What happens in the theatre: Whose story are being told

https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=Awrijj1uEyVqDwMArBOJzbkF;_ylu=Y29sbwNiZjEEcG9zAzMEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3Ny?fr=yhs-invalid&p=africa+theatre+performance&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fasantidancetheatre.com%2Fws%2Fmedia-library%2F94688d195aef4d5bb406c7eeafde2a1f%2Fasantidancetheatre_3.jpg

Drama and society are believed to share a symbiotic relationship. As Aristotle proposed, drama is an imitation of life. In the African context, dramatists have long used theatre as a representation of people’s lives, culture, and worldview. Theatre, as an art form, carries the pulse of society; it reflects its values, struggles, beliefs, and identity.

Over the years, African dramatists have used drama to protect African identity from distortion, ensuring that African stories are told from African perspectives.

Over the years, African dramatists have used drama to protect and preserve African identity through culture, tradition, history, and collective memory. They have shifted the narrative away from perspectives that misrepresent African identity, instead redefining it through authentic representation. In doing so, they prove that great plays are capable of safeguarding cultural heritage.

“Who controls the story controls memory and identity.”

In the post-colonial era, writers such as Wole Soyinka, Femi Osofisan, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Kobina Seyki, and Ama Ata Aidoo among others have used their works to question Western dominance and serve as voices of resistance. For example;

Ola Rotimi, in his adaptation of The Gods Are Not to Blame, reinterprets the ancient Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex within a Yoruba cultural framework. This adaptation demonstrates the importance of identity projection and cultural ownership in literature. Rotimi does not merely translate a Western story into an African setting; rather, he reclaims it and roots it deeply in Yoruba cosmology. The prophecy in Oedipus Rex is delivered through the Oracle of Delphi, associated with Apollo, the god of prophecy. In contrast, in Rotimi’s play, prophecy is delivered through divination connected to Orunmila, the Yoruba deity of wisdom and fate.

In The Gods Are Not to Blame, the adaptation becomes a cultural transposition, from Greek cosmology to Yoruba worldview eventhough Rotimi remains faithful to the original structure, but he re-centres the narrative within African culture, language, and tradition. This reveals the richness of African heritage through storytelling, proverbs, songs, and oral expression. The African rhythm of speech is preserved through the use of proverbs and figurative language. For example, sayings such as:

“When the chameleon brings forth a child, is it not expected to dance?”

Reflects the depth of African oral tradition and philosophical expression. African theatre is also deeply connected to ritual, spirituality, and communal life. Songs, dance, and traditional practices, such as appeasing the gods, including Ṣàngó, Sopona, and Ela, as mentioned in the play, are not merely artistic elements but expressions of cultural identity and belief systems.

Ola Rotimi’s adaptation, therefore, demonstrates that African drama is not a passive imitation of Western literature, but an active reclamation of identity through language, symbolism, and cultural heritage. He re-centres African identity and restores dignity to African storytelling.

In contrast, more African writers have also contributed significantly to this movement of cultural and historical reclamation. Writers such as Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o and Micere Githae Mugo extend this struggle into historical and political resistance in their play:

The Trial of Dedan Kimathi.

The play revolves around Dedan Kimathi, a historical figure and revolutionary leader who fought for Kenyan independence during the colonial era. However, the playwrights intentionally reverse the colonial narrative by centring African identity, culture, language, and collective memory. Rather than portraying Africans through the colonial lens of inferiority and silence, the play reconstructs the African as conscious, resistant, and historically aware. The play serves as a dramatic resistance against colonial domination and Western cultural superiority. Kimathi refuses to allow the colonisers define African identity or erase the history of the Kenyan people. Through him, the struggle for land becomes a struggle for existence, dignity, and freedom itself:

“Our history is not just a series of dates and events … it is a living, breathing thing, a flame that burns in our heart.” (act , scene 2)

Kimathi therefore emerges not merely as an individual hero, but as a symbolic representation of collective African resistance. His freedom becomes inseparable from the freedom of the Kenyan people. The play transforms him into both a historical figure and a revolutionary symbol whose voice represents the silenced voice of an oppressed people.

