Common Contracts
1 similar null contracts
License: Licence agreement concerning inclusion of doctoral thesis in the Institutional Repository of the University of LeidenMay 7th, 2013
Indigenous Nigerian theatre developed from masquerade performances, as evidenced in African theatre history. I believed ritual is a very significant factor in masquerade theatre. Ritual in itself is, in most cases, associated with religious belief and performance. Early Nigerian theatre and indeed drama is not guided by the Aristotelian model as most others are. This is because “drama is far more complex and universal a phenomenon than Aristotle could ever have construed.”52 Within the traditionalist African context, it becomes difficult to distinguish drama from ritual because if the context of the performance is to be taken into cognizance “a ritual becomes entertainment once it is outside its original context or when the belief that sustains it has lost its potency.”53 Drama evolved from ritual and, in some cases, it is also a part of the ritual enactment as there are situations where dramatic traditions have developed alongside rituals without any separation from their origins.
