Nojj., 
Gibbs 
EDITOR'S NOTE 
Although africa 
95 is over, the 
issues it brought 
to the fore are 
still with us. This 
is particularly 
true of the examination 
of Nigerian 
life presented 
by Wole 
Soyinka's The 
Beatification of 
Area Boy that 
ran in Leeds during 
October and 
N o v e m b e r . 
James Gibbs 
brings together 
comments from 
* 
FEW hours after 
the death sentence had been 
pronounced on Ken Saro- 
Wiwaandhu co-defendants, 
the lights in the Courtyard 
Theatre at the Leeds Playhouse 
went up on the world 
premier of a new play by 
Wole Soyinka. mbegan with 
an expose of the tyranny 
under which Nigerians live, 
and, some two hours later, 
the lights went clown on an 
affirmation of the spirit of 
resistance to oppression. 
The first ten days of the run were 
spent in the shadow of the Port Harcourt 
scaffold, and, after the execution of the 
Ogoni 9, widespread public coverage 
of events in Nigeria continued for 
a time. Medra interest meant that the 
images of tyranny presented on the 
stage were complemented by news 
items, documentaries and journalistic 
comment. The production was disturbingly 
apposite. 
Not Lagos but Leeds 
For reasons that are well-known 
to readers of this publication, it was 
not possible for The Beatification of 
Area Boyto open as planned in Nigeria. 
Thanks to the negotiation of an 
appropriate 'package', there was a 
published reviews 
with his 
own observations 
to indicate 
some of the 
achievements of 
the production. 
subtle shift of vowels and consonants so that the play opened not 
in Lagos but in Leeds. The programme for the performance 
describes the presentation as a co-production between the 
Playhouse and various Swiss funding bodies. It also indicates 
that Area Boy was part of the Africa 95 programme, and that the 
University of Leeds, Soyinka's alma mater, was the sponsor. 
Part of Soyinka's intention on Area Boy is to lay bare what 
has been happening in Nigeria. The play opens with 'red sky in 
the morning' - a phenomenon long regarded by Yorkshire 
shepherds and others as a bad omen. This theatrical 'russet 
mantle' is caused, it transpires, by the burning of shacks in 
Maroko, a 'squatter settlement' that is being removed at the 
behest of wealthy and powerful neighbor's. 
African Quarterly 
on the Arts 
Vol.1/ NO 4 
eeds •OS . 
This exercise in 'class sanitation' - based on an actual 
event- establishes the political context of the play, and has 
repercussions which affect the day in the corner of Nigeria.that 
Soyinka has chosen to show us. The playwright ensures audiences 
appreciate that the violence perpetrated against the 
'squatters' of Maroko is just one of the brutal campaigns being 
wage exercise d bsy . Nigerians on Nigerians. He links it with other, similar 
Associations are, for example, made with the 'ethnic 
cleansing' of the Ogoni, who happen, inconveniently for some, 
to live, farm and fish on top of the oil-reserves that make the 
Nigerian rich richer and the Nigerian powerful more powerful. 
The arrogance of the 'uniforms' in the play and the obvious 
alliance between power and wealth in the society presented on 
stage ensured that the play helped many to understand what they 
were seeing on their television screens at home. 
In order to draw attention to the links between Nigerian 
power-mongers and multinational businesses, Soyinka even 
slipped in a line making the Swiss actor who toadies up to a 
Military Governor a representative of Nestle. Had the actor been 
Dutch or British, there might have been a temptation to link him 
with Shell! 
There are many reverberations from the area in front of 'an 
opulent shopping plaza' on which Soyinka's drama, a play he 
subtitles as 'Lagosian Kaleidoscope', is played out. At the centre 
of the Drama in Sanda, employed to assist customers but in fact 
chief of the 'area boys.' In Ibadan, Soyinka describes area boys 
as 'plain cut-throats, extortionists and opportunists', but in this text 
he, somewhat indulgently, creates an area boy with attitude. 
Sanda is an idealist - or he has been one. An intelligent 
young man, he had cut short his university studies with the 
intention of making a million and pushing forward the revolution. 
Soyinka's distance from 'Oga Security' becomes particularly 
difficult to determine when he credits Sanda with composing 
tracks from 'Unlimited Liability Company' - Soyinka's record that 
was released in 1983. 
