Historical Context (Matt)

Author: Wole Soyinka
Death and the King's Horseman

Premiered: About 1975

About the Author:

• Akinwande Oluwole Babtunde Soyinka known as Wole Soyinka
• July 13, 1934
• Nigerian playwright and poet 
• Dramaturgist at the Royal Court Theatre
• Returned to Nigeria to study African drama
• Taught drama and literature at universities in Ibadan, Lagos, and Ife
• Professor of comparative literature
• Theatre Groups: 
• The 1960 Masks (1960) 
• Orisun Theatre Company (1964) 
• Arrested in 1967 during the Nigerian Civil War
• Spent 22 months in prison 
• Exiled from Nigeria
• In 1986 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature and was the first African to be honored with this award

About the Play:

• The story is based on a historical eventIn 1946, a royal horseman named Elesin was prevented from committing ritual suicide by the British colonial powers. Soyinka alters the historical facts, placing the responsibility for Elesin’s failure squarely on Elesin’s shoulders, so that he might focus on the theme of duty rather than of colonialism."
• Change in point of view from before and after exile
• Authors Note: not anti-colonialism
• Not a "Clash of Cultures"
• Promote cooperation between African and European cultures
• Premiered in the United States
• Widely admired rather than performed

References:

• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wole-Soyinka
• https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/wole-soyinka
• https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/death-and-kings-horseman
• https://www.britannica.com/place/Nigeria/Nigeria-as-a-colony