Nigerian Female Dramatists Expression, Resistance, Agency Global Africa Series

This book showcases the important, but often understudied, work of Nigerian women playwrights.

As in many spheres of life in Nigeria, in literature and other creative arts the voices of men dominate, and the work of women has often been sidelined. However, Nigerian women playwrights have made important contributions to the development of drama in Nigeria, not just by presenting female identities and inequalities but by vigorously intervening in wider social and political issues. This book draws on perspectives from culture, language, politics, theory, orality and literature, to shine a light on the engaged creativity of women playwrights. From the trail blazing but more traditional contributions of Zulu Sofola, through to contemporary postcolonial work by Tess Osonye Onwueme, Julie Okoh, and Sefi Atta, to name just a few, the book shows the rich variety of work being produced by female Nigerian dramatists.

This, the first major collection devoted to Nigerian women playwrights, will be an important resource for scholars of African theatre and performance, literature and women?s studies.

1. The Onye-Nka of African Drama: Zulu Sofola and the Development of African Tragic Drama 2. Theatricalising Precarity: A Study of Tess Onwueme’s No Vacancy! 3. Navigating Morality in the Plays of Stella Oyedepo 4. Rethinking the Female Image in Irene Salami’s Sweet Revenge and More than Dancing 5. Postcolonial Women’s Drama in Nigeria as Cultural Intervention 6. "It’s a short distance from Sontag": Chinyere Okafor’s New Toyi-Toyi as Militant Feminism 7. Sefi Atta as a Dramatist: A Study of Two Plays 8. "Wedlock of Rage": Youth Restiveness in Zulu Sofola and Bosede Ademilua-Afolayan’s Drama 9. Language, Gender and Cultural Practices in the Plays of Two Nigerian Female Playwrights 10. Misandry and Conspiracy of Silence in Zainabu Jallo’s and Tosin Tume’s plays 11. Se "Iya" ni’wo yi?: Questioning Motherhood in Bosede Ademilua-Afolayan’s Drama 12. Orality as a Means of Projecting Authorial Vision in Osita Ezenwanebe’s Withered Thrust and Shadows on Arrival 13. The Urban Woman in an Urban Space: A Study of Selected Plays of Chidinma Daniel-Inim

Bosede Funke Afolayan is an Associate Professor in the Department of English, University of Lagos, Nigeria.