A Dance of the Forests by Wole Soyinka

This blog is a part of a thinking activity given by Megha Trivedi Ma'am from The English Department, MKBU, Bhavnagar.

•  Wole Soyinka

Category	Details
Full Name	Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka
Date of Birth	July 13, 1934
Place of Birth	Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria
Nationality	Nigerian
Ethnicity	Yoruba
Education (Nigeria)	Government College, Ibadan; University College Ibadan
Education (UK)	University of Leeds (English Literature)
Primary Occupations	Playwright, Poet, Novelist, Essayist, Political Activist
Literary Movement/Style	Blends Yoruba mythology, ritual, symbolism, political satire, and modern drama
Major Plays	The Swamp Dwellers (1958); The Lion and the Jewel (1959); A Dance of the Forests (1960); The Strong Breed (1964); Kongi’s Harvest (1965); The Road (1965); Death and the King’s Horseman (1975)
Major Novels	The Interpreters (1965); Season of Anomy (1973)
Poetry Collections	Idanre and Other Poems (1967); A Shuttle in the Crypt (1972); Ogun Abibiman (1976)
Memoirs	The Man Died (1972); Aké: The Years of Childhood (1981)
Nobel Prize	Awarded Nobel Prize in Literature (1986)
Significance of Nobel Prize	First African writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature
Nobel Citation	“Who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence.”
Political Involvement	Critic of corruption, military dictatorship, and political repression
Civil War Imprisonment	Detained during the Nigerian Civil War (1967–1969); held in solitary confinement
Major Themes in Works	Cyclical history, moral responsibility, corruption, tradition vs. modernity, myth and ritual
Academic Career	Taught at University of Ibadan, Obafemi Awolowo University, Yale University, Harvard University, Cornell University
Global Influence	Internationalized African literature; integrated African oral traditions into modern theatre
Contemporary Role	Public intellectual, democracy advocate, global speaker

• A Dance of the Forests

Category	Detailed Information & Critical Insight
Author	Wole Soyinka
Year Written	1960
First Performance	October 1960
Occasion	Nigerian Independence Celebrations
Production Company	1960 Masks (Founded by Soyinka)
Genre	Ritual Drama / Political Allegory / Mythic Satire
Form	Modernist experimental drama blending Western structure with Yoruba cosmology
Historical Context	Written at Nigeria’s independence. Rather than celebratory nationalism, Soyinka critiques romanticization of the African past and warns against repeating moral failures in the postcolonial state.
Political Purpose	Anti-romantic nationalism. The play rejects blind glorification of precolonial empires and urges ethical self-examination.
Basic Plot Framework	Community invites “illustrious ancestors” for celebration. Instead, wronged spirits arrive and expose corruption in both past and present generations.
Structural Technique	Non-linear narrative; play-within-play (Court of Mata Kharibu); ritual dance; symbolic masquerade; prophetic choric speech.
Setting – The Forest	Liminal metaphysical space where truth is revealed. Represents moral conscience and cosmic order beyond political spectacle.
Time Structure	Moves between present independence era and 8 centuries earlier (Court of Mata Kharibu). Suggests continuity of corruption across time.
Central Conflict	Idealized past vs. uncomfortable truth. National celebration vs. moral reckoning.
Major Theme – Cyclical History	History repeats when lessons remain unlearned. The “Dance” symbolizes this repetition.
Major Theme – Corruption	Adenebi symbolizes bureaucratic corruption. The Incinerator episode critiques modern political negligence.
Major Theme – Tyranny & Abuse of Power	Mata Kharibu represents despotic rulers. Past tyranny mirrors contemporary political leadership.
Major Theme – War & Violence	War is shown as senseless ambition (Trojan War parallel). Soyinka critiques militarism and destructive heroism.
Major Theme – Moral Accountability	Independence is meaningless without introspection and reform.
Major Theme – Dystopian/Utopian Vision	The play oscillates between despair (Half-Child symbolism) and possibility (self-recognition).
Character – Forest Head	Supreme moral authority. Represents cosmic justice and philosophical detachment.
Character – Aroni	Mediator between worlds. Instrument of moral exposure.
Character – Demoke	The artist/intellectual figure. Represents creative ambition corrupted by insecurity.
Character – Rola (Madame Tortoise)	Embodiment of sensual corruption and moral continuity between eras.
Character – Adenebi	Symbol of modern bureaucratic opportunism and rhetorical hypocrisy.
Character – Dead Man & Dead Woman	Victims of historical injustice; expose moral continuity of corruption.
Character – Half-Child	Symbol of newly independent Nigeria—born incomplete, uncertain future.
Symbol – Totem	Artificial national identity; constructed pride.
Symbol – Forest	Space of truth, spiritual trial, moral exposure.
Symbol – Dance	Repetition of history; cycle of moral failure.
Symbol – Half-Child	Fragile independence; moral incompleteness.
Mythological Framework	Yoruba cosmology: Ogun (iron/creativity), Eshuoro (trickster), ritual sacrifice, ancestral invocation.
Ritual Elements	Drumming, dance, chanting, invocation of spirits; reinforces communal moral judgment.
Dramatic Language	Poetic, dense, symbolic, philosophical. Requires intellectual engagement.
Satirical Strategy	Undermines patriotic optimism; exposes hidden moral decay beneath celebration.
Critique of Negritude	Rejects romantic glorification of African past; insists on confronting historical flaws.
Philosophical Message	A nation must confront its moral failures or remain trapped in cyclical decay.
Postcolonial Significance	Marks shift from colonial blame to internal self-critique in African literature.
War Protest Dimension	Critiques glorified war and imperial ambition through Mata Kharibu narrative.
21st Century Relevance	Continues to reflect issues of corruption, leadership crisis, ethnic division, performative nationalism, and fragile democracy.
Literary Importance	One of Soyinka’s most complex and philosophically demanding works. Foundational post-independence African drama.

