A Dance of the Forests (Masterplots II: Drama, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Wole Soyinka
- First Published: 1963
- Type of Plot: Mythological
- Time of Work: Unspecified
- Setting: Nigeria, West Africa
- Principal Characters: Adenebi, Obaneji, Demoke, Rola, Agboreko, Dead Woman, Dead Man, Aroni, Eshuoro, Ogun, Forest Head
- Genres: Drama, Postcolonial literature, Mythological literature
- Subjects: Africa or Africans, Tradition, Mythology or myths, Race, Betrayal, Religion, Gods or goddesses, Rites or ceremonies, Reincarnation, Feasting or feasts
- Locales: Nigeria
The Play
A Dance of the Forests presents a complex interplay between gods, mortals, and the dead in which the ideal goal is the experience of self-discovery within the context of West African spiritualism. The living have invited two glorious forefathers to take part in a feast and celebration—the “Gathering of the Tribes.” The god Aroni, however, explains in the prologue that he received the permission of the Forest Head to select instead “two [obscure] spirits of the restless dead”: the Dead Man and the Dead Woman, a captain and his wife from the army of the...
[The entire page is 2834 words long]
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