Download In what ways do the radical playwrights differ from the older

1
In what ways do the radical playwrights differ from the older
generation/more traditional dramatists? Use Four (2 each) plays
to illustrate your answer.
This essay will assess the work of four different African playwrights who
are widely believed to inhabit the received categories of traditional and
radical, but who at the same time challenge the inherent assumptions of
such categorization. A major focus of this study will be Wole Soyinka’s
play Death and The King’s Horseman. This play is particularly interesting
because it can be labelled traditional, is set in a colonial context, and yet
simultaneously challenges modern thought and raises the status of the
indigenous culture. My second study will be a more typical traditional
playwright, Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin from Ethiopia. Medhin’s play, The Oda
Oak Oracle, whilst set in the context of an indigenous community, favours
modern thinking (in stark contrast to Soyinka’s work).
For the radical playwrights I have chosen Andrew Whaley’s The Rise and
Shine of Comrade Fiasco. Whaley is a white radical Zimbabwean
playwright, and his play is set in a post independent Zimbabwe. The play
is particularly striking because it reflects not so much a rally cry for
revolution as a reflection on the consequences of independence in
Zimbabwe. Finally I have chosen Ngugi Wa Thiong’o’s play, The Trial of
Dedan Kamathi. This is a highly significant work as it was written in the
mid seventies, during the older generational writing period, and raised the
profile and status of not only an African freedom fighter, Dedan Kamathi,
but one who opposed the British.
This essay will seek first to address why radical playwrights and traditional
dramatists differ from one another before dealing with the question of
2
what the differences are. It will identify the motivations and generic
influences of the writers, and evaluate the impact of those underlying
assumptions on their work.
One important factor to consider in addressing the “Why” question is to
understand what the writer’s generational perspectives and influences
were.
In Andrew Whaley’s play “The Rise and Shine of General Fiasco” Fiasco, a
freedom fighter has missed seven years of life in a post-independent
Zimbabwe holed up in cave. One of his cell mates Chidhina observes:
You are lucky. You missed the labour queues, the waiting and
disappointment. You missed that. You missed becoming a security
guard or a driver.1
Radical writers could point the finger of accusation at the older traditional
African playwrights in the same way. Many traditional playwrights wrote
at a time when African countries were living in the hope of independence
and so had not yet experienced the broken dreams of many in the wake of
independence. Furthermore, their social position in colonial society offered
them
a
measure
of
protection
from
such
disappointment
and
disillusionment. Again in Whaley’s play Chidhina reflects the sense of
betrayal experienced by many in boldly exposing those he believes are to
blame;
Whaley Andrew, The Rise and Shine of General Fiasco, Contemporary African
plays, Methuan Publishing Ltd, London 1999, p119
1
3
You are not some fucking Vukuru (elder) putting on puppet masks
and preaching socialism with Swiss accounts.2
This cynicism, so starkly portrayed in Whaley’s work, was a justifiable
response to the reality of mismanagement by the new leaders, and the
tendency of new governments to assume power with the same bias to the
colonial mother ship as before.
Radical playwrights reacted against this mismanagement of power and
sought to offer a positive revolutionary alternative to the present
decadence. Inevitably their historical perspective gave them an advantage
over the traditional writers, as they could both see more clearly the legacy
of colonialism after independence and benefit from the body of literature
laid down by traditional dramatists to both critique and build on.
However a generational perspective is not the only factor influencing the
writers and their work. Another crucial response to the “why” question can
be seen in the differing ideologies of radical and traditional playwrights.
The radical dramatist’s stance can be clearly seen in Dedan Kamathi’s
defence in the play, The Trial of Dedan Kamathi:
There are no classes in Africa, we are all freedom fighters.3
Ibid, p103
Thiongo N W & Mugo M G, The trial of Dedan Kamathi, Heinemann, Oxford
1977, p47
2
3
4
Kamathi’s words are echoed by radical playwrights in Africa today, who
similarly recognise a continuing lack of freedom in society due to the
colonial legacy reflected in unbalanced market economies, poverty and a
cultural genocide. They too see themselves not just as artists writing
plays, but as co- fighters in the struggle for freedom. Ngugi Wa Thiong’o
and Micere Githae Mugoin gleaned their radical instincts not from
belonging to the new generation of radical writers, as they studied in the
60’s with many traditional contemporaries, but rather through their own
observations of western culture:
Having encountered capitalism in its home ground, we were
completely convinced that Imperialism was the enemy of all working
peoples.
