Death and the King's Horseman

Based on an incident that took place in 1946, Death and the King's Horseman is Soyinka's powerful examination of the explosive tension between traditional African culture and the West. The king of a Nigerian village has died, and Elesin, his chief horseman, is expected to "commit death" and accompany his ruler to heaven. The entire village joins in honoring him, until a colonial administrator learns of the ritual and decides to imprison Elesin rather than permit the suicide. Elesin interprets this intervention as an act of the gods, but soon comes to regret his decision, as the villagers repudiate the man who was once so special to them. The play's unexpected climax comes when Elesin's son, on leave from medical school in England, preserves the honor of his people by dying in his father's stead.