Dramatic/Performing/Theatre Arts Research Papers/Topics

Theatre as an Agent of Change Mobilising against Marijuana Addiction in Tombia Ekpetiama Community in Bayelsa State

This paper posits community theatre as an agent of change and argues that community theatre possesses the technicalities to bring awareness to the members of a community to the social and cultural issues affecting them via their exploration in drama or performance, thereby causing changes in their mindset, action and socialisation patterns. With a focus on marijuana addiction amongst the youths in Tombia, Ekpetiama, the paper critically analyses the effectiveness of community theatre in mobil...

Niger Delta Drama and a List of Niger Delta Dramas from 1950 to 1999 and 2000 till Date

Niger Delta Drama is an issue based drama affecting the people of the Niger Delta. These issues as environmental degradation and abject poverty that have resulted in continued violence in the region. No writer or drama critic can talk about the Niger Delta Drama without an adequate understanding of the history of the Niger Delta region and its inhabitants. This paper looks into the history of the Niger Delta and its people for the aim of gaining better understanding of a Niger Delta Drama and...

Interactivity and Ecomedia in the Digital Age: A Comparative Study of Black November and Niger Delta Commando

Abstract Interactivity is a fundamental aspect of contemporary digital media and communication, playing a crucial role in the synergistic relationship between filmic representation and video games. This paper examines the interplay between Jeta Amata's eco-film Black November and the video game Niger Delta Commando, focusing on the narratives, themes, and imaginary worlds that define their relationship. In the context of Nigeria's Niger Delta challenges, these media forms provide alternative ...

The Trajectories of Bond-Servant and Slavery in Old Calabar: A Postcolonial reading of Jeta Amata’s Amazing Grace and Etubom Effiwatt’s Ofin Ekedi Eyen

Abstract The notion of the bond-servant, which is often construed as domestic slavery, existed in Old Calabar before the arrival of the European slave merchants. Old Calabar was a prominent sea port city on the Atlantic coast during the slave trade period. With its rich hinterland, a virile population and good anchorage, it offered many attractions to traders of various ethnic-nationalities; one of which was the bond-servant. This situation allowed that a person becomes a servant and get bond...

Women and the Niger Delta Crises: Ahmed Yerima's Social Vision in Little Drops

The crises facing the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria have been represented by Nigerian dramatist in various works. Educing from the focus of Ahmed Yerima in Little Drops, this paper conceptualises the tragedy faced mostly by women of the Niger Delta region due to objectification, gender socialization and societal inequality. The play reechoes the pains of neglect, underdevelopment and the painful results of agitation; highlighting also the pains of displacement, involuntary disappearance, fami...

Female Representation and Objectification in Zulu Sofola’s The Sweet Trap

The paper analyses the portrayal of the female gender in Sofola’s The Sweet Trap. Particular reference is made on women representation and objectification in the selected play. The overriding focal thrust of the play is the supremacy of tradition and the foregrounding of female agitation for a complementary relationship with their male counterparts. The play does little or nothing to break the patriarchal barrier imposed on the exercise of right by women even as Sofola weaves through the im...

Sam Ukala’s Perspective of Cultural Collision and Tragic Vision in Iredi War

This paper draws on Sam Ukala treatment of tragic vision and cultural collision in Iredi War. It seeks to create an insight into the dynamic of tragic conflicts and conceptualize precisely the cultural entanglement in the play. In Ukala‘s Iredi War there is an obvious dominance of the tragic mode, considering that the play depicts the essence and existence of cross-cultural communication and differences in an unpredictably uncertain environ. It also depict the dynamism, complexity and ephem...

Miscommunication and EnGENDERed Spaces in Nigerian Digital Performances

The Nigerian theatre now transcends the physical space to the virtual sphere manifesting as digital performances. Within this virtual space is an over lapping layer of mediatized performances which are reinforced in a number of ways. Interestingly, the performances accommodate overwhelming references to the female gender and there exists mis/communication of perceived bias and prejudices against women. This essay critically analyses some of these digital performances through the lenses of dig...

MULTICULTURAL AESTHETICS IN FELIX EGWUDA’S THE PILLARS AND UCHE NWAOZUZU’S THE CANDLES

Abstract  This study is a seminal work on the selected plays. It adopts a close reading of the plays to  examine the themes of multiculturalism and cultural diversity as aesthetic platforms used  individually by the authors to interrogate the roles of ethnic and cultural sentiments in  the underdevelopment of the Nigerian nation and how these sentiments continue to  challenge efforts at national integration. This paper takes a close look at the creative  ingenuity of the authors in term...

Measured Growth in Theatre and Media Arts Department of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Nigeria

The Department of Theatre and Media Arts, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma (DTMA-AAU) took off as Theatre Arts Department in the 1996/1997 academic session as a unit under the Department of English. Since then no historical evaluation or critical study has been carried out on it with regard to quality assurance or service delivery in the areas of teaching, learning and research as a rib of humanistic study. Given such a scenario, certain facts may be lost to history and fundamental values igno...

Extra-Theatrical Functions of Igbabonelimhin Music and Dance of the Esan

Ceremonial activities abound in traditional African societies whose functions are still very much germane to contemporary milieus in Nigeria and elsewhere. These ceremonies are often accompanied with much music and dance and, of course, music and dance constitute an integral part of masquerade performance. Several studies have been done on Igbabonelimhin as a masquerade performance, especially in relation to its potentiality for geriatric and entertainment purposes. This present effort examin...

The Imasuen Factor in the Benin Language Video-Film Sector of Nollywood

The phenomenal rise of Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen (LOI) as a filmmaker and director in Nollywood and indeed in Africa is worth probing and documenting for posterity of scholars and professionals, especially against the backdrop of his native Benin (Edo) language videofilm industry and tradition, which he has given his gestaltist support so effusively in terms of technical finesse, global exposure, great storylines, actor/talent development and business architecture, among others. Using the interv...