An Original Investigation into the Dramaturgy of Yoruba Ritual Drama and Its Implications for Contemporary Performance Theory

Yoruba ritual drama constitutes one of the most sophisticated performance systems in world theatre, combining cosmological narrative, transformative masking, audience possession, and communal co-creation in ways that challenge fundamental assumptions of Western dramaturgical theory. This study conducted an original investigation into the dramaturgy of Yoruba ritual drama and its implications for contemporary performance theory. A multi-method approach combining extensive ethnographic fieldwork, systematic textual analysis, and theoretical synthesis was employed. Ethnographic fieldwork at 12 Yoruba ritual drama events in Osun, Oyo, and Ekiti States over 18 months generated primary data on structural organisation, performer training, spatial codes, and audience participation dynamics. Analysis was conducted against a framework synthesising Soyinka's theory of Yoruba drama, contemporary African performance theory, and Eurocentric dramaturgical models. Four original dramaturgical principles were theorised: the transitional axis (the spatial-temporal zone between human and spiritual worlds as primary dramaturgical space), communal co-authorship (the structural role of audience as co-creator rather than receiver), cyclical temporality (the non-linear repetitive time structure as dramaturgical principle), and the masked body as cosmological text. Each principle was demonstrated through specific documented ritual drama practices. Expert review by 22 performance scholars confirmed the study's original theoretical contribution. The study recommends these principles be introduced as canonical concepts in Nigerian and African theatre courses internationally and that a Yoruba Dramaturgical Theory monograph be submitted for international publication.

Keywords: Yoruba ritual drama, dramaturgy, performance theory, indigenous theatre, original theory