book. Lagos: Nigeria
Magazine.
Enekwe, Ossie (1981). “Myth, Ritual and Drama in Igboland” in Yemi Ogunbiyi (ed)
Drama and Theatre in Nigeria: A Critical Source Book. Lagos: Nigeria
Magazine.
Adedeji, J. A. (1981). “Alarinjo: The Traditional Yoruba Travelling Theatre” in Yemi
Ogunbiyi (ed) Drama and Theatre in Nigeria: A Critical Source Book. Lagos: Nigeria Magazine.
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