Abstract
During 1960, the year of Soyinka’s return home and of Nigeria’s independence, three of the published canon of Soyinka’s plays were first produced. While clearly part of the same sensibility which had created The Swamp Dwellers and The Lion and the Jewel, these plays reflected developments in Nigerian affairs and the remoteness of the possibility for change in that country. The indications can be seen in suspicions concerning the quality of the leaders who were settling into positions of power, in the challenge posed to the glib optimism of many of the population and in the determination to draw more deeply on African traditions.
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References
Dapo Adelugba’s close association with Soyinka and his sensitivity as a critic have given his writing on Soyinka particular authority. See, for example, ‘Trance and Theatre: The Nigerian Experience’ in Drama and Theatre in Nigeria: A Critical Source Book, ed. Yemi Ogunbiyi, (Lagos: Nigeria Magazine, 1981), pp. 203–218.
‘Wole Soyinka’ an interview, Spear (Lagos), May, 1966, p. 18. This is one of the most helpful of the shorter interviews which have been published. See also those listed in the bibliography to Critical Perspectives on Wole Soyinka, ed. James Gibbs (London, Heinemann, 1981).
Robert Fraser, ‘Four Alternative Endings of Wole Soyinka’s A Dance of the Forests,’ Research in African Literatures (Austin, Texas), 10,3 (Winter, 1979), 359–374.
See also Nick Wilkinson, ‘Demoke’s Choice in Soyinka’s A Dance of the Forests,’ Journal of Commonwealth Literature (London), 10,3 (April 1976), pp. 22–27.
Peter Enahoro, ‘Wole Soyinka Has Overdone it this Time,’ Daily Times (Lagos), 7 October 1960, p. 5.
‘Nigeria’s Bernard Shaw,’ Drum (Lagos), March 1961, p. 27.
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© 1986 James Gibbs
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Gibbs, J. (1986). The Independence Plays. In: Wole Soyinka. Macmillan Modern Dramatists. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-18209-1_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-18209-1_4
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