Femi Osofisan and the Operatic Tradition:

Femi Osofisan is a prominent member of the post-Achebe and post-Soyinka generation of Nigerian writers. A prolific writer (well over 50 published plays) popular playwright, actor and an accomplished theatre director, Femi Osofisan is, perhaps, the most significant playwright to have emerged out of Africa after Wole Soyinka. This book gives an insight into one of the reasons responsible for Osofisan's ascendancy. It examines the judicious use to which Osofisan has put music (vocal and instrumental) in his dramaturgy and the salubrious effect this has on the reader or the audience. It finds that apart from the purely entertainment function, music also performs satirical, ideological and cultural function. This book also traces, comparatively, Western and Yoruba indigenous operatic traditions and shows how well both have served to furnish Osofisan with ready materials for crafting his plays. The tone of the book is undogmatic but authoritative as befits a work in a field where much has not been done. The writer's clear and pleasant style should encourage the reader to purchase the plays analyzed in this work to derive fuller pleasure.