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丕賱胤乇賷賯
Book by Soyinka, Wole
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First published January 1, 1965
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About the author
Wole Soyinka
218听books1,185听followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the 欧宝娱乐 database.
Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka, known as Wole Soyinka, is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature for his "wide cultural perspective and... poetic overtones fashioning the drama of existence", the first sub-Saharan African to be honoured in that category.
Soyinka was born into a Yoruba family in Abeokuta. In 1954, he attended Government College in Ibadan, and subsequently University College Ibadan and the University of Leeds in England. After studying in Nigeria and the UK, he worked with the Royal Court Theatre in London. He went on to write plays that were produced in both countries, in theatres and on radio. He took an active role in Nigeria's political history and its campaign for independence from British colonial rule. In 1965, he seized the Western Nigeria Broadcasting Service studio and broadcast a demand for the cancellation of the Western Nigeria Regional Elections. In 1967, during the Nigerian Civil War, he was arrested by the federal government of General Yakubu Gowon and put in solitary confinement for two years, for volunteering to be a non-government mediating actor.
Soyinka has been a strong critic of successive Nigerian (and African at large) governments, especially the country's many military dictators, as well as other political tyrannies, including the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe. Much of his writing has been concerned with "the oppressive boot and the irrelevance of the colour of the foot that wears it". During the regime of General Sani Abacha (1993鈥�98), Soyinka escaped from Nigeria on a motorcycle via the "NADECO Route". Abacha later proclaimed a death sentence against him "in absentia". With civilian rule restored to Nigeria in 1999, Soyinka returned to his nation.
In Nigeria, Soyinka was a Professor of Comparative literature (1975 to 1999) at the Obafemi Awolowo University, then called the University of If岷固€. With civilian rule restored to Nigeria in 1999, he was made professor emeritus. While in the United States, he first taught at Cornell University as Goldwin Smith professor for African Studies and Theatre Arts from 1988 to 1991 and then at Emory University, where in 1996 he was appointed Robert W. Woodruff Professor of the Arts. Soyinka has been a Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and has served as scholar-in-residence at New York University's Institute of African American Affairs and at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California. He has also taught at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard and Yale, and was also a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Duke University in 2008.
In December 2017, Soyinka was awarded the Europe Theatre Prize in the "Special Prize" category, awarded to someone who has "contributed to the realization of cultural events that promote understanding and the exchange of knowledge between peoples".
Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka, known as Wole Soyinka, is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature for his "wide cultural perspective and... poetic overtones fashioning the drama of existence", the first sub-Saharan African to be honoured in that category.
Soyinka was born into a Yoruba family in Abeokuta. In 1954, he attended Government College in Ibadan, and subsequently University College Ibadan and the University of Leeds in England. After studying in Nigeria and the UK, he worked with the Royal Court Theatre in London. He went on to write plays that were produced in both countries, in theatres and on radio. He took an active role in Nigeria's political history and its campaign for independence from British colonial rule. In 1965, he seized the Western Nigeria Broadcasting Service studio and broadcast a demand for the cancellation of the Western Nigeria Regional Elections. In 1967, during the Nigerian Civil War, he was arrested by the federal government of General Yakubu Gowon and put in solitary confinement for two years, for volunteering to be a non-government mediating actor.
Soyinka has been a strong critic of successive Nigerian (and African at large) governments, especially the country's many military dictators, as well as other political tyrannies, including the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe. Much of his writing has been concerned with "the oppressive boot and the irrelevance of the colour of the foot that wears it". During the regime of General Sani Abacha (1993鈥�98), Soyinka escaped from Nigeria on a motorcycle via the "NADECO Route". Abacha later proclaimed a death sentence against him "in absentia". With civilian rule restored to Nigeria in 1999, Soyinka returned to his nation.
In Nigeria, Soyinka was a Professor of Comparative literature (1975 to 1999) at the Obafemi Awolowo University, then called the University of If岷固€. With civilian rule restored to Nigeria in 1999, he was made professor emeritus. While in the United States, he first taught at Cornell University as Goldwin Smith professor for African Studies and Theatre Arts from 1988 to 1991 and then at Emory University, where in 1996 he was appointed Robert W. Woodruff Professor of the Arts. Soyinka has been a Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and has served as scholar-in-residence at New York University's Institute of African American Affairs and at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California. He has also taught at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard and Yale, and was also a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Duke University in 2008.
