Madmen and Specialists | Madmen and Specialists

At a glance:

Author: Wole Soyinka
First Published: 1971
Type of Work: Play
Type of Plot: Mythic
Time of Work: Possibly the 1960’s
Setting: Indeterminate, but similar to Nigeria after the 1967-1969 civil war
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

Dr. Bero, also called The Specialist, a medical doctor returning from service in a civil war analogous to the Biafran secession from Nigeria (1967- 1970) but generalized by its echoes of similar conflicts such as the 1960-1964 Katangan conflict in the Congo (now Zaire). Bero began service as a doctor but found that he had a talent for intelligence work and has since become the head of intelligence, in which position he acquired the nickname “The Specialist.” He claims to have eaten and enjoyed human flesh, particularly testicles. He has sent four spies,...

Madmen and Specialists | Madmen and Specialists

At a glance:

Characters Discussed

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