4
Thus we see the same imperialistic structures that had so profoundly
influenced the writings of the traditionalists having the opposite effect on
Thiong’o and Mugo. Clearly, the differences between traditional and
radical playwrights cannot be accounted for purely by generational
perspective, but also is dependant on their ideological stance.
So let us look in greater depth at their ideological differences. The
ideology of the traditional playwrights had been influenced by a “colonial
tutelage”,5 by which they lived “too closely to the social power of new
ruling class,”6 for it not to influence them. They saw themselves primarily
4
5
6
Ibid, Preface
Nkosi Lewis, Tasks and Masks; Themes & Styles, Longmann, 1981, p191
Ibid
5
as artists, addressing an English speaking educated elitist audience, and,
as we shall see, this influence pervades every aspect of their writing.
Soyinka can be taken as an exemplar of this. In Olu Obajemi’s essay on
Political theatre in Nigeria, he makes the point that Soyinka was a
“fundamental individualist”7 with a “pride in the individual effort”8 He
states his focus was more on “aesthetics and entertainment rather than
with instruction.”9 This is a thread that runs through all the traditional
writers. This pride in their craft meant that the language they employed
was not only flowery, but also tried to compete in some measure with
other English dramatists through drawing on a strong English literary
tradition:
Not while the mountains cry
For water; No my daughter
The river beds sucked dry
Moan out at the greedy skies.10
This extract from Tsegaye Gabre Mehdin’s The Oda Oak Oracle reveals the
powerful influence of English poetry, with every new sentence beginning
with a capital letter. He also uses rhyming couplets in “cry” and “dry” to
make the verse flow, although at least the imagery used is familiar to the
African mind.
Obafemi O, Contemporary Nigerian Theatre and social vision, Cultural Heritage,
p169
8
Ibid
9
Ibid
10
Mehdin Tsegaye Gabre, The Oda Oak Oracle, Oxford University press, London
1965, p44
7
6
Soyinka’s work displays a similar dependency, reflected par excellence in
the words of Elesin in Death and the Kings Horseman. Elesin an African
villager with a supposed limited colonial education speaks in English thus:
My will was squelched in the spittle of an alien race and all because I
had committed this blasphemy of thought that there might be the
hand of the gods in a stranger’s intervention.11
Elesin is here contemplating a subconscious thought that he might have
given into the temptation of being arrested over his duty as the King’s
horseman in committing suicide. Hearing this eloquent speech with echoes
of Elizabethan blank verse and oiled by sibilance in the first line to help its
flow, might lead to the charge that Elesin is being misrepresented by such
ornamental language.
One
thing
is
certain
that
the
radical
writers
entertain
no
such
subconscious thought when faced with the temptation of using ornamental
language over what they see as their duty to communicate to a mass
audience. That this fundamental aim underpins their ideology is plain to
see in Kamathi’s words:
Rise, Rise workers and peasants of Kenya, our victory is the victory
of those working people.12
Soyinka Wole, Death and The King’s Horseman, Methuen Drama, London 1993,
p69
12
Thiongo N W & Mugo M G, The trial of Dedan Kamathi, Heinemann, Oxford
1977, p 68
11
7
For radical writers to communicate effectively to a mass peasantry
audience they have removed ambiguity from their writing, and have
chosen simple plain words to minimise different interpretations of
meaning. As Obafemi points out, the radical playwrights are committed
“to the employment of the theatre to effect social change.”13 He goes on
to say they are “dedicated to a revolutionary theatre aimed towards
raising mass consciousness”14.
This means that, in contrast to the more traditional writers, the radical
dramatists are not so much concerned with entertaining their audiences
for the sake of art as for the purposes of instructing them and
communicating the message of revolution to the people. However, despite
the traditional writers concern to satisfy an elitist audience, there is still
political intent at play. This can be seen very clearly in the role of Elesin’s
son, Olunde, in Death and The King’s Horseman.
Who says we haven’t a defender? Silence! We have our defenders.
Little children are our champions.15
The failure of Elesin to carry out his duty in committing suicide threatened
the traditional succession of the culture, but as long as the children are
there to pick it up and carry it on, the indigenous way of life will continue.
