The paper examines the concept of demythologisation as it is expressed in Kunle Afolayan's film, The figurine (subtitled Araromire). The paper argues that, though some influences of supernatural forces appear potent in the early parts of the film (Araromire Village around 1908), natural coincidence and human action (human orchestration) are more convincingly projected in the latter part of the film (which is set in Lagos around 2001). Examining how Femi Osofisan's drama demystifies and demythologises sacred matters, the paper argues that Afolayan adopts the same technique of demythologisation in his film, The figurine (Araromire) the same way Osofisan does in most of his plays. However, deriving its premises from certain revelations in the film, the study concludes that Kunle Afolayan's attempt at demythologisation is a partial success, as certain occurrences in the film are difficult to completely detach from supernatural influence despite their denotation as coincidences.
The audience is an essential component of theatre performance. While actors perform on stage, the audience often contribute to the actions and activities of the performance by clapping, singing, and dancing (rhythmically shaking the body) or wooing the performers, as the case may be, or in other ways. Beyond these levels of participation, the audience can be fully incorporated into theatre performances. They can be made to perform, almost like the actors and actresses, in the play. Therefore, using Femi Osofisan’s Once Upon Four Robbers, the study investigates how the audience can be incorporated into and be made active in theatre performance. Apart from using the script of the play, the study engages the performance of the play, which was directed by Toyin Ogundeji and staged at the Pit Theatre of Obafemi Awolowo University in 2007. The essay argues that the incorporation of the audience into the play and their participation in the actions of the theatre piece enabled them to critically decide how the play should end; whether the robbers should be openly vindicated or publicly executed, after they (the audience) had seen the socio-political and economic jeopardy of Nigeria which actually led the robbers to the acts of crime and robbery. The essay concludes that the incorporation of the audience into the play helped to facilitate a convivial interaction between spectators and actors.
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