Nigeria’s
performance theatre consists of variety of creative works reflecting the
cultural diversity of its people. Many of the written texts and stage
performances are slices from everyday lives of the people, captured by these
playwrights and shown to the audience through live theatre. The paper examines
the contribution of Nigerian female dramatists in the development of theatre in
Nigeria. The paper advances that this group of theatre practitioners
contributed to the overall development of the art of theatre by telling the
stories of the women folk through plays. The works of these playwrights threw
light on the experiences as well as concerns of Nigerian women. Particular
attention is given to the conscious call by female dramatists for increased
inclusiveness and consideration in the social, cultural and political relations
with the male folk. The study adopted an analytical approach of the themes of
selected play texts by Nigerian female dramatists to identify the ways that
were explored.
Cite this paper
Ukwen, K. R. (2015). On the Contribution of Nigerian Female Dramatists to Indigenous Theatre Development. Open Access Library Journal, 2, e1325. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1101325.
Salami, I. (2006) Nigerian Women Playwrights: Beyond the
Nobel Prize. In: Adeoti, G. and Evwierhoma, M., Eds., After the Nobel Prize: Reflections on African Literature, Governance and Development, ANA,
Lagos, 126.
Okereke, G.E. (1995) The Politics of Intellectual
Production and the Constraints Confronting the Africa-Based Female Scholar.
Paper presented at North-Western University, Evanston-Illinois, Chicago, 15.
Obafemi, O. (2006) Women Writing and
the Landscape of Social Advocacy: Women Literature since Wole Soyinka’s Nobel
Prize. In: Adeoti, G. and Evwierhoma, M., Eds., After the Nobel Prize: Reflections
on African Literature, Governance and
Development, ANA, Lagos, 155-165.
Olaniyan,
T. (1988) Zulu Sofola and Her Sisters: The Example of The Sweet Trap. Proceedings of the 13th African Literature
Association (ALA) Conference, University of Pittsburg, Pittsburg.
Wandor,
M. (1998) Political Dynamics: The Feminisms. In: Brandt, G., Ed., Modern Theories of Drama,A Selection of Writings on Drama and
Theatre 1850-1990, Clarindon, Oxford, 261-268.
Amuta, C. (1989) The Nigeria
Woman as a Dramatist: The Instance of Tess Onwueme. In: Henrietta, O. and
Obiagheli, N. Eds., Nigerian Female
Writers: A Critical Perspective, Malthouse
Press, Lagos, 53-59.
Salami, I. (2006)
Cultural Practices and the African Woman as Portrayed in Some Selected Dramatic
Texts. In: Salami, I., Ed., Women, Theatreand Politics: Contemporary
Perspectives, Saniez, Ibadan, 17-48.
Obafemi,
O. (2006) Women Writing and the Landscape of Social Advocacy: Women Literature since Wole
Soyinka’s Nobel Prize. In: Adeoti, G. and Evwierhoma, M., Eds., After the Nobel Prize: Reflections on African Literature, Governance
and Development, ANA, Lagos, 155-165.
Dadirep, M. (1999) Liberating the Rural Nigerian Woman
from Patriarchal Cultural Oppression: The Case of Tess Onwueme’s Tell It to Women…In: Illah, J.S., Ed., Theacom Journal, 1, 19-33.
