Collected Plays: Volume 1

The Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka has been hailed as one of the finest poetic playwrights who have ever written in English' (Martin Esslin) anda writer of genius' (Irish Times). The five plays in this collection are linked by their concern with the spiritual and the social, with belief and ritual as integrating forces for social cohesion. A Dance of the Forests (1960), a confrontation between the living and the dead, betweenhistory and reality; The Swamp Dwellers (1961), a tale of perilous dependence on the favour of the gods; The Strong Breed (1963), a play of expiation, all take place in Africa. So also does The Road (1965), `a richand beautiful tragedy' (Times Literary Supplement) The most recent work, an adaptation of The Bacchae of Euripides (1973), remains set in and around the Thebes of ancient Greece, but draws deeply on Africa and the themes of the earlier plays in this book. In all these plays - whether concerned with the corruption of urban life or the power of superstition - Soyinka's language and imagination transcend the plays' immediate social contexts.

“"Finally we have Soyinka's collected plays available in a format accessible and convenient for student readers."--Eileen Crawford,University of the District of Columbia "Soyinka...has established himself as one of the most compelling literary voices in black Africa."--The New York Times”

"Finally we have Soyinka's collected plays available in a format accessible and convenient for student readers."--Eileen Crawford, University of the District of Columbia

"Soyinka...has established himself as one of the most compelling literary voices in black Africa."--The New York Times

Wole Soyinka is a celebrated Nigerian writer and winner of the 1986 Nobel Prize for Literature. As well as plays he has written two novels, two volumes of poetry, and The Man Died, notes of his prison experience. His other plays include The Lion and the Jewel, Kongi's Harvest, The Trails of Brother Jero, Jero's Metamorphosis, and Madmen and Specialists. He has a new book, The Open Sore of a Continent, published in June1996.

The Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka has been hailed as one of the finest poetic playwrights who have ever written in English' (Martin Esslin) anda writer of genius' (Irish Times). The five plays in this collection are linked by their concern with the spiritual and the social, with belief and ritual as integrating forces for social cohesion. A Dance of the Forests (1960), a confrontation between the living and the dead, between history and reality; The Swamp Dwellers (1961), a tale of perilous dependence on the favour of the gods; The Strong Breed (1963), a play of expiation, all take place in Africa. So also does The Road (1965), `a rich and beautiful tragedy' (Times Literary Supplement) The most recent work, an adaptation of The Bacchae of Euripides (1973), remains set in and around the Thebes of ancient Greece, but draws deeply on Africa and the themes of the earlier plays in this book. In all these plays - whether concerned with the corruption of urban life or the power of superstition - Soyinka's language and imagination transcend the plays' immediate social contexts.

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