Visionary mythopoesis in fictional and nonfictional prose It was exhilarating, and it did mean for him the long-dreamt-of homecoming –
what more could a theatre-obsessed mind desire? The ingredients were all
present–acreativereunion, experimentation and innovation. The creative en-
ergy around him appeared inexhaustible; not even the already evident profligacy
of the politicians could depletethat– it was mercifully beyond their reach. The
complexity and physical demands ofA Danceextracted from the participants
resources that most admitted they had never suspected in themselves, being
long accustomed to a standard fare of J.B. Priestly, Galsworthy or Sheridan, the
occasional Bernard Shaw, the operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan, and the genteel
volunteerism of amateur productions...
Patrick Ozieh, a petroleum engineer; Olga Adeniyi-Jones, of a long-
indigenised ‘expatriate’ line, and an accomplished contralto; Ralph Opara,
Yemi Lijadu, Segun Olusola, all broadcasters; Funmi Asekun, of ample pro-
portions, who soon abandoned stage appearances but continued to effectively
‘mother’ the company; Francesca Pereira, of an old Brazilian stock, a melliflu-
ous soprano...GiausAnoka, a schoolteacher, as was Dapo Adelugba... Then
the fledglings, Tunji Oyelana, Femi Fatoba, Sola Rhodes, Yewande Akinbo,
Segun Sofowote, Femi Euba, Wale Ogunyemi, Jimi Solanke and others who
would form the core of the new Orisun Theatre, less the ones that got away, the
parents barring the gates against their wards...
No matter, Orisun Theatre continued to draw nourishment from the teats of
the Nineteen-Sixty Masks, whose individual and collective pedigrees and back-
grounds were every bit as prominent as the claims of the ‘colonial aristocrats’,
as variegated as those of the nation itself, the company’s internal fusion and
generous bond of fellowship seemed to reflect the nation’s ambitions to weld to-
gether such apparent incompatibles. Alas, in that regard, there was no question
about which had the greater success. (Ibadan,–)
Given the crucial fact that “homecoming,” or more precisely, the im-
possibility of a fulfilling, creative and transformative “homecoming,”
structures the entire narrative ofIbadan, this passage which almost rap-
turously celebrates “bond of fellowship” within the membership of the
Nineteen-Sixty Masks and Orisun Theatre stands in stark contrast to
the innumerable passages which recount the actions and experiences
of the groups or formations in which Maren sought a sort of political-
spiritual homecoming. Moreover, while Soyinka in the quote gives vivid,
individualizing touches to his reminiscence of members of both theatre
groups, almost without exception, the members of the bands and circles
of Maren’s followers and supporters are not named, or they are shadowy
in relation to the very visible prometheanism of Maren. This pattern of
course has its own poignancy: the struggle of Maren to achieve moral
and spiritual autonomy from the death-of-the-spirit encroachments of
family and kin is nothing if not exemplary, especially in a neocolonial