Olunde does this as the eldest son, so that he can step into his father’s
Obafemi O, Contemporary Nigerian Theatre and social vision, Cultural Heritage,
p 169
14
Ibid p 173
15
Soyinka Wole, Death and The King’s Horseman, Methuen Drama, London 1993,
p40
13
8
place to accompany the deceased King to his new kingdom, and so avoid
the disgrace of “wandering in a void of evil”16 for eternity. However
Soyinka shows a political meaning in Olunde’s death by undermining the
colonial authority and, as, Adebeyo Williams posits, “The Elesin ritual
negotiates the painful reality of death for the ruling class.”17
While this may show the political edge in Soyinka it is also a very different
approach to that of the radical writers. Whilst they are raising a battle cry
for a people’s revolution, Soyinka is more concerned with influencing and
changing the individual. Often as Nkosi states he does this through the
“isolation of the gifted”18 or “maimed individual”19 which then produces a
vision. This is embodied in Olunde, the educated and seemingly
westernised son, who returns disillusioned with the hypocrisy of western
civilisation to give up his life for the sake of his King’s honour and so fulfil
his duty as the eldest son.
Although this suicide may present some problems for the leftist radical
writer by its feudalistic nature, preserving the Oyo kingdom and
encouraging class entrenchment and class consolidation, the principle of
giving African rituals a new political significance has been successfully
taken up by radical writers too. In fact they have gone on to provide a
new African voice as well, as shown in Thiongo’s play, The Trial of Dedan
Kamathi:
Ibid p564
Williams Adebeyo, Cultural Death And The King’s Horseman, Modern African
Drama, W.W.Norton & Co, Inc, New York 2002, p565
18
Nkosi Lewis, Tasks and Masks; Themes & Styles, Longmann, 1981, p190
19
Ibid
16
17
9
And we devised new dances, talking of the struggle before us
readying ourselves for the war.20
Fanon labels these new African voices as “the bearers of a hybrid
identity.”21 Rather than imitating the colonial past as the more traditional
writers were prone to do, the radical playwrights, through their ideological
position, capture and create a national African culture. Interestingly, the
radical playwrights have also tended to connect more closely with the
more functional indigenous forms of African theatre designed primarily for
the purpose of performance , as opposed to the traditional generation of
writers who created plays for the written text, concerned with their
literary careers. Within these performance based plays the boundaries of
theatricality have been pushed:
Things are just getting mixed up now between acting and thinking,
playing and life.22
In the Rise and Shine of Comrade Fiasco the whole play takes place in a
prison cell with only 4 actors, a blanket, and a bucket. The style of
performing is very physical, and different techniques are employed such
as a “play-within-a-play”, with the audience regularly being addressed by
the actors. Once again, we see the ideological concern of the radical
Thiongo N W & Mugo M G, The trial of Dedan Kamathi, Heinemann, Oxford,
1977, p37
21
Bhabha Homi K, The Location of Culture, Routledge, London. 1994, p38
22
Whaley Andrew, The Rise and Shine of General Fiasco, Contemporary African
plays, Methuan Publishing Ltd, London 1999, p109
20
10
playwrights
to
engage
the
audience,
as
with
“Brecht’s
theatrical
experimentation,”23 trying to penetrate their audiences in order to involve
them in the theatrical process. Further, the hybrid nature of the radical
dramatists has given Africans the opportunity to explore and reclaim their
identity. Ngugi Wa Thiongo’s choice to write a play about Dedan Kamathi
was, in itself, a brave attempt to reclaim African history and re-evaluate a
Kenyan freedom fighter who had been labelled a terrorist by the British
but in the eyes of the people was a hero:
Great commander that he was, great organiser that he was, Great
fearless fighter that he was, he was human! (almost savagely
bitterly); Too human at times.”24
Whist many myths existed about the exploits of Dedan Kamathi and of his
ability to make himself invisible to the British, Thiong’o’s play essentially
reclaims his humanity. It reveals his strength of conviction in standing up
to the injustices of British colonial rule in Kenya, as well as a
compassionate side to his nature. The quotation above alludes to this in
the decision to spare his brother from the treachery of betraying their
cause.25 This, of course, leads to Dedan Kamathi’s eventual capture and
trial.
