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Jero Plays
'Unquestionably Africa's most versatile writer and arguably one of her finest' - New York Times Book Review
These hilarious and vicious two plays examine the corruption of Nigerian society through a study of the rise and fall of one of its self-made charismatic preachers.'Wole Soyinka's Nobel Prize for Literature is a triumphant affirmation of the universality of this novelist, poet, film-maker and political activist.' - Guardian
These hilarious and vicious two plays examine the corruption of Nigerian society through a study of the rise and fall of one of its self-made charismatic preachers.'Wole Soyinka's Nobel Prize for Literature is a triumphant affirmation of the universality of this novelist, poet, film-maker and political activist.' - Guardian
- GenresSchool
96 pages, Paperback
First published November 29, 1973
About the author
Wole Soyinka
208 books1,260 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads 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 (1993–98), 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 Ifẹ̀. 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 (1993–98), 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 Ifẹ̀. 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 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 23, 2019
These two plays are brilliant in satirizing the combination of religion, politics, and corruption in Nigeria. I do not know if much has changed since they were written and performed in the 60s and 70s. Certainly, not much had changed during my time there in the 80s and 90s.
The charlatan preacher Jero is the focal point of the plays. In The Trials of Brother Jero, he schemes to increase his power as a preacher and to overcome his creditor, Amope. The farce plays out when Jero discovers that Ampoe is Chume’s wife, his up-till-then most devoted follower. Rather than suffer any consequences when his debt is called, he schemes to turn man against wife. I say no more otherwise I give away the denouement.
In Jero’s Metamorphosis, Jero is more serious and his main focus is power. He invites the preachers he knows at Bar Beach where he too preaches (basically his competition) to devise a strategy to claim power over them as their general in the newly formed Church of the Apostolic Salvation Army and to wipe away other preachers representing different congregations. This is all managed through a former government secretary Sister Rebecca, who is now a zealous follower of Jero.
At the surface, these plays depict a rife sense of humor, sometimes slipping into farce. At a deeper level, the themes of self-styled faith, corruption, deceit, and abuse of power interact and mesh with one another to offer us a powerful critique of modern society. The use of pidgin English at times might be difficult for some readers, but otherwise, it is linguistically straight forward. I liked that the setting was Bar Beach, a 10-minute walk from where I lived back then. I recall occasionally seeing such ‘preachers’ in those days, always walking in tattered linen robes with a staff.
The charlatan preacher Jero is the focal point of the plays. In The Trials of Brother Jero, he schemes to increase his power as a preacher and to overcome his creditor, Amope. The farce plays out when Jero discovers that Ampoe is Chume’s wife, his up-till-then most devoted follower. Rather than suffer any consequences when his debt is called, he schemes to turn man against wife. I say no more otherwise I give away the denouement.
In Jero’s Metamorphosis, Jero is more serious and his main focus is power. He invites the preachers he knows at Bar Beach where he too preaches (basically his competition) to devise a strategy to claim power over them as their general in the newly formed Church of the Apostolic Salvation Army and to wipe away other preachers representing different congregations. This is all managed through a former government secretary Sister Rebecca, who is now a zealous follower of Jero.
At the surface, these plays depict a rife sense of humor, sometimes slipping into farce. At a deeper level, the themes of self-styled faith, corruption, deceit, and abuse of power interact and mesh with one another to offer us a powerful critique of modern society. The use of pidgin English at times might be difficult for some readers, but otherwise, it is linguistically straight forward. I liked that the setting was Bar Beach, a 10-minute walk from where I lived back then. I recall occasionally seeing such ‘preachers’ in those days, always walking in tattered linen robes with a staff.
December 22, 2020
Shocking in many respects. Are these men of God? So impure in thoughts and deeds. Jero is bad enough, but in Jero's Metamorphosis, he sordidly bands together with other 'men of God' who to put it mildly, should be behind bars. Forgers. Rapists. Thieves... No wonder one of the characters here says: 'I know the Brother... and that should be enough for anyone with a sense of shame'. Very hilarious, but disturbing of course. The end justifies the means for shameless Jero
December 28, 2019
The Jero plays are still as fresh, humorous and satirical as they were when I first read them 💕
June 20, 2017
I like.
Read
July 10, 2010go book.i endevour to read ore of similar bodies
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews