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The Trials of Brother Jero & The Strong Breed
THE TRIALS OF BROTHER JERO. As Michael Smith describes: "Brother Jero is a self-styled 'prophet,' an evangelical con man who ministers to the gullible and struts with self-importance over their dependence on him. The play follows him through a typical day: He acts as kind of tourist guide, displaying himself to the audience, explaining, demonstrating how he manages to live by his wits. He is pursued and cursed by his aged mentor, whose territory he has taken over. He is besieged by a woman creditor who turns out to be the tyrannical wife of his chief disciple. He converts a pompous, painfully timid Member of Parliament with prophecies of a ministerial post. And all day he tries to resist the endless temptation of beautiful women, the play is delightfully picturesque and entertaining." (8 men, 6 women.) THE STRONG BREED. As outlined by Michael Smith: "The play refers to a folk tradition by which one person becomes the 'carrier' of community evil and symbolically purifies the village in an annual ritual. The hero is Eman, a stranger who has come to this particular village to act as teacher and share his education. 'Those who have much to give,' he says, 'must do so in total loneliness.' On the night of the purification ceremony he learns that Ifada, a helpless idiot boy whom he has befriended, has been selected as 'carrier' and victim; and he is driven by compassion to take Ifada's part in the ritual. The crisis brings back memories. We learn that Eman's father was a 'carrier' and that Eman has fled the family tradition of symbolic sacrifice. We also learn of Omae, the young Eman's betrothed, whom he left for many years to pursue his personal destiny and who died soon after his return.Now Eman accepts his past and discovers, 'I am very much my father's son'-one of 'the strong breed' who must take these responsibilities upon themselves-and at the end of the play is caught in a trap at the sacred trees and killed." (12 men, 5 women.)"
72 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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About the author
Wole Soyinka
221 books1,210 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 - 14 of 14 reviews
November 25, 2016
(This review focuses primarily on 'Trials of Brother Jero')....
Wole Soyinka - the very first African to win the Nobel Award for Literature; one of the greatest playwrights the world has ever seen, a fecund, tantalising writer. This early play of his already showcases the profound talent and ingenuity of Soyinka...a piece of drama that teems with wry humour, self-deprecation (of the protagonist, "Brother Jero") and multifarious absurdity rooted in his native country (Nigeria). What type of man (alleged "man of God") is our brother Jero? Some readers might bluntly call him names like "unscrupulous", "opportunistic", "canny", even "dishonest" - but he is simply a creature of his own society. Trying to survive as a man of God whilst in this world. Negotiating the daily minefield of strictures, frustrations and challenges. He does all he can to hold his "flock", such as it is, together. Chume, a farcical character is one of those frequenting the "brother/prophet", and there are comical ripples also involving his wife - and other women. Indeed Jero himself confesses early on that he faces many trials from women, including lascivious temptations. Brother Jero is presented as a tarnished man, cunning and resourceful...his own words rather condemn him intermittently and he does not take himself too serious. Hence we see him exactly the way he is - "a man of God" trying to survive in a world fraught with sundry challenges. His creator (Soyinka) unleashes and unravels a gamut of wry situations and comments, and one can imagine the young Soyinka chuckling aloud! (Like he must have done when creating another early superb play, The lion and the jewel). Apart from the touch of comic around Jero, there is also the patina of rascality...but Soyinka's vision is of course much wider, and one gets the impression of the gullibility and haplessness of society (the people) at large. At the end of the play, Brother Jero gets his way and even somewhat moves up notches, spiritually! (There is another hilarious sequel to this play, titled Jero's Metamorphosis)
Wole Soyinka - the very first African to win the Nobel Award for Literature; one of the greatest playwrights the world has ever seen, a fecund, tantalising writer. This early play of his already showcases the profound talent and ingenuity of Soyinka...a piece of drama that teems with wry humour, self-deprecation (of the protagonist, "Brother Jero") and multifarious absurdity rooted in his native country (Nigeria). What type of man (alleged "man of God") is our brother Jero? Some readers might bluntly call him names like "unscrupulous", "opportunistic", "canny", even "dishonest" - but he is simply a creature of his own society. Trying to survive as a man of God whilst in this world. Negotiating the daily minefield of strictures, frustrations and challenges. He does all he can to hold his "flock", such as it is, together. Chume, a farcical character is one of those frequenting the "brother/prophet", and there are comical ripples also involving his wife - and other women. Indeed Jero himself confesses early on that he faces many trials from women, including lascivious temptations. Brother Jero is presented as a tarnished man, cunning and resourceful...his own words rather condemn him intermittently and he does not take himself too serious. Hence we see him exactly the way he is - "a man of God" trying to survive in a world fraught with sundry challenges. His creator (Soyinka) unleashes and unravels a gamut of wry situations and comments, and one can imagine the young Soyinka chuckling aloud! (Like he must have done when creating another early superb play, The lion and the jewel). Apart from the touch of comic around Jero, there is also the patina of rascality...but Soyinka's vision is of course much wider, and one gets the impression of the gullibility and haplessness of society (the people) at large. At the end of the play, Brother Jero gets his way and even somewhat moves up notches, spiritually! (There is another hilarious sequel to this play, titled Jero's Metamorphosis)
June 22, 2014
Excellent fun read
August 30, 2025
#Binge Reviewing my previous Reads #Wole Soyinka
Wole Soyinka’s The Trials of Brother Jero & The Strong Breed presents an extraordinary display of his dramatic genius, blending social critique, moral inquiry, and theatrical inventiveness into a compelling whole.