Obafemi O, Contemporary Nigerian Theatre and social vision, Cultural Heritage
p171
24
Thiongo N W & Mugo M G, The trial of Dedan Kamathi, Heinemann, Oxford,
1977, p62
25
Ibid p78
23
11
In contrast to the patriotism of the radical writers, many traditional
playwrights could be accused of undermining the struggle for an African
identity in their acceptance of contemporary western thinking in place of
their more traditional African culture. Frequently the subject of their plays
is set in a deeply African context and deals with African issues.
Nevertheless, their work betrays the influence of their new western value
systems. This can be seen in Tsegaye Gabre Mehdin’s play The Ode Oak
Oracle:
The anger of our forefathers
Is only a nightmare
From the world of our dead
While the bitterness
Of an ignored women
Is the truer hell
Raging inside your hut.26
The play looks at the dilemma faced by a young married couple who find
themselves under a curse condemning their first born to be sacrificed.
Goaa, who has been influenced by Christianity, having escaped a
shipwreck on a slave ship, advises his friend Shanka not to listen to the
Oracle of the Oak Tree. Here he echoes a sentiment, visible throughout
the play, that “the anger of the African gods is a nightmare which can be
awoken from”. The real drama is seen within the human love triangle of
Goaa, Ukutee and Shanka.
Mehdin Tsegaye Gabre, The Oda Oak Oracle, Oxford University press, London
1965, p178
26
12
Yet, although this tendency to favour modern thinking is a common thread
among the traditional generational writers, Soyinka does not fall into this
category. On the contrary, he is highly critical of the so called modern
thought, and often goes to some lengths to raise the status of the
indigenous culture:
I discovered that you have no respect for what you do not
understand.27
In Death and The King’s Horseman, Olunde makes this observation to
Jane; the sympathetic wife of the District officer, as they talk about
Elesin’s supposed suicide. Of course he has gained a lot from successfully
studying to become a doctor and living in England, even helping in the
Second World War effort. Thus his observation carries even more weight.
Adebayo Williams goes so far as to suggest that the Soyinka enables
Olunde to function in the play is as his “ideological Spokesman.”28 Soyinka
displayed this same insight in many of his plays, exposing colonialism
from the inside and highlighting its assumptions of cultural superiority.
So,
although
Soyinka
differed
from
his
counterparts
by
being
a
spokesman for African indigenous culture, traditional writers were
generally brought together by a privileged position, enabling them to offer
both criticism and insight relating to the colonial elite. However because
many of the traditional playwrights had a static and stable view of their
Soyinka Wole, Death of the King’s horseman, Methuen Drama, London 1993,
p50
28
Williams Adebeyo, Cultural Death And The King’s Horseman, Modern African
Drama, W.W.Norton & Co, Inc, New York 2002, p563
27
13
indigenous cultures, they have been criticised as being “insensitive to
basic structural conflicts”.29 Thus their tendency to criticise their own
traditional culture in favour of modern western thought undermined their
position. We see this in The Oda Oak Oracle:
It is you Shanka who first bid defiance to our dead.30
The priest brings judgement on Shanka who had, first of all, not accepted
the oracle’s wish to sacrifice the first child. Whilst this is a true
observation of Shanka’s lack of respect for the oracle and the dead, the
play itself never directly criticises either the wishes of the Oracle or the
supposed western wisdom that Goaa shares. However, it ends with the
gruesome death, one by one, of each character - offering no resolution or
way out of the battle between tradition and modern thought, yet leaving a
bitter taste in the mouth towards the indigenous cultural wisdom. This
ambiguity displayed by traditional playwrights has been identified by
Ngugi Wa Thiong’o, who criticises the African writer who, when faced with
the contradictions and failure of modern thinking in African society,
“retreats into individualism, mysticism and formalism.”31 He goes on to
say,
Thiong’o Ngugi Wa, Writers in Politics, Essays, Heinemann, 1981,
p75
30
Mehdin Tsegaye Gabre, The Oda Oak Oracle, Oxford University press, London,
1965, p35
31
Thiong’o Ngugi Wa, Writers in Politics, Essays, Heinemann, 1981, p79
29
14
He simply becomes cynical and laughs at everything equally; at
capitalism and its exploitive and oppressive social system and of the
struggles of the people for total liberation.32
It may be considered harsh to level this criticism at all traditional writers,
since its sentiment only rings true for some. Indeed, radical writers like
Ngugi Wa Thiong’o have themselves journeyed from a position of colonial
acceptance and influence to a more radical standpoint today.
