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Theatre and Political Discord: Theatre Rebels of Zimbabwe and Kenya

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2009

I. Peter Ukpokodu
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Extract

Though the world is aware of the political activities of the Nigerian playwright, Wole Soyinka, it might be difficult to find a better example of the relationship between a nation in a state of socio-political chaos and the arts in an African country than that of Ngugi wa Thiong'o's Kenya as exemplified in Matigari:

Matigari, the main character [in Ngugi wa Thiong'o's Matigari], is puzzled by a world where the producer is not the one who has the last word on what he has produced; a world where lies are rewarded and truth punished. He goes round the country asking questions about truth and justice. People who had read [Matigari] started talking about Matigari and the questions he was raising as if Matigari was a real person in life. When Dictator Moi [President of Kenya] heard that there was a Kenyan roaming around the country asking such questions, he issued orders for the man's arrest. But when the police found that he was only a character in fiction, Moi was even more angry and he issued fresh orders for the arrest of the book itself.

Type
Articles
Information
Theatre Research International , Volume 23 , Issue 1 , Spring 1998 , pp. 38 - 43
Copyright
Copyright © International Federation for Theatre Research 1998

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References

Notes

1. Thiong, Ngugi wa'o, Moving the Centre (London: James Currey, 1993), p. 175.Google Scholar Indeed, Kenya is almost on the point of political chaos. On 7 July 1997, political demonstrations against Moi's government led to a clash between heavily armed police and students, religious and opposition leaders. Police reportedly invaded All Saints Anglican Cathedral where demonstrators sought refuge. Of the nine people killed during the riots, one died on church grounds. See Lawrence fournal-World, Monday, 14 July 1997, p. 7A.

2. On 12 June 1994, Moshood Abiola declared himself president; meanwhile Sanni Abacha is the ruling president who came to power in 1993 in a military coup. In 1995, Abacha's government executed Ken Saro-Wiwa, a playwright/novelist, and eight other Nigerians.

3. Graham-White, Anthony, The Drama of Black Africa (New York: Samuel French, 1974), p. 168.Google Scholar

4. Thiong, Ngugi wa'o, Decolonising the Mind (London: James Currey, 1986), p. 40.Google Scholar

5. Thiong, 'o, Moving the Centre, p. 107.Google Scholar

6. Ibid., p. 71.

7. Ibid., p. 73–74.

8. Ibid., p. 80–81.

9. Larlham, Peter, ‘Theatre in Transition: the Cultural Struggle in South Africa’, TDR, Vol. 35, No. 1, Spring 1991, pp. 200–3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

10. Ukpokodu, I. Peter, ‘Plays, Possession, and Rock-and-Roll: Political Theatre in Africa’, TDR, Vol. 36, No. 4, Winter 1992, p. 40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

11. Thiong, 'o, Decolonizing the Mind, p. 42.Google Scholar

12. Ibid., p. 45.