THE PLAYWRIGHT AS A CRUSADER OF SOCIETAL TRANSFORMATION: AN EVALUATION OF SOME SELECTED AFRICAN PLAYS
No one can gainsay the need for social reform, social advancements and social engineering in our present day society; drama helps in attitudinal change and ethical reorientation. It attempts to change the society and deal with social problems according to the dramatist’ perception of what an ideal society should look like. Some of the present societal ills our nation is currently battling with include corruption, prostitution, teenage pregnancy, drug/substance abuse and illicit drug business, incessant strike, dwindled educational standard, youth restiveness, oppression and intimidation of the poor, hypocrisy and deception, insurgency and civil unrest and lots more. This study evaluates the dramatist role as a crusader, vanguard and social commentator in projecting social realities and advocating for a better society by reflecting the dichotomy between the bourgeoisies and the proletariats through their works, as portrayed, be it in the dialogue or by inferences in the subtext. Also the study examines their Marxist ideological standpoint. Hence the following plays were critically assessed; Sam Ukala’s The Last Heroes, and Femi Osofisan’s Red is the Freedom Road and Once upon Four Robbers, using the case study and content analysis approach of qualitative research method.
Keywords: african, crusader, evaluation, plays, playwright, selected, societal, transformation