Having explored the traditional writer’s bias towards modern thought,
what about the radical dramatist? Well, his position is generally much
clearer and tends to flow out of his ideological stance. Indeed, whilst the
traditional playwright shudders at the thought of the idea of the peasantry
controlling the productive forces and political power, this is the radical’s
ultimate objective. Hence their position favouring modern thought as
opposed to traditional African thinking must either fit into the plan of
revolution of the masses or be rejected.
Ndakanwa izwi richigogodza mukati memoyo wanya…Zarura Zarura
musio uregere gurira ripinde (I heard the word knocking inside my
heart Open the door and let the guerrilla in).33
In the Rise and Shine of Comrade Fiasco the actors re enact a scene at
the point when Fiasco loses himself. A cry goes out from his comrade
Ibid
Whaley Andrew, The Rise and Shine of General Fiasco, Contemporary African
plays, Methuan Publishing Ltd, London 1999, p116
32
33
15
fighters which echoes the sentiment of “Let Jesus into your hearts,”34
words which, I suspect, many Africans will be familiar with through
Christian missionary exploits in Kenya. This scene demonstrates the way
radicals recreate meaning in history to make an ideological point; as
Obafemi points out, “the inevitability of a social revolution in an unjust
society.”35 Thus, whilst the traditional indigenous society is valued by the
radical playwright, it can be reinvented in the same way as even the
western import of Christianity finds re-invention here, so long as it serves
the cause of a people’s revolution. This means, of course, that in the face
of modern western thinking the radical has no alternative:
We cannot stand on the fence. We are either on the side of the
people or on the side of imperialism.36
Thiong’o hereby challenges African writers to either fight with the people
or aid imperialism; there is no sitting on the fence.
Until this point, differentiation between radical and traditional playwrights
may seem to imply that the radicals have greater cohesion, and are more
consistent, more representative of the people, more aware of indigenous
culture and influence, and embodying a clearer ideology. However, radical
playwrights have also come under some criticism for alienating the very
people they are trying to reach:
John the Apostle, Revelation 3 verse 20, The Holy Bible, New International
Version, International Bible Society, Zondervan, Michigan, 1984, p1120
35
Obafemi O, Contemporary Nigerian Theatre and social vision, Cultural Heritage,
p188
36
Thiongo N W & Mugo M G, The trial of Dedan Kamathi, Heinemann, Oxford,
1977, Preface
34
16
Just try this. Now just say we are different Zimbabweans, and we
have not met each other since eight years.37
Two prisoners in a Zimbabwean cell, Febi and Jungle, are talking about
Zimbabwe since independence, and decide to create a scenario playing
the role of two people who knew each other but who haven’t met for
seven years. They jump into an improvised scene, a small play within the
main play. This device is frequently used in The Rise and Shine of
Comrade Fiasco, as well as the use of multiple role-playing by the four
characters in the cell to re enact and bring to life Fiasco’s story. These
devices and others have, as we have seen, been widely used by radical
playwrights, yet they can serve to obscure their plays and message in the
same way as traditional playwrights such as Soyinka are often accused of.
To what can this be attributed? Olu Obafemi identifies a certain
inevitability in the process: “because of their profound educational
attainment they cannot help being at times elitist in their approach”.38
Obafemi is here largely alluding to Nigerian radical playwrights, but this is
an accusation that could equally be applied to other playwrights. Thus
some of the radical playwrights are, by definition of who they are,
separated from the very people they are wanting to align themselves with.
They are forcing themselves to condescend, and, in doing so, artistically
limit themselves.