In December 2017, Soyinka was awarded the Europe Theatre Prize in the "Special Prize" category, awarded to someone who has "contributed to the realization of cultural events that promote understanding and the exchange of knowledge between peoples".
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
February 28, 2019
The Road is a complex, difficult play to grasp on first reading. It uses Yoruba symbolism in the form of Ogun and the Festival of Agemo, contextual concepts that a reader would want to know about to appreciate better what is on the page. But context is not all that makes it difficult; there is also the Yoruba comic theater of slapstick and satire鈥� (Gibbs) and some unusual transitions in dialogue from standard to colloquial that are rather abrupt. It is a symbolic play as witnessed by the presence of the festival masks and the closing scene when the mask falls and spins.
The play is taking place during the Festival of the Drivers, where Agemo, the deity of the roads, is offered a masked dance ritual as people move from shrine to shrine, unhindered. There are constant references to the festival taking place 鈥渙ut there.鈥� However, it is the references to Ogun where the power of the play lies in. Ogun is the Yoruba deity of creativity and destructiveness鈥攚ho Soyinka adopted as his patron deity as Gibbs explains: 鈥榌Soyinka] has developed a theory of drama based on a subjective analysis of Ogun festivals which illuminates the tragic vision embodied in his plays.鈥� This is most evident in the focal character, Professor, who is a learned man that is now the head of a criminal gang and a forger, and who was a preacher but is now a saboteur. Yet Professor is not always in the foreground, but he is always implicit in all that transpires. He is in a way the embodiment of Ogun鈥檚 duality. Professor is creative in finding ways to earn money, and heads a gang of drivers and touts, and sells spare parts of lorries. He is destructive when, on occasion, he arranges for accidents to happen so that there will be spare parts available to sell.
He wears an 鈥渁bstract鈥� mask of the clich茅d absent-minded professor, forgetful and confused, but there is a deeper motif present, and one constantly waits for the mask to come off. The clumsiness is always shrouded by myth or spirituality:
But in those moments when the mask is off, we begin to witness the cunning and shrewdness that is Professor:
Suffice it to say, the Professor naturally proposes forming a partnership with Samson and Kotonu, where he is a half partner, and they together make up the other half.
Professor, to me, is a metaphor to the state of Nigeria, where there is a start with good intentions, but the power granted corrupts until the end result is profiteering. Enter Particulars Joe, the officer who is representative of 鈥榯he law鈥� but will turn a blind eye to almost anything the Professor says for the right favors.
There is no end to the hierarchy of corruption. Professor is proud to be the top dog until betrayed by one of his men, who covets that position. And so, finally, the tragedy transpires, the mask falls, and with Professor鈥檚 dying breath, between this world and the next, his destructiveness is apparent:
The Road is a rather long play that requires much contextualization to fully appreciate it. As for the dialogue, the transitions in the dialects which sometimes occurred were unnecessary. Say Tokyo Kid speaks with a particular dialect, basically pidgin English with an Americanized accent. While other characters occasionally revert to pidgin English, although for the most part, they speak standard English. These sudden jumps fail to deliver any specific effect and Soyinka鈥檚 choices remain obscure to me.
References:
Gibbs, J. Wole Soyinka (1986) Macmillan Publishers Ltd.
Harris, W., 鈥楾he Complexity of Freedom鈥� published in Wole Soyinka: An Appraisal (1994) Heinemann Educational Publishers, pp.22-35
The play is taking place during the Festival of the Drivers, where Agemo, the deity of the roads, is offered a masked dance ritual as people move from shrine to shrine, unhindered. There are constant references to the festival taking place 鈥渙ut there.鈥� However, it is the references to Ogun where the power of the play lies in. Ogun is the Yoruba deity of creativity and destructiveness鈥攚ho Soyinka adopted as his patron deity as Gibbs explains: 鈥榌Soyinka] has developed a theory of drama based on a subjective analysis of Ogun festivals which illuminates the tragic vision embodied in his plays.鈥� This is most evident in the focal character, Professor, who is a learned man that is now the head of a criminal gang and a forger, and who was a preacher but is now a saboteur. Yet Professor is not always in the foreground, but he is always implicit in all that transpires. He is in a way the embodiment of Ogun鈥檚 duality. Professor is creative in finding ways to earn money, and heads a gang of drivers and touts, and sells spare parts of lorries. He is destructive when, on occasion, he arranges for accidents to happen so that there will be spare parts available to sell.