This spirit of resistance is further expressed when the struggle against colonial domination becomes a struggle for survival itself:

“We are not just fighting for our land, we are fighting for our very existence.”

The quotation reinforces the idea that colonialism was not only political occupation but also an attempt to erase African identity, culture, and humanity. In exploring the play, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o and Micere Mugo employ realistic dialogue and revolutionary rhetoric to express bitterness toward colonial assimilation, subjugation, and the exploitation of Africans within their own homeland. Theatre here becomes more than performance; it becomes political memory and cultural resistance.

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o himself argues that:

“Good theatre is that which is on the side of the people … that gives people courage and urges them to higher ideals in their struggle for total liberation.”

This philosophy is reflected throughout the play. The playwrights promote African identity positively by valuing African traditions, communal consciousness, indigenous language patterns, and historical memory. In this sense, tradition becomes not only a preservation of history, but also a guide for the future. Through drama, African stories are reclaimed, reinterpreted, and retold from the perspective of Africans themselves.

Whose Story Should Be Told by the Contemporary African Dramatist?

The beauty of African drama lies in its ability to authentically represent Africa and African identity. In a literary landscape long shaped by Eurocentric perspectives, contemporary African dramatists have a responsibility to reclaim African values, communal identity, history, and cultural heritage by placing African experiences at the centre of their narratives. This responsibility finds support in Afrocentric thought, which advocates viewing Africa from African perspectives rather than through external interpretations. As Oswald Early argues, "people of African descent need to develop an appreciation of the achievements of traditional African civilisation. Indeed, they need to celebrate their own history and their own system of values."

This does not suggest a rejection of all Western influences. Rather, it calls for African dramatists to prioritise African realities, voices, and worldviews instead of relying on Western validation or representation. The question is not whether Africa can participate in global artistic conversations, but whether it can do so without losing its cultural identity.

Consequently, drama should move beyond entertainment into becoming a vehicle for cultural preservation and historical memory. Contemporary dramatists can achieve this by drawing from indigenous oral traditions, local languages, folklore, myths, songs, dances, and traditional performance aesthetics. Through these elements, theatre becomes a living archive that preserves cultural knowledge and transmits it to future generations.

Furthermore, modern African drama should continue to explore themes that have historically shaped the continent and remain relevant today: identity, resistance, decolonisation, cultural preservation, historical memory, and the challenge to Eurocentric representations of Africa. At the same time, it should address contemporary realities such as migration, urbanisation, globalisation, technology, and the evolving nature of African identities. In doing so, dramatists can create works that are both culturally rooted and socially relevant.

A good play, therefore, is not merely one that entertains; it is one that carries the story of its people with honesty, dignity, and authenticity. It tells that story from within rather than allowing it to be defined solely by outsiders. Through theatre, communities recognise themselves, preserve their memories, and pass their values from one generation to the next.

If earlier generations of African playwrights such as Ola Rotimi, Wole Soyinka, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Micere Mugo, and Ama Ata Aidoo used drama to challenge colonial narratives and reclaim African identity, then contemporary dramatists must continue that task. In an age where stories travel across borders instantly, the responsibility of the African dramatist is not merely to entertain but to preserve memory, challenge distortion, and affirm identity.

 

 

 

 

 

WORK CITED

Early, Gerald. "Afrocentrism". Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 Jul. 2020, https://www.britannica.com/event/Afrocentrism. Accessed 29 May 2026.

The Gods Are Not to Blame Rotimi, Ola. The Gods Are Not to Blame. Oxford University Press, 1971.

The Trial of Dedan Kimathi Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, and Micere Githae Mugo. The Trial of Dedan Kimathi. Heinemann, 1976.