The Lion and the Jewel, one of the earliest efforts of Wole Soyinka as a playwright, is a fine piece of drama that subverts existing perceptions of love or romance as something meant for the ideal couple, usually a young man and a woman who triumph at the end after a tortuous attempt by a wealthier and older male character to win over the love of the lady in contention. In this play, however, the “civilised teacher”, Lakunle, fails to convince the village beauty, Sidi, to abandon her tradition. He insists that the tradition of paying bride price is “outdated, savage, and primitive”. Sidi, he suggests, should abandon such antiquated custom and marry him so that they will live their lives like white people who drink “tea with milk and sugar” instead of the “primitive palm-wine” associated with African peoples of Ilujinle extraction.
Sidi finds his proposal derisive, and scorns him with reckless abandon. On the other hand, the old traditional ruler, Baroka or the Bale, known in the community as the Village “Lion” deploys native wisdom, traditional etiquette, charm, and verbal vigour to trick the village beauty into taking a trip to his royal bedroom. At the end, he succeeds in deflowering the village jewel while the deluded “modern” teacher continues to fantasize his ideal marriage to her.
Stage plays are a very educational and entertaining form of relaxation for the whole family, (more educational than most of the movies we take our children to see in the cinemas), endearing us with our culture and taking us back to the mindset of people at the time the book was written. The Lion and the Jewel stage play is a classic once in a lifetime experience, you would not want to miss.
This Stage play, directed by Wole Oguntokun promises to be one that would keep the audience spell bound, and leave them yearning for more, two plays come up every Sunday in the month of August at Terra Kulture, visit Naira.com for more information and online ticket purchase.
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