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Journal for Studies in Management and Planning

Available at

http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/

I SSN: 2395-0463

Vol ume 03 I s s ue 05

Apri l 2017

Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 21

Theatre and Social Change: Christian Drama Dimension

Adeniyi Temitope Olorunsomo

Department of Theatre Arts,

College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti

Ekiti state. Nigeria.

Abstract

After more than 40 years of Ola

Rotimi’s presentation of the gods are not to

blame (1970) on the Nigerian stage,

Nigerians are still battling with the problem

of blaming past leaders (Internal or

External) for their economic and political

woes. This must have inspired Prof. Bakare,

Ojo Rasaki to reproduce this play in Ekiti

State on 12

th December, 2016, on the orders

of the State Government probably to douse

the voice of accusations and counter- accusations on the roles played by former

leaders in the socio-economic woes of the

State in recent times. At the centre stage of

Nigerian nationhood, the cacophonous

blubber is change. But can the people really

see the change? From the premise that Art

itself cannot change the society since it

appeals to man’s emotion, this paper

discusses the innate power of Christian

Drama as an art form to change the society

through the change of individuals that makes

up that society. Using the Haunting

Shadows (2004), The gods are to blame

(2009), both home videos as illustration, the

paper analyses the major characters in both

plays in their socio-economic and socio- political relationships and their quest for

change, and the aftermath. The paper

concludes that change comes from inner part

and radiates outwardly, from a single

individual to the collective, and that it is

when the individual has succeeded in

managing the inner change successfully that

he can transfer the dynamics of it to the

world around him.

Key Words: Theatre, Social Change,

Christian Drama

INTRODUCTION

Theatre is reputed to e the most

developed of all arts form and it is a social

institution where different aspects of human

creativity interact.

Drama, music, dance and fine arts are

different raw materials for the theatre of

these, drama, which is a play in

performance; in the most social since its

subject matter are often human beings in

different social or cultural interaction. The

engaging dialogue in drama has been an

externalization of the deep thought of the

playwrights represented by the actor and

actress on the stage.

The theatre stage then, has been a

forum of varies cultural, economic, political,

social, artistic or aesthetic debates over the

ages-all engaging different people in

intellectual; investigation of how to navigate

the moral impasse equated by living in our

moral universe where immorality of

different facets in rather the rule rather than

execution from antiquity when was used to

validate cultural validation of societal to

convention to the modern day where theatre

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Journal for Studies in Management and Planning

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I SSN: 2395-0463

Vol ume 03 I s s ue 05

Apri l 2017

Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 22

is used for social and political development.

For instance as Emman Dandaura (1992)

noted, the Greeks discovered early the

inherent ability of theatre to mould and

moderate political behavior by encouraging

theatrical contests during the city Dionysian

where playwright are encourage to enter the

competition with a trilogy of tragedy and a

satyr drama. In this tragic contest, man is

always presented at the mercy of the gods.

Hence, the rulers who are the representative

of the gods are held in awe and reverence.

This clearly ensures political conformism

and social order. Closer home, Ghanaian

Theatre, borrowing from folklore, deploys

Theatre to the services of social conventions

and mores. Ama Ata Aidio’s Anowa (1970)

demonstrates the pliable belief that any

woman who tries to defy cultural

prescriptions of morality and wisdom may

end up paying a bitter price for it. Early

Nigerian drama too were deployed for

cultural validation-Wole Soyinka’s The Lion

and The Jewel (1963),The Strong Breed

(1964) and John Pepper- Clark Bekderemo’s

Song Of A Goat (1964) and Ozidi (1965)

are examples of this. However, modern

Nigerian drama swerved away from this

predilection. The emphasis is on social

concerns of man in his society-Jero Plays

(1973) by Wole Soyinka; Ola Rotimi’s Our

Husband Has Gone Mad Again(1999) If...

A Tragedy Of The Ruled (1983) and Hopes

Of The Living Dead (1981) .These plays

dramatize man’s perennial search for

survival in a world dominated by greed,

insensitivity and evil malfeasance.

