AFRICAN DRAMA: Once Upon an Elephant- Bosede Ademilua-Afolayan

 

Topic: Playwright’s Background

Bosede Ademilua Afolayan was born on the 25th of July, 1965 at Ikole Ekiti, but she is a native of Ilogbo-Ekiti in Ido Osi Local Government Area of Ekiti State, Nigeria. She attended St Mary’s Girls’ Grammar School, Ikole Ekiti for her secondary education. She proceeded to the Federal School of Arts and Science, Ondo for her A Level and had her first degree in English at the University of Ife (Obafemi Awolowo University) in 1988. She had her Masters and PhD degrees in English (Comparative Drama) at the University of Lagos, and is at present an Associate Professor in the Department of English, University of Lagos, Nigeria. She is also a Commonwealth Fellow. Her research interests include comparative drama, women’s studies, diaspora issues, oral traditions in African drama, political drama and Nollywood studies. Dr Afolayan’s articles have appeared in reputable international and local journals. She is a reviewer for some international and local journals such as NOLA, LARES, Ihafa and the University of Lagos Journal of Humanities. She edited a collection of essays entitled Nigerian Female Dramatists: Expression, Resistance, Agency (Routledge, 2021), and a collection of poems entitled “Conversation” in 2022. She teaches dramatic literature courses, Theatre Workshop and Creative writing in the Department of English, University of Lagos. She is the author of two plays: Look Back in Gratitude and Once Upon an Elephant which was on the longlist of the prestigious NLNG Drama prize in 2018 and is currently a recommended drama text for JUPEB Literature since 2021.

Topic: Plot Synopsis

The play begins with the characters of Serubawon, Odejimi, and Ogundele performing a ritual for Olaniyonu AKA Ajanaku (Elephant). Just after the rites are concluded and Ajanaku, with the instruction not to see his father face-to-face until the last rite is concluded, leaves in the direction that Serubawon points, an argument breaks out between the trio as regards to what the last rite would be.

In Two, Odekunle meets with Desola the daughter of Serubawon under a tree in the bush. The duo of Odekunle and Desola are lovers. They express their love to each other; they speak about the knocking of door’ which Odekunle’s people are expected to do ‘after the next harvest...’ and Desola tells Odekunle about her dream. In Three, Olaniyonu AKA Ajanaku is crowned king. In his royal speech he makes an utterance that rattles Odejimi and Odegbami. Ajanaku in his speech calls his predecessors weaklings and creates an air of war. In Four, Iyaale, the wife of Odejimi, discourages him from worrying about the state of their community and that when the time is right everyone who is affected by the state of things then will seek for a solution. She uses a number of proverbs to drive her point. They include the following: “Until a dog begins to have stomach troubles and then vomit, it will never listen to any advice to desist from eating food from the ground”, “Nobody tells the blind that fire is burning. If he cannot see it, at least he can feel the heat, and smell the smoke coming from it”, “When fire burns the dog, it will also burn the hunter holding the rope as the dog burns.”

In Five, the new king, Ajanaku, and the elders in council hear a land dispute matter in which the king asks Woman I, Woman II and Man to allow the royal house manage the land until a decision is taken. In Six, Ajanaku has a face-off with Iya Agba who is eventually bundled out of the palace on the instructions of Serubawon and Ajanaku. She causes Ajanaku of murder and metaphorically refers to him as a bastard. She says “he is nothing but a huge dirt on a white cloth; a black pigeon in a poultry of well-bred fowls...he was sired by a goat” and that “he has no place in a horse’s stable.” In seven, Man I & Man II from a neighbouring village seek for Ajanaku’s military assistance against bullies and invaders but Ajanaku offers to help conditionally. Man I is aggravated when Ajanaku asks that he’s kept in the scorching sun naked. The man defends himself by drawing a dagger and taking his own life rather than face the humiliation. In Eight, Ajanaku rapes Desola, Odekunle’s fiancée. In Nine, the trio of Lere, Dele & & Yele discuss the rape incidence with a view to solving the problem. The friends of Odekunle dialogue with a number of proverbs (See pp.60-61). In Ten, the scene opens with Desola crying. She refuses to tell her friend Yosola or her mum Demoke why she is crying. Instead she speaks to everyone who cares to listen to her in parables. In Eleven, Serubawon now knows that Ajanaku raped his daughter and matches to the palace to confront the king, Olaniyonu AKA Ajanaku. Ajanaku defends his action as regards raping Desola for the ninety-day ritual. In Twelve, Omoyeni, the king’s wife, goes to Iya Agba’s house. Omoyeni makes a shocking revelation to Iya Agba that her, Omoyeni’s unborn child, is Delani’s her former lover. In Thirteen, the people including Iyale, Demoke come to beg Iya Agba. Demoke pleads with Iya Agba to heal her daughter, Desola, who is also Iya Agba’s god daughter. Serubawon enters the scene to beg Iya Agba for forgiveness. He acknowledges implicating Iya Agba whose original name is Fadeke Adunni after she, Fadeke, caught Serubawon copulating with Adebisi, one of the dead king’s wife. As part of the scheme, Olaniyonu AKA Ajanaku is made to have carnal knowledge of Fadeke against her wish and she is subsequently framed for committing adultery. Serubawon also confesses to being the father of the king, Olaniyonu. Furthermore, Omoyeni, Ajanaku’s wife, comes into the scene with Delani and admits openly her pregnancy belongs to Delani and not to the king, Ajanaku. Everyone puts head together to see how to find solution to all the problems that has befallen the community.