As a minority group, the Edo (Benin) people of Nigeria have made enormous contributions to the development of the Nigerian theatre as highlighted in their festivals and plays from playwrights such as Irene Salami-Agunloye, Pedro Agbonifo-Obaseki, Ossa Earliece, and many others. However, works on Nigerian theatre have focused on the major ethnic groups of Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa-Fulani, and less on minority ethnic groups. This qualitative study examines the tragic dramaturgical representation of Benin history in Ossa Earliece’s Nekighidi and employs Meki Nzewi’s (1981) "Theory of Nigerian Theatre" as its theoretical framework. The findings reveal the use of Benin expressions and songs to locate the cultural setting of the play, the use of prologue and epilogue, suggestive titles to name the scenes, the use of ritual, charms, and the belief in gods and afterlife to evoke the Benin religious world view. Typical of Aristotelian tragedies, the actions of the tragic hero Nekighidi evoke the emotions of pity and fear because of his weakness, and there is a purgation of these emotions at his death. The play obeys only the unity of action, employs a simple plot and a climatic plot structure, combines prose, poetry and Benin expressions in its language, and exemplifies how African playwrights can give a voice to the art and craft of playwriting in ways that are not alien to the African socio-cultural sensibilities.

Authors:
Tekena Mark, Rivers State University, Nigeria

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Tekena Gasper Mark is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Theatre and Film Studies, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, Nigeria, with research interests in Directing, Theatre and Migration Studies, Ecocriticism, and Digital Performance.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tekena-mark-55588587/

Connect on ResearchGate
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tekena-Mark

Additional website of interest
https://independent.academia.edu/MarkTekena

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