He wears an 鈥渁bstract鈥� mask of the clich茅d absent-minded professor, forgetful and confused, but there is a deeper motif present, and one constantly waits for the mask to come off. The clumsiness is always shrouded by myth or spirituality:
Prof.: Ah. I thought so. Strange that I should find myself here. I was drawn perhaps by some sympathy of spirit. Do you happen to follow the path yourself?
Samson: What path? I mean 鈥� no 鈥� aren鈥檛 you in a hurry? Good-bye.
Prof.: Yes you seem a knowing man, cutting yourself from common touch with earth. But that is a path away from all true communion 鈥� the Word is not to be found in denial.
But in those moments when the mask is off, we begin to witness the cunning and shrewdness that is Professor:
Prof.: 鈥� How does he intend to live since he won鈥檛 drive?
Samson: We have savings.
Prof. [his eyes light up.]: You have savings?
Samson: Nothing much Professor, only 鈥�
Prof.: I must know the truth.
[Samson squirming, eventually gives in. Turns his back on Professor, and from the deep recesses of his baggy trousers, brings out a pouch. Hurriedly he extracts a note from it and hides it, places the rest on the table.]
Any paper? Paper Paper. Where is the government I.O.U., the thing which promises to pay on demand.
Samson: Where would I get such a thing sir?
Prof. [open the bag at the mouth and peers into the contents.]: What you ought to form is a syndicate.
Samson: I don鈥檛 quite understand.
Prof.: You never do.
Suffice it to say, the Professor naturally proposes forming a partnership with Samson and Kotonu, where he is a half partner, and they together make up the other half.
Professor, to me, is a metaphor to the state of Nigeria, where there is a start with good intentions, but the power granted corrupts until the end result is profiteering. Enter Particulars Joe, the officer who is representative of 鈥榯he law鈥� but will turn a blind eye to almost anything the Professor says for the right favors.
Prof.: How is the criminal world my friend?
Partic. Joe: More lucrative every day Professor.
Prof.: Not for the criminal I trust.
Partic. Joe: Oh no sir. That would only corrupt them.
鈥�
Partic. Joe: I haven鈥檛 seen your hand on the roads lately Professor.
Prof.: I am slowing down. I have to cut down on distractions. I need all my strength for uncovering the Word. Forgery saps my powers.
Partic. Joe: Do let us know when you retire. It will be a great load off our minds. We spend more time separating your own handiwork than we do in detecting the general forgery. We would be so sorry to make a mistake.
There is no end to the hierarchy of corruption. Professor is proud to be the top dog until betrayed by one of his men, who covets that position. And so, finally, the tragedy transpires, the mask falls, and with Professor鈥檚 dying breath, between this world and the next, his destructiveness is apparent:
鈥� Be the road. Coil yourself in dreams, lay flat in treachery and deceit and at the moment of a trusting step, rear your head and strike the traveler in his confidence, swallow him whole or break him on the earth. Spread a broad sheet for death with the length and the time of the sun between you until the one face multiplies and the one shadow is cast by all the doomed. Breathe like the road, be even like the road itself鈥�
The Road is a rather long play that requires much contextualization to fully appreciate it. As for the dialogue, the transitions in the dialects which sometimes occurred were unnecessary. Say Tokyo Kid speaks with a particular dialect, basically pidgin English with an Americanized accent. While other characters occasionally revert to pidgin English, although for the most part, they speak standard English. These sudden jumps fail to deliver any specific effect and Soyinka鈥檚 choices remain obscure to me.
References:
Gibbs, J. Wole Soyinka (1986) Macmillan Publishers Ltd.
Harris, W., 鈥楾he Complexity of Freedom鈥� published in Wole Soyinka: An Appraisal (1994) Heinemann Educational Publishers, pp.22-35
April 18, 2012
The Road is my first real encounter with the literary genius of Wole Soyinka who is a master of mixing European literary traditions with Yoruba culture and he does this so seamlessly. I recommend this short play, it is interesting and I absolutely love the characters.