While this elision of identities was, in all probability, lost 
on the reviewers who covered the play for the British press, they 
showed that they were well aware of Sanda's importance and of 
the play's poignant topicality. For example, Charles Spencer 
(Daily Telegraph) began his review 'There are times when 
criticism seems almost impertinent' and, undoubtedly, there was
a sense in which we were intruding on 
private grief, eavesdropping on a Nigerian 
debate, viewing from a safe distance 
a nation in which many are threatened, 
many are suffering. 
With help from the West Yorkshire 
Playhouse, I have been able to obtain 
reviews by Robert Butler (Independent on 
Sunday), Michael Coveney (Observer), 
Ian Daley (Leeds Skytrack Express), Jim 
Greenfield (Yorkshire Evening Post), Sarah 
Hemmings (Financial Times) Lynda 
Murdin (Yorkshire Post), Benedict Nightingale 
(Times), Paul Taylor (Independent), 
and Robin Thornber (Guardian). Martin 
Banham spoke about the production of 
BBC 4's 'Kaleidoscope,' and he has 
since written on it for the Leeds African 
Studies Bulletin; Alastair Niven discussed 
the play on Radio 3's 'Night Waves'. In 
the paragraphs that follow, I will draw 
attention to views expressed and judgements 
passed by some of these critics. 
Several of the reviewers made the 
point that the play was written with a 
Nigerian audience in mind. This was very 
obviously true: there were references in 
the text that passed over the heads of 
many theatre-goers in Leeds. For example, 
some did not understand the significance 
of 'a little to the left and a little 
to the right.'And some did not appreciate 
why the revelation that a woman was an 
'army wife' should have such an impact 
on bullying soldiers. 
The reactions of Nigerians in the 
audience on the night I was present - one 
half rose to his feet when musicians struck 
up 'Arise Compatriots' - were often distinctive 
and hinted at some of what'might 
have been' had a Lagos premiere been 
possible. But, while Leeds did not provide 
'the ideal audience,' the barriers that 
existed were by no means insuperable: 
the production was followed and enjoyed; 
the audience was, within its terms, responsive 
and showed its appreciation 
warmly. 
The presence in the cast of a significant 
contingent of experienced and knowledgeable 
Nigerian performers, including, 
Yomi Obileye, Wale Ogunyemi and 
Tunji Oyelana, ensured that those on 
stage understood both the text and the 
background to the text. These were actors 
who had worked with Soyinka for decades, 
who had seen his theatre evolve 
and had frequently contributed to that 
evolution. And they were working with a 
distinguished director, Jude Kelly, who 
enjoyed the playwright's confidence 
Looking at a Lagosian 
Kaleidoscope 
Most reviewers helpfully suggested, 
in general terms, the kind of play Soyinka 
had written. Thornber described Area 
Boy as a 'slice of life... one day in the 
vibrant and violent, cruel and colourful 
life of a street-corner in post oil-boom 
Nigeria.' Hemming wrote that it was 'a 
juicy portrait of life on a Lagos street 
corner,' and continued with a powerful 
image: 'anger and exasperation wind 
through it like underground waterways, 
glinting fiercely when they come to the 
surface.' Butler, more restrained, wrote 
simply of 'a day in the life of Lagos.' 
As is customary in Soyinka's plays, 
Area Boy has a good deal of exposition, 
of unfolding: the audience learns about 
the past (the Civil War, for example), and 
the present (including, as indicated, the 
creation of a million refugees following 
the torching of the homes at Maroko). The 
audience slowly comes to appreciate 
Sanda's 'game', learns of his past, and 
then watches preparations for a ritual. In 
this case, the ritual is a wedding celebration 
that, in typical Soyinka style, takes a 
surprising turn. 
As the play draws to a close, Sanda 
teams up with his university friend, the 
rich, well-born and nearly well-wedded, 
Miseye, and they moved off into the 
'Soyinka found traces of the Old 
Leeds as he made his way 
through the streets he had 
walked as a student'. 
African Quarterly 
on the Arts 
Vol. II NO 4
sunset to struggle alongside the victims 
of 'class sanitation'. He moves on to 
become singer and animateur: roles that 
are more easily reconciled than those of 
'Oga Security' and chief of the area 
boys. 