Q. Write a proposed alternative end of the play 'A Dance of the Forest' by Wole Soyinka. 

PART THREE (Extended Alternative Ending)

(The clearing in the forest. The ritual frenzy has subsided into a strained stillness. The totem towers above, immense, austere. The HALF-CHILD stands between shadow and dawn. DEMOKE kneels. ROLA stands rigid. ADENEBI trembles beneath the weight of his own thoughts. The OLD MAN leans heavily on his staff. ARONI stands one-legged, immovable. The air holds expectation.)

Aroni : The dance has not ended.

Old Man : What remains of it? We have endured accusation, mockery, prophecy and terror. What more does the forest demand?

Aroni : The forest demands nothing. It reveals what you carry.

Adenebi : We are men of the present age. We build roads, lay rails, raise ministries, draft charters. Must we still answer to ghosts?

Forest Head (appearing slowly from shadow) : The ghost is not behind you. It walks beside you.

(A faint rustle of spirits. The DEAD MAN and DEAD WOMAN appear, less agitated, more solemn.)

Dead Man : You call yourselves new. Yet your roads follow old tracks of greed.

Dead Woman : Your ministries are built on foundations of silence.

Adenebi : Silence? We speak constantly. Our newspapers shout. Our leaders proclaim progress daily.

Forest Head : Noise is not speech. Proclamation is not truth.

Half-Child : I hear the noise. It deafens my birth.

(Silence. The drum pulses once.)

Old Man : We sought illustrious ancestors to bless our nation. Instead we are shamed before our own soil.

Forest Head : You sought ancestors polished by distance. You rejected those stained by consequence. But the future is born of stain as much as glory.

Demoke : Then let judgment fall. I shortened the sacred tree. I silenced Oremole with my hand. Pride and envy guided me.

Ogun (emerging) : And fear guided pride.

Demoke : Yes. Fear that I could not climb high enough. Fear that another would surpass me.

Forest Head : That fear is not yours alone. It lives in your cities. It governs your councils. It sharpens knives in boardrooms and whispers in parliament halls.

Adenebi (defensive) : You exaggerate.

Forest Head : Do I? When contracts are awarded to cousins while villages drink poison? When public funds vanish like dew before sun? When youths burn in jobless streets while elders toast progress in banquet halls?

(A murmur passes through the forest.)

Rola : Speak plainly. Name it.

Forest Head : Corruption. Vanity. Tribal favour. The worship of wealth without labour. The erection of monuments while hospitals decay. The chanting of unity while suspicion breeds in corners.

Old Man (shaken) : These are burdens of any growing nation.

Aroni : Growth without integrity is a swollen limb.

Half-Child : I choke on it.

(The totem emits a low crack. A red glow seeps faintly from within.)

Adenebi : What is that light?

Dead Man : Memory.

Dead Woman : And consequence.

Forest Head : You burned in the Incinerator of your own convenience. You licensed unsafe passage for coin. You signed away forests for foreign applause. You traded future harvests for present spectacle.

Adenebi : I acted within policy!

Forest Head : Policy without conscience is but a mask.

Rola : And I? What of my sin? I did not sit in council chambers.

Forest Head : You reflect a society that measures worth by possession. You sold illusion because illusion was currency. You flourished because desire was unrestrained.