June 19, 2021
Mi manca qualcosa per comprendere appieno il messaggio di questo testo teatrale di Soyinka.
C'猫 la strada del titolo vista dai personaggi come luogo di morte: sono perseguitati degli incidenti, impauriti, ma anche pronti a sfruttarli per arricchirsi vendendo i beni dei defunti. C'猫 il dio Ogun, dio del fuoco, della creativit脿, ma anche degli autisti che aleggia con la sua presenza. C'猫 il Professore in cerca di una parola che sia parola creatrice che permetta di fare il salto tra questo mondo e quello degli spiriti. C'猫 la morte che aleggia minacciosa su tutta la storia.
Pure mi sembra di non avere completamente capito il messaggio, forse perch茅 di cultura youruba non so nulla, forse perch茅 l'ho letto nel momento sbagliato. Chiss脿.
C'猫 la strada del titolo vista dai personaggi come luogo di morte: sono perseguitati degli incidenti, impauriti, ma anche pronti a sfruttarli per arricchirsi vendendo i beni dei defunti. C'猫 il dio Ogun, dio del fuoco, della creativit脿, ma anche degli autisti che aleggia con la sua presenza. C'猫 il Professore in cerca di una parola che sia parola creatrice che permetta di fare il salto tra questo mondo e quello degli spiriti. C'猫 la morte che aleggia minacciosa su tutta la storia.
Pure mi sembra di non avere completamente capito il messaggio, forse perch茅 di cultura youruba non so nulla, forse perch茅 l'ho letto nel momento sbagliato. Chiss脿.
February 28, 2009
Not only did I read this play, I also performed in it for two glorious nights.
September 13, 2023
Un v茅ritable r茅gal, sauf peut-锚tre cette traduction du Fran莽ais petit n猫gre qui laissait vraiment 脿 d茅sirer. Le Professeur est un sacr茅 personnage et Samson est 脿 la hauteur des fourberies de ce dernier.
C'est avec le verbe et sa maitrise que les intellectuels et les politiciens parviennent 脿 manipuler le peuple, les envoyant vers une mort certaine tout en leur faisant croire que tout cela est pour leur bien. Ils se servent de nos traumatismes pour mieux nous asservir. Kotonou en est l'illustration parfaite. Que dire des traditions Yoruba ? la joie de lire Baba Wole quand il aborde ce th猫me qu'il affectionne ( la richesse sans fin de sa culture ancestrale) et qui va si bien 脿 sa plume...
C'est avec le verbe et sa maitrise que les intellectuels et les politiciens parviennent 脿 manipuler le peuple, les envoyant vers une mort certaine tout en leur faisant croire que tout cela est pour leur bien. Ils se servent de nos traumatismes pour mieux nous asservir. Kotonou en est l'illustration parfaite. Que dire des traditions Yoruba ? la joie de lire Baba Wole quand il aborde ce th猫me qu'il affectionne ( la richesse sans fin de sa culture ancestrale) et qui va si bien 脿 sa plume...
October 1, 2024
Honestly and respectfully, didn鈥檛 understand the play. Why so unnecessarily complicated? If somebody did, please explain it to me or make a sparksnotes page or a wiki page:)
August 30, 2019
Splendid
This, Volume 1 of the collected plays by Nigerian-born Wole Soyinka, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986, contains, The Dance of the Forests, The Swamp Dwellers, The Strong Breed, The Road, and The Bacchae of Euripides (Soyinka's translation), but not The Lion and the Jewel, et al., as the Book Description by Amazon above mistakenly has it. Those plays are contained in Volume 2.
For this review I want to focus on The Road which Soyinka wrote in 1965. It is a quasi-realistic play which incorporates elements from the theater of the absurd. It is a comedy of sorts, not exactly a comedie noire, as the French say, but with similar satirical intent. It is also a deeply symbolic play.
The action comprises a single day, from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. The scene is a road-side shack presumably in Nigeria with a church close by, parts of which are also on stage. Part of the shack is a used parts store, and there is a dilapidated "mammy waggon" downstage and to the side opposite the church.
