Text and Performance Deviations in Efua Sutherland's The Marriage of Anansewa and Toyin Abiodun's The Trials of Afonja

dc.contributor.authorOso, O
dc.date.accessioned2022-01-28T11:10:06Z
dc.date.available2022-01-28T11:10:06Z
dc.date.issued2021-07
dc.descriptionScholarly articlesen_US
dc.description.abstractA common notion among the audience is that a good performance must be explicitly faithful to its text. Studies on African dramatic texts and performance have illustrated the points of convergence between dramatic texts and their stage performances. However, few of these studies have investigated the reasons for the deviations of the stage performances from the dramatic texts. This study was, therefore, designed to examine the points of divergence between selected African dramatic texts and their stage performances with a view to foregrounding the reasons for the deviations of the dramatic texts from their stage performances. Stephen Greenblatt’s New Historicism was adopted as the theoretical framework of the study. Two Anglophpne African plays, Efua Sutherland’s The Marriage of Anansewa and Toyin Abiodun’s The Trials of Afonja were purposively selected due to their African regional representation and the demonstrable deviations between these texts and their stage performances. Close reading of the dramatic texts was done. The video recordings of the stage performances of the two plays were reviewed. Data were subjected to literary and performance criticisms. Four divergent features were identified. They were rupturing of the sequence of incidents, coalescing of scenes, addition and removal of scenes and characters, and the infusion of songs. Directors of stage performances deliberately and pragmatically deviate from dramatic texts without prejudice to the storyline nor the historicity of the text. Hence, the divergence between text and performance is creativity.en_US
dc.identifier.citationOso, Olusola. "Text and Performance Deviations in EfuaSutherland's The Marriage of Anansewa and Toyin Abiodun's The Trials of Afonja." Lagos Review of English Studies: A Journal of Language and Literary Studies, Vol.20,No.1(2021):1-31. (https://laresunilag.com/wp-content/uploads/Olusola-Oso-Text-and-Performance-Deviations-in-Efua-Sutherlands-The-Marriage-of-Anansewa-and-Toyin-Abioduns-The-Trials-of-Afonja.pdf).en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://ir.unilag.edu.ng/handle/123456789/10832
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherDepartment of Englishen_US
dc.relation.ispartofseriesLagos Review of English Studies;
dc.subjectDramatic texten_US
dc.subjectPerformance fidelityen_US
dc.subjectAnglophone African dramaen_US
dc.subjectStage performanceen_US
dc.subjectDirectorsen_US
dc.subjectResearch Subject Categories::HUMANITIES and RELIGION::Languages and linguisticsen_US
dc.titleText and Performance Deviations in Efua Sutherland's The Marriage of Anansewa and Toyin Abiodun's The Trials of Afonjaen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
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