Developing an Original Theoretical Framework for Postcolonial Performance Aesthetics in Nigerian Theatre

Nigerian theatre operates at the intersection of inherited colonial theatrical conventions and indigenous performance epistemologies, and developing an original theoretical framework that systematically accounts for this postcolonial performance condition fills a critical gap in both African theatre theory and global performance studies. This study developed an original Postcolonial Performance Aesthetics Framework for Nigerian Theatre, drawing on theoretical analysis, textual scholarship, and practitioner consultation across all six geopolitical zones. A constructive theoretical methodology was employed, combining systematic review of 86 postcolonial performance theory publications from 2018 to 2024, qualitative research with 45 playwrights, directors, and theorists from diverse regional and institutional backgrounds, and critical analysis of 30 contemporary Nigerian productions. Systematic review confirmed that existing postcolonial performance frameworks either uncritically applied Western postcolonial theory (notably Homi Bhabha and Stuart Hall) without engaging indigenous aesthetics, or privileged southern African theatrical traditions without theorising the specificity of West African performance epistemologies. The original framework proposes six aesthetic dimensions: hybridity in form and language, ritual-theatrical continuity, communal authorship, vernacular epistemics, performance-as-governance, and decolonial futurity. Each dimension is theorised with reference to documented Nigerian production examples and is presented as analytically independent but structurally interdependent. Expert review by 24 performance scholars confirmed the framework's theoretical originality. The study recommends adoption of the framework in postgraduate Nigerian theatre curricula, international publication, and collaborative development with scholars from other West African national traditions.

Keywords: postcolonial performance aesthetics, Nigerian theatre, theoretical framework, original contribution, decolonial theatre