The central character is the PROFESSOR who stands for civilization and literacy. He has the power of the Word, and this power sustains him above his fellows. The PROFESSOR uses his literacy to forge documents such as driver's licenses. This too is part of his power. He is a contradictory character, and the Word is slippery and is not always an embodiment of the truth. The PROFESSOR stands in opposition to the Church and its Bishop.
SAMSON is the tout for the "No Danger, No Delay" lorry service. A tout is one who finds customers for the company, who seats them and maybe carries their luggage and flatters them. SAMSON is a practical man.
KOTONU is a driver who works with SAMSON. SALUBI is a driver trainee, a superstitious man. MURANO, whom Soyinka says represents the suspension of death, is a mute and personal servant to the PROFESSOR.
PARTICULARS JOE is a cop who always wants the "particulars" of the case. He apparently lives as much on the bribes he receives as he does on his salary. SAY TOKYO KID is the leader of the thugs and a driver.
The hangers-on and such serve as a musical and dancing chorus throughout the play. They sing dirges and act out tribal dances sometimes using the Mask which may hide the god of death, or as Soyinka has it, the Mask represents "a religious cult of flesh dissolution." Throughout there are references to Orgun, the tribal god of iron and war. During the Festival of the Drivers, there is the "Feast of Orgun, the Dog-eater" with the idea that the Road eats dogs that get in the way of the wheels of the lorries.
The characters in the play make their living from the road and its traffic. Some of them even chase after accidents and remove things of value from the vehicles--even the clothes of the dead--and sell them in the "Care of Accident Supply Store."
The central element is the road of course, the road like a river that runs through their lives and through their civilization, a road that lies flat and then, like a coiled snake, snaps up and brings to death by accident those who travel on its back. The road is also that which transforms the forest, as they take its timber, into the hard concrete and asphalt of the city. It is the road that transforms the life of the tribesman into that of the city dweller. One might compare the Road to the Way of the Taoists, but of course here the road is actively malicious. In a sense then this play is a religious allegory with the tension contained between the Road and the Word.
Soyinka's dialogue is in English with some Pidgin departures and with some vocabulary from the Yoruba language mixed in. Soyinka has a master's ear and an artist's touch with language. He has the characters at times talking past one another, each with his own concern, as in an absurdist play, and at other times he has them mouthing words of philosophic import. It is especially the PROFESSOR who waxes philosophical. He is a bit of a cynic who exclaims at one point, "Have you sold your soul for money? You lie like a prophet." He adds, "Truth? Truth? Truth my friend is scum risen on the froth of wine" reminding me of Pontius Pilate whom Sir Francis Bacon famously has asking, "What is truth?" and not staying for an answer.
PARTICULARS JOE, who was once a soldier, can also be philosophical, sometimes in an ironic way as when he declares "It is peaceful to fight a war which one does not understand, to kill human beings who never seduced your wife or poisoned your water." And there are jokes and witty sayings which Soyinka springs upon us by surprise from time to time. A nice exchange begins when PARTICULARS JOE pockets a coin that belongs to SAMSON that he finds in a crack on the floor:
SAMSON: That happens to be mine.
JOE [blandly]: That's O.K. Natural mistake on my part. Money has been left for me in more unlikely places believe me.
SAMSON: Well at least wait until I am back on the road before you collect tolls.
This inspires the PROFESSOR to ask JOE, How is the criminal world my friend?
JOE: More lucrative every day Professor.
PROFESSOR: Not for the criminal I trust.
JOE (with unintentional irony I presume): Oh no sir. That would only corrupt them.
One sees the influence of such absurdist playwrights as Samuel Beckett, Bertold Brecht and Eugene Ionesco in this play, but I believe Soyinka is both more realistic and funnier. He spent some part of his formative years in London where he was educated and worked in the theatre and where his first plays were produced. His mastery of the elements of the theater is obvious even from reading just this one play. I am looking forward to exploring more of Soyinka's work.
--Dennis Littrell, author of the sensational mystery novel, 鈥淭eddy and Teri鈥�
This, Volume 1 of the collected plays by Nigerian-born Wole Soyinka, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986, contains, The Dance of the Forests, The Swamp Dwellers, The Strong Breed, The Road, and The Bacchae of Euripides (Soyinka's translation), but not The Lion and the Jewel, et al., as the Book Description by Amazon above mistakenly has it. Those plays are contained in Volume 2.