I was troubled by the failure to 
examine the position of Sanda as thug in 
greater detail, and emerged from the 
theatre having found the sharp stabs of 
satire more impressive than the somewhat 
romantic conclusion. The evening 
contained some almost self-contained 
sketches, about, for example, disappearing 
genitalia, that seem to have 
been prepared in theatre workshops. 
They were reminiscent of Soyinka's effective 
revue sketches and came across 
with greater energy. 
African Quarterly 
'Don't touch my uniform' 
Scanning the reviews, however, it 
is intriguing to see how little consensus 
exists about the effectiveness of the satire. 
In this respect it is revealing to 
assemble some of the comments about 
the song Don't Touch my Uniform'. This, 
it should be pointed out, is one song 
among several, for the show, like Opera 
mtbeArtt 
Vol. II NO ^ 
In photo, left to right: Ombo 
Gogo Ombo (Military Governor), 
Tyrone Huggins (Sanda), 
Anthony Ofoegbu (Military 
Governor's ADC) and Susan 
Aderin (Mama Put). 
Opp. page, left to right: Susan 
Aderin (Mama Put) and Miriam 
Keller (Mama Put's daughter). 
Photo by Simob Warner, The West 
Yorkshire Playhouse. 
Wonyosi, relies heavily on music - both 
incorporated within the 'slice of life convention', 
and the kind of 'numbers' familiar 
from a musical. 'Don't Touch my 
Uniform,' a number, was sung by Wale 
Ojo and some reviewers found it hardhitting.
Coveney described it as 'a wonderful 
song of vainglorious self-importance.' 
At the other end of the critical 
spectrum, Murdin, having disdainfully 
described the verses as 'cod Gilbert and 
Sullivan', asked, more with a shrug than 
with a genuine interest in the answer, 
'Would they shoot an author for that?' 
She was perhaps, unaware of the way 
'zombies' had taken exception to songs 
that had emanated from the Kalakuta 
Republic. 
The musical support for these lyrics 
was inadequate and the only songs that 
really succeeded were those familiar from 
the 1 983 record, 'Unlimited Liability Company.' 
Itwas a privilege for Leeds theatregoers 
to hear Tunji Oyelana as Minstrel 
deliver those lyrics, but, even with those, 
there were times when supporting musicians, 
The Benders, were sorely missed. 
'Mountains of rubbish in builtup 
area' 
Taylor identified a number of problems 
with the staging. These included the 
fact that the design, by Niki Turner, made 
no attempt to accommodate shop-windows 
that reflected the violence and 
suffering that was occurring 'across the 
street' - as required by the stage directions. 
While not put off by this, I thought 
thatthe set-designer missed opportunities 
to suggest the world out of which the play 
emerged. This could have included the 
violence 'on the other side of the street,' 
but need not have been limited to it. 
Turner's neck of the Lagosian concrete 
jungle shown on stage was too well 
maintained, too neat, too clean. Significantly, 
the 'partiallycovered' drain specified 
in the stage directions had been 
reduced to an area of uneven concrete. A
minor hazard compared to those lurking 
in wait for Nigerian pedestrians! 
The overhead power-cables on the 
set were in immaculate condition, and 
spoke of a basic utility provided for disciplined 
customers by an efficient organization. 
An opportunity was missed to show, 
for example, the capacity for improvisation 
often exhibited by stall-holders who 
flout regulations by illegally tapping into 
national systems - thereby adding to the 
difficulties experienced by those responsible 
for supplying electricity. 
Despite references to the 'high 
mountains (of rubbish) in built-up area' 
there was hardly any litter on stage, and, 
had anyone had anything to throw away, 
there was a welcoming (empty) garbage 
can up right throughout the play. When a 
detail of convicts was marched to the 
shopping plaza to prepare the street for 
the society wedding scheduled for the 
evening, there was little for them to do. 
Turner seemed to assumed that there were 
in Lagos, as in Leeds, frequent and regular 
opportunities to have garbage collected 
and removed. He hadn't listened to 
the song. 
role of Mama Put, was both a determined 
stall-holder and a choric voice recalling 
Nigeria's internecine past (Hemming cited 
hers among the lovely performances'). 