Contemporary drama in Nigeria is

partly dominated by radical aesthetics of

Femi Osofisan and others- Morountodun

(1983), No More the Wasted Breed (1983);

Red is the Freedom Road (1983), Olu

Obafemi Dark Times Are Over? (2005) are

examples of this. Their preoccupation is

providing an alternative theatre tradition that

is more than entertaining but that will jolt

the status quo from centuries of inertia

(Adegboyega,154).

On the other hand, silently

occupying the centre stage approach to the

use of Theatre for conscientization and

change-a theatre that is both educational and

entertainment in orientation. It is

programmed for social transformation

Arguably, all drama could be used

for this same purpose but the realities of the

times we live in call for urgent re-evaluation

of the critical tools of the playwright trade.

From the seminal and almost classic D. Olu

Olagoke’s Incorruptible Judge (1972) Olu

Obafemi’s Dark Times Are Over (2005) the

issue of corruption has been debated from

every conceivable angle, yet the problem

has refused to go, especially in Nigeria.

Today, Nigeria occupies the unenviable

position of being the most corrupt country of

the world (Ajayi, 15) This corruption index

of Nigera was highlighted by Senator Remi

Okunrinboye in a public forum at Akure,

Ondo State recently. He pontificated that as

at 1960 when Europeans departed the shores

of Nigeia, corruption was below one digit.

As at 1979, when Shehu Shagari was

president corruption has reached one digit.

Nigerians talk about corruption in thousands

of naira. By the time Ibrahim Babangida left

office by stepping aside in 1998,corruption

has become the acceptable currency in

official transactions, the index jumped to

Page 3 of 13

Journal for Studies in Management and Planning

Available at

http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/

I SSN: 2395-0463

Vol ume 03 I s s ue 05

Apri l 2017

Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 23

billions of Naira. Today the index is in the

trillions of Naira. One wonders what will

become of Nigeria in the next 10 years if the

issue is not drastically addressed. Of the

plethora of plays Nigerian Theatre has

produced on the issue of corruption,the

problem has become rather endemic rather

than abate. The focus of this paper is not self

conscious flagellation or blame sharing but

take a holistic look at the underlying

principles and proffer an alternative Theatre

tradition that may offer a way out.

Although there are, many varied

problems besetting the Nigerian Nation,

corruption is the most basic and it is the

foundation for all other problems. If there is

one thing history teaches us, it is that

corruption was imported to Nigeria through

the civilizing missions of the colonists,

either as trade voyagers or evangelists (Osae

& Nwabara, 3). They all bribed the unwary

citizens with pedestrian gifts and drafted

them to church go away with their

agricultural products. There and then the

seed has been sown- you can always get

what you need if you know whom to see and

what to give. In Nigeria political parlance

popularized by Ibrahim Babangida,

everyman has his own price. Corruption

became a directive policy of State

Administration. The phenomenal growth of

this ‘mustard seed’ has continued to amaze

the naïve ideologue who still thinks things

could be otherwise.

For instance, all levels of the

educational system has been bastardised by

this warped morality. Public examinations in

primary and secondary school are now

teachers’ examination. Tertiary Institutions

are a little different. The difference being

that more of the academics are still put off

the bandwagon probably because of their

training and exposure. But the practice of

‘you can determine your own grade in any

examination’ is fast gaining ground. Can the

present war against corruption affect these

“grassroots’ saplings” in the Educational

system?

Corruption defined by Websters

Comprehensive Dictionary English

Language (2013) as a destruction of fidelity

or integrity of a person through bribery.

(Dong cited in Ajayi) sees corruption as any

use of official position, resources or

facilities for personal benefit.(33) It is so

bad that Chief Olusegun Obasanjo remarked

in his Independence Day Anniversary

celebration speech at Abuja in the year 2000

that...

Corruption is

the greatest

single

impediment to

our national

aspiration to

enter into a

new

millennium

with

confidence...

it is not only

illegal but bad

because it

corrupts the

very soul of

our

community ...

It makes

nonsense of

all budgeting