Reading these two plays together is like experiencing two facets of Soyinka’s literary universe: one steeped in biting satire and ritualised comedy, the other drenched in the gravitas of communal responsibility and personal sacrifice. Despite their differences in tone, both plays exemplify Soyinka’s fascination with the collision of individual conscience and societal expectation.
The Trials of Brother Jero is a masterclass in satire and irony. Set in a coastal Nigerian town, the play follows Brother Jero, a self-proclaimed prophet whose charisma is matched only by his opportunism.
Soyinka paints him with sharp, playful strokes, simultaneously ridiculous and terrifying in his moral duplicity. The dialogue snaps with wit, and the stage directions are imbued with a rhythm that almost makes the characters perform a dance of deceit and revelation.
Through Brother Jero, Soyinka interrogates the perils of blind faith and the seductive power of religious authority. What’s remarkable is how the play never feels heavy-handed; the humour and theatricality make the critique sting all the more, because audiences laugh even as they recognise the uncomfortable truths about human gullibility and the thirst for self-aggrandisement. The other characters—especially Chume, the earnest fisherman, and the credulous townspeople—serve as mirrors to societal complicity, highlighting Soyinka’s ability to render complex social commentary through seemingly simple comic scenarios.
In contrast, The Strong Breed is an intense meditation on duty, tradition, and sacrifice. The play centres on Eman, a man chosen by his community to bear the burden of banishment for the sake of communal purification. Unlike the sly, self-serving Brother Jero, Eman embodies a moral seriousness and a stoic willingness to confront destiny.
Soyinka’s language here carries a weight and poetry that resonates deeply; the rhythms of Yoruba ritual, the imagery of the African landscape, and the thematic insistence on cycles of renewal and communal survival imbue the play with a mythic grandeur. The story’s tension is gripping, not because of elaborate plot twists but because of the inevitability of Eman’s confrontation with his role—a role that forces reflection on what it means to be morally courageous and socially responsible. The play’s exploration of the tension between personal desire and societal expectation is timeless, yet firmly rooted in the textures of African culture and tradition, showing Soyinka’s unique talent for making the local universal.
Together, these two plays illustrate Soyinka’s versatility and his command over contrasting theatrical modes. Where Brother Jero dazzles with humour and social satire, The Strong Breed impresses with solemnity, mythic resonance, and philosophical depth. Both works, however, share a concern with human folly, responsibility, and the intricate interplay between individual agency and collective expectation.
Soyinka’s treatment of these themes is neither didactic nor simplistic; he allows the audience to grapple with moral ambiguity, often leaving us to judge the characters’ actions while remaining deeply engaged with their struggles.
Stylistically, Soyinka’s brilliance lies in his ability to fuse indigenous performance traditions with modern drama, creating works that are as visually and sonically compelling as they are intellectually challenging. The dialogue pulses with rhythm, the imagery is vivid, and the moral questions linger long after the curtain falls. Reading these plays in 2015, one is struck not only by Soyinka’s sharp understanding of human nature but also by the enduring relevance of his themes—religious manipulation, ethical courage, and the price of societal expectation remain strikingly contemporary.
In sum, The Trials of Brother Jero & The Strong Breed together offer a microcosm of Soyinka’s theatrical genius: a seamless blend of wit, satire, myth, and moral inquiry. They challenge, entertain, and provoke reflection, demonstrating why Soyinka remains a towering figure in world literature.
These plays are not merely performances; they are philosophical explorations brought to life on stage, revealing the eternal tension between the individual and society, between human desire and communal duty.
They are, ultimately, a testament to Soyinka’s enduring vision of drama as both mirror and moral compass.
Wole Soyinka’s The Trials of Brother Jero & The Strong Breed presents an extraordinary display of his dramatic genius, blending social critique, moral inquiry, and theatrical inventiveness into a compelling whole.
Reading these two plays together is like experiencing two facets of Soyinka’s literary universe: one steeped in biting satire and ritualised comedy, the other drenched in the gravitas of communal responsibility and personal sacrifice. Despite their differences in tone, both plays exemplify Soyinka’s fascination with the collision of individual conscience and societal expectation.
The Trials of Brother Jero is a masterclass in satire and irony. Set in a coastal Nigerian town, the play follows Brother Jero, a self-proclaimed prophet whose charisma is matched only by his opportunism.
