Developing an Original Framework for Understanding the Relationship Between Theatre and National Identity Formation in Nigeria

Theatre has historically played a significant role in nation-building and national identity formation projects, and developing an original framework for understanding how Nigerian theatre has participated in, contested, and complicated national identity formation from independence to the present provides an important contribution to cultural nationalism studies. This study developed an original Framework for Theatre and National Identity Formation in Nigeria from 1960 to the present. A historical-theoretical methodology employing documentary analysis, critical canon review, and contemporary practitioner research was used. Documentary analysis covered governmental arts policy, national theatre establishment, festival programming, and censorship records across six political periods. Canon analysis examined how national anthems, national festival performance programmes, and institutionally supported drama represented national identity ideals. Contemporary research comprised interviews with 40 theatre practitioners and cultural historians representing diverse regional and generational perspectives. Analysis generated four analytical periods: independence theatre nationalism (1960 to 1975), military-era contested nationalism (1975 to 1999), democratic fragmentation (1999 to 2015), and contemporary plural nationalism (2015 to present). Each period showed distinct configurations of theatre-state-national identity relations. The original Nigeria Theatre-National Identity Framework proposes four identity formation functions: celebration, contestation, plurality-articulation, and international projection. Each function is theorised across all four periods. Expert review by 22 cultural studies and theatre historians confirmed the framework's original theoretical contribution. Recommendations include adoption in Nigerian history courses, integration into cultural policy evaluation, and international publication in performance studies and postcolonial studies journals.

Keywords: theatre and national identity, Nigeria, cultural nationalism, original framework, performance history