Unsexing the Woman in the Ist Wife of Ikpemaba in the performance of Ikpemaba by Bigway Theatre Company written by Ikponwosa Osunbor
Most women in history have always loved the life of opulence, fame and power. The good things of life, most of them will not refuse, even if they are proceeds of ill-gotten wealth. Thus, it becomes compulsory for them to encourage their husbands to not only maintain, retain and sustain that which they already possess but to even become over ambitious in the face of imminent danger. The focus of this paper is to show that; like Lady Macbeth who negatively encouraged her husband until he was destroyed, Ikpemaba’s wife is seen wearing the same garment that led to her husband’s execution. The paper employs the qualitative research methodology using the content analysis instrument and the participant observer approach to illuminate Motherhood and other related gender based theory in Ikpemaba. Findings reveal that most unsexed women, whose husbands are in power end up becoming greedier than the men and this usually contributes to the catastrophic end of such tragic plays. The paper recommends that men should be very conscious of the kind of advice they take from their wives, especially when it comes to issues that may truncate their destiny. It also enjoins women to remain the voice of reason in their traditional role of truly helping the men to engage in positive actions that will engender family survival and genuine societal development.
Keywords: bigway, company, ikpemaba, ikponwosa, ist, osunbor, performance, theatre, unsexing, wife, woman, written