For this review I want to focus on The Road which Soyinka wrote in 1965. It is a quasi-realistic play which incorporates elements from the theater of the absurd. It is a comedy of sorts, not exactly a comedie noire, as the French say, but with similar satirical intent. It is also a deeply symbolic play.
The action comprises a single day, from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. The scene is a road-side shack presumably in Nigeria with a church close by, parts of which are also on stage. Part of the shack is a used parts store, and there is a dilapidated "mammy waggon" downstage and to the side opposite the church.
The central character is the PROFESSOR who stands for civilization and literacy. He has the power of the Word, and this power sustains him above his fellows. The PROFESSOR uses his literacy to forge documents such as driver's licenses. This too is part of his power. He is a contradictory character, and the Word is slippery and is not always an embodiment of the truth. The PROFESSOR stands in opposition to the Church and its Bishop.
SAMSON is the tout for the "No Danger, No Delay" lorry service. A tout is one who finds customers for the company, who seats them and maybe carries their luggage and flatters them. SAMSON is a practical man.
KOTONU is a driver who works with SAMSON. SALUBI is a driver trainee, a superstitious man. MURANO, whom Soyinka says represents the suspension of death, is a mute and personal servant to the PROFESSOR.
PARTICULARS JOE is a cop who always wants the "particulars" of the case. He apparently lives as much on the bribes he receives as he does on his salary. SAY TOKYO KID is the leader of the thugs and a driver.
The hangers-on and such serve as a musical and dancing chorus throughout the play. They sing dirges and act out tribal dances sometimes using the Mask which may hide the god of death, or as Soyinka has it, the Mask represents "a religious cult of flesh dissolution." Throughout there are references to Orgun, the tribal god of iron and war. During the Festival of the Drivers, there is the "Feast of Orgun, the Dog-eater" with the idea that the Road eats dogs that get in the way of the wheels of the lorries.
The characters in the play make their living from the road and its traffic. Some of them even chase after accidents and remove things of value from the vehicles--even the clothes of the dead--and sell them in the "Care of Accident Supply Store."
The central element is the road of course, the road like a river that runs through their lives and through their civilization, a road that lies flat and then, like a coiled snake, snaps up and brings to death by accident those who travel on its back. The road is also that which transforms the forest, as they take its timber, into the hard concrete and asphalt of the city. It is the road that transforms the life of the tribesman into that of the city dweller. One might compare the Road to the Way of the Taoists, but of course here the road is actively malicious. In a sense then this play is a religious allegory with the tension contained between the Road and the Word.
Soyinka's dialogue is in English with some Pidgin departures and with some vocabulary from the Yoruba language mixed in. Soyinka has a master's ear and an artist's touch with language. He has the characters at times talking past one another, each with his own concern, as in an absurdist play, and at other times he has them mouthing words of philosophic import. It is especially the PROFESSOR who waxes philosophical. He is a bit of a cynic who exclaims at one point, "Have you sold your soul for money? You lie like a prophet." He adds, "Truth? Truth? Truth my friend is scum risen on the froth of wine" reminding me of Pontius Pilate whom Sir Francis Bacon famously has asking, "What is truth?" and not staying for an answer.
PARTICULARS JOE, who was once a soldier, can also be philosophical, sometimes in an ironic way as when he declares "It is peaceful to fight a war which one does not understand, to kill human beings who never seduced your wife or poisoned your water." And there are jokes and witty sayings which Soyinka springs upon us by surprise from time to time. A nice exchange begins when PARTICULARS JOE pockets a coin that belongs to SAMSON that he finds in a crack on the floor:
SAMSON: That happens to be mine.
JOE [blandly]: That's O.K. Natural mistake on my part. Money has been left for me in more unlikely places believe me.
SAMSON: Well at least wait until I am back on the road before you collect tolls.
This inspires the PROFESSOR to ask JOE, How is the criminal world my friend?
JOE: More lucrative every day Professor.
PROFESSOR: Not for the criminal I trust.
JOE (with unintentional irony I presume): Oh no sir. That would only corrupt them.
One sees the influence of such absurdist playwrights as Samuel Beckett, Bertold Brecht and Eugene Ionesco in this play, but I believe Soyinka is both more realistic and funnier. He spent some part of his formative years in London where he was educated and worked in the theatre and where his first plays were produced. His mastery of the elements of the theater is obvious even from reading just this one play. I am looking forward to exploring more of Soyinka's work.
