ABSTRACT
Nigerian drama has been dominated by Wole Soyinka who has been one of the sternest and most unrelenting critics of his country. This chapter looks at Soyinka’s work as a critique of society which develops out of metaphysical considerations. The central problem in the relationship between the art theatre and a protest drama is partly a problem of the relationship between content and form. The chapter considers three plays: Madmen and Specialists, written at the end of the Nigerian civil war: A Dance of the Forests, written over ten years before, for the Nigerian independence celebrations; and Opera Wonyosi, produced at the beginning of 1978 while the military still held power in Nigeria and after the coronation of Bokasa as the Emperor (briefly) of the Central African Empire (also short-lived).
