Interrogating Otherness and Patriarchy through the Lens of Igbo Theatre: A Reading of Osita Ezenwanebe's Shadows on Arrival

Abstract

Emphasis in theatre study, in recent years has been on gender discourse in which feminism is a key component. Feminism can be seen as a counter ideology that attempts to dismantle male chauvinism and patriarchy wherever they are found. It is a tool employed by women folk to negotiate ways of liberation from patriarchal oppression and subjugation. Therefore, through the prism of this ideology and its variant womanism, this paper explored how contemporary Nigerian female playwrights re-present female characters in their plays as a way of countering male hegemony and oppression. Osita Ezenwanebe's Shadows on Arrival is used as a micro-study and the exploration of this play shows that contemporary Nigerian female playwrights present strong, assertive and powerful female characters, giving them central position as a way of re-inscribing the true women in African theatre.