As part of its social responsibility to the public, the Department of Classics, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State, has been staging Prof. Femi Osofisan's Women of Owu since Sunday for the benefit of secondary school students. The play is an adaptation of Greeks' Euripides' classical play, Trojan Women. This historical play has as much relevance to current socio-political contexts.At least, Classics as a field of study, has made three Nigerians very prominent in the respective paths they chose to thread. First to gain world acclaim as a poet was the slain Christopher Okigbo, who died fighting as a soldier on the Biafran side of the Nigerian Civil War in 1967. Then there is former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, a reknowned diplomat. Not least, is boardroom technocrat, Deacon Gamaliel Onosode, and still counting.For two years now, the Department of Classics, University of Ibadan, has been staging plays with Classical import partly with a view to establishing the nexus between the Classics and society, and how to further deepen that connection. First was the play, Tegonni, an African Antigone, another of Osofisan's adaptation of Euripides' Antigone. This year, the choice of play is Osofisan's Women of Owu, which is also a text for secondary school students preparing for their WAEC and NECO examinations. Invited secondary school student around Ibadan have been watching the play since Monday after its command performance on Sunday.For the Department of Classics, it is purpose-driven performance so students preparing for their examinations could see the play performed live and thus enhance their understanding and appreciation of it. The staging comes to an end tomorrow, Saturday after a weeklong performance. It is the hope of the Head of Department, Dr. Olakunbi Olasope, that secondary school students would benefit from this unique opportunity to see Women of Owu performed live.Osofisan's Women of Owu highlights the connection between classical literature and African literature. Wole Soyinka and the late Ola Rotimi are other playwrights, whose works firmly make the inter-textual connection between Greek and African societies, especially in their cultural beliefs.In her remarks, Olasope stated, 'The inter-textual overlapping and influence between classical literature and African literature has been explored by scholar-critics. In Osofisan's creative appropriation of Euripides' Trojan Women (as Women of Owu), there is a convergence between the playwrights' imaginative reconstruction of the status and exploits of women by conquerors after devastating wars. Both works are historical plays that artistically chronicle some of the topical issues in their worlds'.Women of Owu is the story of how the ancient city of Owu was sacked by the combined forces of Ife, Ijebu and Oyo over the matter of trading rights, slave trade links and a woman. But as in all wars, it is the women that tend to suffer most after their men have either all been killed or made to flee the invading forces. Women remain behind to pick the broken pieces; they are forced into slavery, sexually abused and made to suffer the pain of the absence of their menfolk.After laying siege at Owu for seven years, the Ife, Ijebu and Oyo finally gain access and destroy the city. They kill the king and princes, and the women left behind suffer an uncertain fate. It is these remnant women whose dirges and lamentations tell the story of the destruction of Owu, even as the conquerors camp outside the gates of the city.It is the interplay of the struggle over trading rights and monopoly of the slave trade rights and the vexed issue of a woman, just like Helen of Ithaca was seduced by a Trojan prince to provoke a war against Troy. The University of Ibadan Theatre Arts student actors brought a measure of verve, panache and uncommon dexterity to bear on the play to the admiration of the audience.Olasope further stated, 'What Osofisan has done is to make connections between the history of ancient Greece and the history of struggles surrounding freedom and formations of nations in the Nigerian cultural setting of Yoruba people' What makes Osaofisan's interpretation unique is the establishment that the war that destroyed Owu around 1821 was not caused by one woman, Iyunloye, but also as a result of organisation of trade links and the effect of slavery and its attendant social conflicts. This play is particularly significant at this moment of our history when everything appears hopeless and people are full of despair and anguish caused by political leaders who incidentally consist of women''Women of Owu is a play that opens our eyes to past history, espouses the importance of Classics and enjoins us to reflect on our past history.'Not even the gods that Owu have served faithfully come to their rescue; indeed, they also plotted Owu's fall for what they term Owu's 'arrogance', which its wealth has courted for it. Owu women discover to their dismay that they are alone in their hour of need. The women go through their moments of excruciating travails in the hands of the conquerors. But even in this, they show uncommon courage in rallying themselves beyond their plight; they still find the courage to perform the final rites for the dead of the land.Perhaps, it was the words of the Artistic Director Awosanmi that aptly captured the reality of the Owu war as it relates to modern contexts, when he declared that ''Owu' is everywhere in the world'. The Owu war as dramatised in Women of Owu was a brutal war that took the lives of many, including the lives of innocent children. It is a war that questions the rationality of man, especially of leaders that make fatal errors of judgment and take decisions that bring calamity upon all. The women lament that it is suicide to be weak and how the logic of war brings untold suffering upon the vanquished.Awosnami seized the opportunity of performing the play before student audience to state, 'Diverse populations all over the world are being constantly thrown into the same predicament as the Trojan and Owu women found themselves in the classical period and around 1821 respectively. 'Nowadays, in the new world order', reflects one woman in this play, 'it is suicide to be weak'.'Warmongers, politicians, capitalists and soldiers often justify their callous actions with the 'logic of war'. But is this the logic of life' Can the logic of war be said to be a reasonable logic of living' Killing, carnage, destruction, environment despoliation, rape, manufacturing of slaves and all forms of violence ' do all these support the logic of a sensible civilization' Remember the on-going plight of the 'weak' in all parts of the globe where violence is enthroned ' does this not tell you that 'Owu' is everywhere''Very soon, my dear young colleagues, it would be your turn to be managers of people, generals and leaders. What manner of world would you create, manage and lead' This production hopes you WILL NOT choose the destructive paths of some of our ancestors in the past, and some of our parents now' It is your duty to change this prevailing state whenever it is your turn ' of institutionalized terrorism, and infringement of rights of the weak. It is therefore, to enable you experience and understand the evil of war that this particular production has emphasized its naked cruelty''.Awosanmi expressed his gratitude to the Classical Society of Nigeria, the Classics Department, University of Ibadan, Chevron Nigeria Ltd, and Dr. Olasope 'for providing this platform that has enabled us engage the minds of our future leaders. By the end of this show, they would pledge to be 'leaders of peace' and not 'leaders of war'!
Click here to read full news..