Rola : Then am I solely to blame?

Forest Head : No single branch sustains a canopy of rot.

(The red glow intensifies.)

Half-Child : I burn in polluted rivers. I cough in cities choked with smoke. I wander without work. I grow angry without direction.

Old Man : This is too heavy for mortals.

Aroni : Yet mortals made it.

Demoke (rising slowly) : Then let mortals mend it. But how? Confession alone will not cleanse poisoned streams.

Forest Head : Action.

Adenebi : Action how? We are not gods.

Forest Head : You need not be. Begin with truth in office. Transparency in judgment. Accountability without favour. Merit above kinship. Service above appetite.

Rola : Words.

Forest Head : Words become law. Law becomes habit. Habit becomes culture.

Dead Man : In our time, tyranny flourished because silence consented.

Dead Woman : In yours, corruption flourishes because complicity is disguised as loyalty.

Adenebi (voice breaking) : I altered numbers to secure favour. I signed approval knowing risk. I told myself progress required compromise.

Forest Head : Compromise with what?

Adenebi : With reality. With power.

Aroni : Power without restraint devours its host.

Old Man : I wanted our gathering to dazzle the world. I desired image more than substance.

Forest Head : And so you built tall without roots.

(The crack widens. The totem trembles.)

Demoke : If symbol is hollow, let it be reshaped.

Ogun : Strike, but not in rage.

Demoke : Not rage. Responsibility.

(He approaches the totem. He places his palm upon the fissure, then addresses the others.)

Demoke : We carved this to represent unity. Yet unity cannot stand upon denial. Let us open it—not destroy, but reveal.

Old Man : If it falls, we lose face.

Rola : Better to lose face than lose future.

Adenebi : If we admit our failures publicly—

Aroni : Then you begin healing publicly.

(Demoke raises his tool. He strikes carefully along the fissure. The trunk splits evenly into two standing halves, forming a narrow passage. Dawn light filters through.)

Half-Child : I see light.

Dead Woman : The passage was always there. Pride obscured it.

Forest Head : Through fracture—truth. Through truth—possibility.

Adenebi : And what of the unemployed youth? The divided tribes? The leaders who cling to power beyond mandate?

Forest Head : Empower institutions, not personalities. Educate without indoctrination. Ensure justice independent of influence. Protect dissent. Foster dialogue over violence.

Old Man : These are tasks of decades.

Aroni : So is decay.

Rola : And what of women who are traded in politics like tokens? Who rise by compromise rather than merit?

Forest Head : Change begins where dignity is insisted upon. Refuse participation in systems that degrade. Organize. Advocate. Demand inclusion without surrender of integrity.

Rola (after a pause) : Then let me be more than legend. Let me be example of refusal.

Demoke : And let craft serve community, not vanity.

Adenebi : And let governance serve people, not appetite.

Old Man : And let elders guide without clinging to control.

Half-Child : Then I may choose birth.

(The red glow fades completely. The totem stands divided yet stable.)

Eshuoro (faintly) : They will forget.

Aroni : Only if they close the passage.

Forest Head : Remember this division. It is not destruction. It is humility.

Dead Man : We rest lighter.

Dead Woman : Not because you are absolved—

Dead Man : But because you have looked.

(They fade.)

Adenebi : What if we fail?

Aroni : Then you will dance again.

Demoke : And if we succeed?

Forest Head : Then the dance becomes celebration rather than warning.

(The HALF-CHILD steps between the divided trunk, bathed in dawn.)

Half-Child : I will attempt birth—not into perfection, but into vigilance.

Old Man : We have no flawless ancestors.

Rola : We have ourselves.

Adenebi : And responsibility.

Ogun : Forge it daily.

Forest Head : The forest withdraws now. Not in approval. In expectation.

(He recedes into shadow. The spirits dissipate. The drums begin anew—not frantic, not dirge—steady, human, imperfect yet hopeful.)

Demoke (extending his carving tool) : Let us carve policies with the same care we carve wood. Let no hidden fissure remain unexamined.

Rola (placing her hand upon it) : Let dignity be currency.

Adenebi (joining) : Let transparency be shield.

Old Man (joining) : Let wisdom be counsel.

Half-Child : Let me live.

(They stand united not in spectacle but in sober commitment. The dawn strengthens. The forest clears slowly, leaving open ground.)

Aroni (last to speak) : Remember.

(He exits.)

The drum continues—steady, sustained—then fades.

Silence.

Blackout. 

References : 

Soyinka, Wole. A Dance of the Forests. Oxford University Press, 1963.