Madmen and Specialists | Madmen and Specialists

At a glance:

Author: Wole Soyinka
First Published: 1971
Type of Plot: Morality play
Time of Work: Unspecified
Setting: Unspecified, but suggestive of Nigeria after the 1967-1969 Civil War
Principal Characters: Blindman, Goyi, Cripple, Aafaa, Dr. Bero, Si Bero, Iya Agba, Iya Mate, Priest, The Old Man
Genres: Drama, Postcolonial literature, Mythological literature, Morality play
Subjects: Values, Africa or Africans, Religion, Good and evil, Fratricide, parricide, or filicide, Corruption, Begging or beggars, Cannibalism, Acrobatics or acrobats
Locales: Nigeria

Part 1 of Madmen and Specialists opens with four mendicants at a roadside—Goyi, Cripple, Blindman, and Aafaa. Behind them is Dr. Bero’s home with a basement office. To the side is a “semi-open hut” in which are visible two old women, Iya Agba and Iya Mate. The level space in front of Bero’s home holds barks and herbs set out for drying. The mendicants, casualties of a recent war, wager parts of their bodies in a dice game and wonder if their former therapist, the Old Man, Dr. Bero’s father, will ever fulfill his promise of taking them on a world...

Madmen and Specialists | Madmen and Specialists

At a glance:

The Play

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