Untitled - Memorial University of Newfoundland

arber collapsesfrom hunger and while be lies helpless . a variety of characters
discuss. debate, question and argue without meeting his immediate physical needs .
Chinyere Okafor in "Ola Rotimi: The Man. the Playwright, and the Producer on the
Nigerian Theater Scene" refers to a section in the play's production notes:
France flag:nDd y exploding bombs in the Pacific, the United Nations
"discussing" the situation! The Republic of Guinea under invasion by
Portuguese mercenaries. the O.A. U. arran ging "Talks" on the incide nt
to take place some two weeks after the deed . Africans in Mozambi que
bein g massacred. the world press "sending in observers" and "debating
the issue " etc, etc (27) .
Rotimi satiriz es the absurdity of this western trait. inherited by the co lonized
Nigerians, which demonstrates the lack of sensitivity to human suffering.
Oppression and exploitation are portrayedin the next two socio-political plays.
1/ (1983) and Hopes/ or tM Li ving Dead (1985) . Ifdramatizes the exploitation of poor ,
low inco me apartment tenants by the rich and powerful men in contemporary Nigerian
society . The tragedy lies in the inability of the oppressedpeople to join together and
fight their oppressors, the landlords. What these characters fail to achieve , another
repressed group in society accomplishes in Hopesfo r eM living Dead. This play is
based on an incident which occurred in the Port Harroun General hospital in L924.
Roti mi weaves into the plot the circumstances surrounding the event. A Scottish docto r
had initia ted an experimental treatment programme for lepers at the hospital but when
he left Nigeria, the colonial authorities atte mpted to discontin ue the treatm ent and send
the lepers away. In the play, the cberacter, Ikoli Harco urt Whyte, organizes the other
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