--Dennis Littrell, author of the sensational mystery novel, 鈥淭eddy and Teri鈥�
April 21, 2016
Camionisti nel cuore nero dell'Africa, che viaggiano su piste scarsamente battute e ponti pericolanti. Camionisti che esorcizzazono il dio della strada uccidendo un cane, il tutto all'ombra di una fosca missione cattolica.
Personaggi in bilico tra la modernit脿 e le credenze ancestrali, il cui vate 猫 il folle Professore, anima allucinata che, accompagnato da un feticcio muto ricerca la Parola.
Un testo inquietante.
Personaggi in bilico tra la modernit脿 e le credenze ancestrali, il cui vate 猫 il folle Professore, anima allucinata che, accompagnato da un feticcio muto ricerca la Parola.
Un testo inquietante.
June 30, 2024
really good but also enigmatic. Interesting to contrast early Soyinka with
March 24, 2025
"It fogged certainly at noonday
The sun asked, what is this wonder?
The dew of drought settled on my feet
Death deprived us of rain
The dew of drought settled on my breast
And the chill of fear took me
Death has sinned against us
A man among men is gone"
The Road - A play | wole soyinka
Wole Soyinka Lecture Series American Writers Museum
English Literature info #WoleSoyinka
The sun asked, what is this wonder?
The dew of drought settled on my feet
Death deprived us of rain
The dew of drought settled on my breast
And the chill of fear took me
Death has sinned against us
A man among men is gone"
The Road - A play | wole soyinka
Wole Soyinka Lecture Series American Writers Museum
English Literature info #WoleSoyinka
July 22, 2022
唳ㄠ唳囙唰囙Π唳苦Ο唳监唳� 唳囙Ο唳监唳班唳 唳呧Η唰嵿Ο唰傕Ψ唳苦Δ 唳呧唰嵿唳� 唳忇Π 唳撪Κ唳� 唳唳む唳む 唳曕Π唰� 唳ㄠ唳熰啷� 唳夃Θ唰嵿Θ唳唳ㄠΧ唰€唳� 唳呧唰嵿唳� 唳椸唳侧唳� 唳椸Σ唰嵿Κ唳椸唳侧 唳曕 唳栢唳� 唳曕唳涏唳曕唳涏唳� 唳灌Ο唳�?
唳嗋Ξ唳� 唳о唳班Μ 唳椸唳唳む唳� 唳唳傕Σ唳� 唳呧Θ唰佮Μ唳距Ζ 唳Α唳监唳涏啷� 唳囙Ο唳监唳班唳唳� 唳膏唳膏唳曕唳む 唳膏Ξ唰嵿Μ唳ㄠ唳о 唳溹唳ㄠ 唳ㄠ 唳ム唳曕唳 唳ㄠ唳熰唳熰 唳唳澿Δ唰� 唳唳班 唳唳� 唳曕唳苦Θ 唳Θ唰� 唳灌Ο唳监唳涏啷�
唳嗋Ξ唳� 唳о唳班Μ 唳椸唳唳む唳� 唳唳傕Σ唳� 唳呧Θ唰佮Μ唳距Ζ 唳Α唳监唳涏啷� 唳囙Ο唳监唳班唳唳� 唳膏唳膏唳曕唳む 唳膏Ξ唰嵿Μ唳ㄠ唳о 唳溹唳ㄠ 唳ㄠ 唳ム唳曕唳 唳ㄠ唳熰唳熰 唳唳澿Δ唰� 唳唳班 唳唳� 唳曕唳苦Θ 唳Θ唰� 唳灌Ο唳监唳涏啷�
February 5, 2018
The play portrays the corruption of humankind from the level of commodities to spiritual!
January 9, 2021
Phenomenal, mind expanding.
January 10, 2022
鈥� Can鈥檛 lie I understood about 20% of what was going on. Really hard to read unless you have a working knowledge of Yoruban customs
July 7, 2023
I read a Bengali translation of this play, and didn鈥檛 understand it properly. I am not well - introduced with African culture- that might be a reason for this.
March 27, 2015
A total cool presentation of the failing way to arrest time to arrest death through life by controlling spiritual power.
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