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Greg Mbajiogu and Amanze Akpuda, Eds. 50 Years of Solo Performing Art in Nigerian Theatre, 1966-2016. Ibadan: Craft Books Limited, 2018.
According to Nilaja Sun, “Solo Performance is nothing new. This has been happening since the dawn of man, and it will continue to happen..." The art of Solo Performance, or what can be described as “One-man shows” or “One-woman shows,” is a veritable genre that has gained popularity in the theater in recent years. Yet, this has had a long history in the Nigerian theatre scene and beyond. This art of storytelling is deeply rooted in the orature of indigenous cultures in Nigeria and other non-Western cultures and has been employed to address multi-faceted themes ranging from social to political concerns.
Greg Mbajiogu and Amanze Akpuda have assembled an impressive collection of contributions from noted scholars in the fields of theatre and literature to the scholarly literature on Solo Performance art in Nigeria. Drawing on an array of theoretical frameworks, practices from Nigeria, Mbajiorgu, and Akpuda, this study provides insight into the nature, practice, and potential of contemporary solo performance as engaged by scholars, practitioners, and audiences.
By collecting a large, diverse, and revealing set of theoretical debates, the history and development of the genre, and diverse biographical information on major scholars and their contributions in the field, this book demonstrates the viability, relevance, and influence of the genre as a viable academic field with significant value to society. Featuring scholars and performers of the best quality, the volume boasts an array of works that bring to the fore the imagination and creativity within this genre. The works featured in this volume express “artistic points of view,” but draw from interdisciplinary frames relevant to the humanities.
The sources from which the contributors have drawn, including several oral sources and interviews, provide insight into the development and relevance of solo performance in the art world. This is a very useful source for students and practitioners. The book is divided into nine sections and comprises forty-two chapters grounded in a central theme: the intersection of theory and practice in the evolving field of contemporary Solo Performing Arts in Africa. Throughout these chapters, the contributors examine the power of spoken works across an array of settings and contexts—from theory and practice to major voices in the field of drama. Steeped in the genre and rhetorical conventions expected in the humanities, the work affirms the capacity of solo performing art as the editors argue, to “re-affirm the value of the humanities in an era in which other disciplines are questioning our relevance and significance as a field of specialization in the 21st century,” x.
Parts A and B address theoretical and conceptual issues, drawing on historical foundations and the trajectory of its development. As Paul Jay notes, critics of the theory argue that “the humanities developed a curricular and intellectual coherence that was successively undermined by structuralist, deconstructive, psychoanalytic, queer and Marxist theory, and later by multiculturalism, feminism, and the rise of postcolonial and cultural studies.” Yet, while critics have often questioned the relevance of theory in the humanities, postcolonial studies and an African-centered epistemology have, as this collection reveals, continued to make such a scholarly posture relevant.
Section C focuses on three pioneer Nigerian soloists-Betty Okotie, Tunji Sotimirin, and Funsho Alabi. Greg Mbajiorgu’s chapter on Betty Okotie highlights the gender disparity among Nigerian soloists. His paper explores the forces that “undermined the pioneer effort of this woman who undisputedly laid the foundation for the growth of solo drama performance on the Nigerian Theatre scene.” The section further explores the significant contributions of Tunji Sotimirin and Funsho Alabi. From Sotimirin’s pioneering work in the development of one-actor theatre to Funsho Alabi’s belief in the power of speech to express ideas, these pioneers created opportunities to indigenize the Nigerian theatre scene while drawing on the best traditions. Section D focuses on the challenges and opportunities of directing a monodrama. The remaining sections, E to I, focus on some practitioners, their practices, and the contextual approaches they have brought to the development, practice, and scholarly tradition.
Intended as a collection, 50 Years of Solo Performing Art in Nigerian Theatre remains accessible to a wide range of readers while also serving as an encyclopedic tool for understanding solo performing art in the best tradition. The collection demonstrates the intersection between scholarship and theatrical performance and practice. The book includes invaluable historical background as well as contemporary practices and practitioners as reflected in personal accounts and interviews. Overall, this book will continue to be a reference material for a long time. Perhaps more importantly, it serves as a reminder that scholars in the humanities can go beyond theory and situate their work in ways that convey its social relevance.
Chima J. Korieh
University of Nigeria
Paul Jay, “Critique and Theory in the History of the Modern Humanities. The Making of the Humanities,” III: 655-665, 2014. Retrieved from Loyola eCommons, English: Faculty Publications and Other Works.