THE UNEXPECTED IN WOLE SOYINKA'S ECLECTIC PLAYS
Wole Soyinka needs no introduction as a world-class African and global playwright, as the very first African to be honoured with the Nobel prize for literature. Pundits often praise the superb imagination and dazzling language of the playwright, but here we are briefly concerned with the unexpected developments in his plays. Two examples will suffice. In Soyinka's celebrated play, Kongi's Harvest , the tyrant (Kongi) is often contrasted with the traditional African king. But it is clear that Kongi would ride roughshod over everybody as the leader. He condemns many people to death, as the drama unfolds. Then near the end, we are horrified as Kongi finds himself presented with the head of a hanged man! It is the head of the father of Segi, a notable woman, which stealthily finds its way in a salver to the strongman Kongi himself! And people take to their heels!! In another of Soyinka's excellent plays ( The Lion and the Jewel) the traditional leader Baroka...