Soyinka paints him with sharp, playful strokes, simultaneously ridiculous and terrifying in his moral duplicity. The dialogue snaps with wit, and the stage directions are imbued with a rhythm that almost makes the characters perform a dance of deceit and revelation.
Through Brother Jero, Soyinka interrogates the perils of blind faith and the seductive power of religious authority. What’s remarkable is how the play never feels heavy-handed; the humour and theatricality make the critique sting all the more, because audiences laugh even as they recognise the uncomfortable truths about human gullibility and the thirst for self-aggrandisement. The other characters—especially Chume, the earnest fisherman, and the credulous townspeople—serve as mirrors to societal complicity, highlighting Soyinka’s ability to render complex social commentary through seemingly simple comic scenarios.
In contrast, The Strong Breed is an intense meditation on duty, tradition, and sacrifice. The play centres on Eman, a man chosen by his community to bear the burden of banishment for the sake of communal purification. Unlike the sly, self-serving Brother Jero, Eman embodies a moral seriousness and a stoic willingness to confront destiny.
Soyinka’s language here carries a weight and poetry that resonates deeply; the rhythms of Yoruba ritual, the imagery of the African landscape, and the thematic insistence on cycles of renewal and communal survival imbue the play with a mythic grandeur. The story’s tension is gripping, not because of elaborate plot twists but because of the inevitability of Eman’s confrontation with his role—a role that forces reflection on what it means to be morally courageous and socially responsible. The play’s exploration of the tension between personal desire and societal expectation is timeless, yet firmly rooted in the textures of African culture and tradition, showing Soyinka’s unique talent for making the local universal.
Together, these two plays illustrate Soyinka’s versatility and his command over contrasting theatrical modes. Where Brother Jero dazzles with humour and social satire, The Strong Breed impresses with solemnity, mythic resonance, and philosophical depth. Both works, however, share a concern with human folly, responsibility, and the intricate interplay between individual agency and collective expectation.
Soyinka’s treatment of these themes is neither didactic nor simplistic; he allows the audience to grapple with moral ambiguity, often leaving us to judge the characters’ actions while remaining deeply engaged with their struggles.
Stylistically, Soyinka’s brilliance lies in his ability to fuse indigenous performance traditions with modern drama, creating works that are as visually and sonically compelling as they are intellectually challenging. The dialogue pulses with rhythm, the imagery is vivid, and the moral questions linger long after the curtain falls. Reading these plays in 2015, one is struck not only by Soyinka’s sharp understanding of human nature but also by the enduring relevance of his themes—religious manipulation, ethical courage, and the price of societal expectation remain strikingly contemporary.
In sum, The Trials of Brother Jero & The Strong Breed together offer a microcosm of Soyinka’s theatrical genius: a seamless blend of wit, satire, myth, and moral inquiry. They challenge, entertain, and provoke reflection, demonstrating why Soyinka remains a towering figure in world literature.
These plays are not merely performances; they are philosophical explorations brought to life on stage, revealing the eternal tension between the individual and society, between human desire and communal duty.
They are, ultimately, a testament to Soyinka’s enduring vision of drama as both mirror and moral compass.
August 7, 2011
The dialogue and characterization was strong in these two plays, but they aren't on my list of favorites. (So I think I'd really rate them a 3.5) I didn't particularly care for "The Trials of Brother Jero" because the pompous Brother Jero never got the same horrible treatment that he dealt out. "The Strong Breed" was much more emotional and had some beautiful moments, but I didn't quite understand the ending. I've read these plays for a class, so perhaps I'll come to understand more about them and enjoy them more after discussing them. All in all, they were an ok read.
April 17, 2012
A strong depiction of the social and political conditions in Nigeria. And many of the situations in The Trials of Brother Jero are still present in Lagos. A visit to the Bar Beach or Kuramo will expose some of the religious manipulation.
March 2, 2009
*só The Strong Breed
Li correndo e sem entender nada. Achei bonito... mas só. Quando a professora explicou, achei a peça genial. O que faz eu me sentir um pouco burra, mas fazer o quê.
Li correndo e sem entender nada. Achei bonito... mas só. Quando a professora explicou, achei a peça genial. O que faz eu me sentir um pouco burra, mas fazer o quê.
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January 6, 2013A classic play that shows the socio-political aspect of the country, Nigeria.
October 17, 2012
Great Read
Read
January 2, 2020its a very interesting novel which relate issues that prevail in Nigeria as it is right now. for example, just like the struggle for political power, corruption among politician an so on. wole soyinka used brother Jero and others of his kind to represent politicians themselves; which explain how the mantle for power is given or shared corruptibly.
March 26, 2020
A weirdly, fun read
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June 16, 2022It have been in my course outline
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 1, 2020
A good book is re-written. This is one! You'll like the humour in the sequel... Jero's Metamorphosis. An exposit on some of the challenges faced in societies.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews