African culture and performance in transition: Evolution of Yoruba cultural elements from stage to film.
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Date
2019
Authors
Joe Odedina
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Dept. of Performing Arts, University of Ilorin, Nigeria and Dept. of Theatre and Film Studies, University of Cape Coast, Ghana
Abstract
There has been notable transformation in the style of play production, be it stage, video or film in Nigeria theatrical enactment. This, we observe, is hinged on sustenance of culture for a revival of the aesthetic taste in play production. It is in this direction that this study is intended to probe. The study examines the change in the use of some Yoruba elements employed in stage plays and home video production. We interrogate this work using Arnold Gesell’s theory of Maturation, 1925. To examine this work, we adopted a descriptive method of analysis, using the participant observer of some stage plays and some Yoruba home video films. By this method, we intend to narrate some scenes from a few Yoruba stage plays we had participated as observers and some video films we have viewed. Some of these motifs include Yoruba language, dance, music, costumes, oriki and even means of obeisance. Yoruba drama was made popular by Hubert Ogunde, Duro Ladipo and Kola Ogunmola around Nigerian independence of 1960. All the above three dramatists evolved from Christian church choir performance to professional stage drama and in the process, contributing to the development of contemporary Yoruba drama. Since their time, the cultural elements introduced by these early Yoruba dramatist pioneers, have gone through changes in order to adapt to the latest medium of video production. Our findings are that some elements have been compatible, while others have been distorted from stage to video. We also found other elements ineffective when incorporated into video production, yet others got elevated. We conclude that the evolution of some Yoruba cultural elements from the Yoruba stage drama to video production has enable many of these elements to be relevant to today’s audience. This has made Yoruba drama to be continuously popular, thereby sustaining the producers of such work. We recommend that various institutions of higher learning should incorporate video production with theatrical performance in order to help their students adjust to the latest means of drama production when they leave these institutions.