Another actor singled out for praises by 
Hemming was Wale Ojo, but Taylor differed: 
he wasnot convinced by 'a young 
man vainly pretending to be an old man.' 
he play opens with 
'red sky in the 
morning? - a phenomenon 
long regarded 
by Yorkshire 
shepherds and others 
as a bad omen. This 
theatrical 'russet 
mantle' is caused, it 
transpires, by the 
burning of shacks in 
Maroko, a 'squatter 
settlement' that is 
being removed at the 
behest of wealthy and 
powerful neighbours. 
The most disturbing feature of the 
casting came near the end. The situation 
is that the plaza has been prepared for 
Miseye's 'high society wedding' and the 
text requires that first an MC and then a 
Mother of the Day talk the guests - and the 
audience - through the functions. In this 
spectacular climactic scene, Yomi Obileye, 
surprisingly, took both parts. A quick 
change after playing the MC enabled him 
to emerge in the female role, hirsute and 
with trousers carefully visible beneath his 
wrapper. His appearance reminded all 
in attendance that this was The Theatre, 
but it was a pity that 'a good female role' 
in a male dominated play should have 
gone to a man. 
The cross-dressing looked for all the 
world like an economy measure: perhaps 
the company simply didn't have enough 
'Lovely performances' 
Of the individual performances, 
there were plaudits for Tyrone Huggins in 
the pivotal role of Sanda ('a triumph' - 
Greenfield; 'a finely judged, captivating 
performance'-Thornber.) And praise for 
Susan Aderin who, in the demanding actresses. Or, more precisely, enough 
African Quarterly 
on the Arts 
Vol. II NO 4
black actresses - for in other areas the 
company had a superabundance of performers. 
There were under-used whites. 
Apparently in response to the requirements 
of the Swiss funding bodies, the 
cast-list had been enlarged to include 
three Swiss nationals, one of them a 
woman. 
Judgements 
In summing up their reactions, several 
critics embraced the play. Thornber 
concluded 'I think it's a masterpiece.' 
Butler found it 'generous, entertaining 
and observant ..., a joyous, 
unsentimental celebration of 
the people who live in the 
city.' Spencer, after his comment 
on the impertinence of 
criticism, weighed the production 
up, with the positive in 
one hand and the negative in 
the other, but he clearly didn't 
rate it highly. He wrote: 'You 
admire Soyinka's refusal to 
give in to despair as you lamentthe 
clumsiness of his stagecraft.' 
And continued, 'Jude 
Kelly's production... creates a 
vivid sense of Nigerian street 
life,' before indicating that 
'there are occasional 
longueurs and too many moments 
when the narrative 
would gain from clearer definition.'
He concluded: 'In the 
final analysis, I don't think 
Beatification of Area Boy is a 
great play. There is, however, 
no mistaking the great heart of 
the man who wrote it.' 
Wedded to his muse 
In an article he wrote for 
The Observer just before the 
opening night of the production, 
Soyinka described finding 
traces of 'the Old Leeds' as 
he made his way through 
streets he had walked along 
as a student., But he remarked 
that there was 'an unaccustomed 
air of cosmopolitanism' 
about the city and he wrote 
African Quarterly 
on the Arts 
Vol. If NO 4 
enthusiastically aboutthe 'splendid space' 
represented by the West Yorkshire Playhouse 
where his play was put on. 
In the same article, he described his 
irritation at the oft-repeated question 'Do 
you still find time to write?' pointing out 
that 'The writer is wedded to his muse and 
we don't go around asking strangers (or 
friends) if they still make love to their 
spouses.' Area Boy indicates that Soyinka, 
while travelling and organising, has been 
writing - indeed, it seems, he was putting 
in lines right up to the last minute. 
The Observer article was more or 
less 'by the way'; the text put on at the 
Playhouse was the important statement. 
Thanks to accomplished performers, a 
sensitive director, imaginative financing, 
and the spirit of the new Leeds, the production 
made a significant impact. Be: 
cause of what was happening in Port 
Harcourt, audiences emerged from the 
theatre and returned home to catch the 
latest news about the tribunal and the 
executions, the suspension of Nigeria 
from the Commonwealth and the campaign 
for sanctions. A terrible relevance 
had been born. GR 
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