Death and the King's Horseman
Senior Slot
By Wole Soyinka
Directed by Michael Dean '09
December 4-7, 2008
Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 2 PM
Leeds Theatre
ABOUT THE PLAY
The King is dead therefore the King’s Horseman must commit ritual suicide by dancing himself to death. Based on real events in 1940’s Nigeria, Death and the King’s Horseman is at once an intercultural, post-colonial, science fiction theatre/dance/music piece and a heartbreaking drama of family, responsibility, and the erosion of culture. Considered the masterpiece of playwright Wole Soyinka, it provides unique challenges for the actors, dancers, musicians, and audience members alike.
The play was first published in 1975. The premiere production, directed by Soyinka, was at the University of Ife Theatre, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, 1976.
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Wole Soyinka, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986, defines his life as having dual identies: he is both a Yoruban and a Nigerian. The Yoruba are an ethnic group that has lived in an area of what is now known as Nigeria. The Yoruba have an ancient identity. Soyinka explains that the Yoruban is "not the result of any artificial creation or agreement. It happens to be. It's like your blood." On the other hand, he believes Nigeria was invented "simply to supply raw material to Great Britain and to the international and commercial world". It is the clash of these three cultures Soyinka depicts in this "densely mythical play" Death and the King's Horseman.