Whaley Andrew, The Rise and Shine of General Fiasco, Contemporary African
plays, Methuan Publishing Ltd, London 1999, p106
38
Obafemi O, Contemporary Nigerian Theatre and social vision, Cultural Heritage,
p172
37
17
Ultimately, therefore, they are left open to the criticism that their work
fails to penetrate with depth and lacks the philosophical richness of, for
example, the work of Soyinka:
They have the numbers
They have machine gun fire
Their striking power is awesome
Why should I hide you from that?39
The words of Kamathi are plain and simple like machine gun fire; he does
not want to obscure the size and challenge of the battle the freedom
fighters are facing. In the same way, Radical writers do not want to
obscure their message to the people. Yet in the field of poetry the
question
of
whether
or
not
the
radical writer’s
greater
communicate has meant they have “oversimplified issues”40
urge
to
and so
created a “blunt judgement” cannot be evaded41. In addition to this, the
constant press and vigour to push their ideology has led to the accusation
that they have made their art “Creak in places.”42
Soyinka and other traditional writers were, on the other hand, committed
to a theatre where art was celebrated. Their belief was that if you wanted
to bring about action, you know where to go - and theatre was not the
place. This gave them the freedom and space to indulge much more in
their art and so to entertain. This then is a key difference between the two
Thiongo N W & Mugo M G, The trial of Dedan Kamathi, Heinemann, Oxford,
1977, p69
40
Nwoga DI, Modern African poetry: The Domestication of a Tradition, 1979, p49
41
Ibid
42
Obafemi O, Contemporary Nigerian Theatre and social vision, Cultural Heritage,
p191
39
18
groups of playwrights. One group whose ideology and practice reflects the
belief that simplification and instruction in the theatre will communicate
better to the common people, and that theatre is a place of action and
change; and the other, which sees theatre first and foremost as a place of
artistic expression and entertainment. Change may come about as a bye
product of theatrical expression, but that is not the ultimate aim. Of
course, Soyinka himself may have developed and changed his thinking
now, but this assumption was held by many traditional playwrights.
Conclusion
This essay has explored and evaluated some of the key differences
between the traditional generation of playwrights and the more modern
radical writers. It has endeavoured to show how the background and
ideologies of both have influenced the plays they have written, and what
they stand for. Whist both groups have, in some instances, appeared to
be in opposition to one another, there are equally important values that
both
groups
express.
I
have
been
impressed
by
the
traditional
playwright’s insights and critiques, which could not have been achieved
without their privileged position inside the colonial mother ship. I can also
applaud their concern to make the medium of art entertaining in order to
move an audience. However, the radical writers have been impressive in
expressing an authentic African voice, in reflecting a new hybrid, and in
their desire to reach out to the common people in simplicity, clarity and
through engaging the audience.
19
In spite of this there is still a challenge ahead for both African theatre and
society. In Nwoga’s words:
Africa has been shoved into the 20th century like a non swimmer in to
deep water and has either got to learn to cope with it or become
perpetually irrelevant.43
With the increasing popularity of the Nollywood film industry the
playwright now has a new platform from which to shape and influence
African society – a platform which will increasingly, with competition,
demand both quality and a radical and relevant message. With this
opportunity in mind, both the material of traditional playwrights and
radical dramatists may have a vital role to play
Let us conclude with a metaphor of hope for African theatre, taken from
the Egungan story in Yoruba land. Egugan is a kind of spirit of the dead
and a trickster with a mobility, openness and zeal for anything new and
innovative:
They are curious about new things and embrace fragments from
foreign cultures rapidly and avidly without giving up their original
essential characteristics.44
Nwoga DI, Modern African poetry: The Domestication of a Tradition, 1979
Fiebach J, Dimensions of theatricality in Africa, Modern African Drama,
W.W.Norton & Co, Inc, New York 2002, p484
43
44
20
This innovative quality of the Engun, a truly African phenomenon, is one
that can be both a model and an inspiration to modern African
playwrights. One that does not compromise its own identity and voice, but
is still willing and able to learn from others. For this reason, an
understanding of the differences between traditional and radical writers
offers a crucial insight which can help playwrights of the future to avoid
making the mistakes of the past in imitation and collusion. It may also
enable playwrights to take on board the philosophical and artistic depth of
someone like Soyinka, whilst not losing the spirit of the radical with an
African voice for the common people.
The hope is that, with this in mind, the future can unfold in contrast to
Chidhina’s words for Zimbabwe in The Rise and Shine of General Fiasco,
so that history will not “take a tumble”45 again.
Whaley Andrew, The Rise and Shine of General Fiasco, Contemporary African
plays, Methuan Publishing Ltd, London 1999, p133
45
21
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22