Nigerian Drama and Ideological Commitment: A Study of Selected Plays of Femi Osofisan and Olu Obafemi

Abstract

Discourse in ideological commitment among Nigerian playwrights has been a controversial issue because critics such as Jeyifo and others accused pioneer Nigerian playwrights of non-commitment to any particular socio-political ideology that can transform the society positively, if compared with playwrights like Femi Osofisan and Olu Obafemi who emerged in the 1980s. The duo belong to the group of Nigerian playwrights that are considered to be socio-politically committed because of their ideological stance. This paper therefore aims at investigating the nature, extent and direction of their ideological commitment in the following selected plays: Femi Osofisan’s Red is the Freedom Road and Altine’s Wrath and Obafemi’s The New Dawn and Love Twirls of Adiitu and Iyunade. Throughdescriptive research method and oral interviews with the playwrights, this study explores the commitment of the playwrights to the conscientisation of the down trodden and to positive social change over time, using Marxism /Brecht’s Epic theories as its theoretical frameworks. The study finds the selected plays as relevant in revealing the playwrights consistent commitment to the revolution of the mind of the poor majority through conscientisation, mobilization and collective effort to fight bad governance and the oppression of the poor. The study concludes that the playwrights are fully committed to positive social transformation of Nigeria and recommends among others, that their plays should be read and acted in schools and public places for the purpose of conscientising the Nigerian populace. They should also actively participate in Nigerian politics to realize the kind of Nigerian society they crave for in their plays.