The Oral Epic as Dramatic Performance: Structure, Performance Conventions, and Audience Interaction in Hausa Oral Tradition

This study analyses the oral epic as a form of dramatic performance within Hausa oral tradition in North West Nigeria, examining its narrative structure, performance conventions, and mechanisms of audience interaction. The Hausa oral epic, performed by specialist bards known as maroka, constitutes one of Nigeria's richest indigenous performance traditions and has been studied primarily by folklorists and linguists. This research repositions the oral epic within a performance studies framework, treating it as a sophisticated theatrical event that deploys dramatic strategies including character embodiment, tonal modulation, call-and-response audience engagement, and improvisational adaptation to context. Fieldwork was conducted in Kano and Sokoto states, with observation and recording of live oral epic performances, supplemented by interviews with master performers and their audiences. The study finds that Hausa oral epic performance deploys a distinctive dramaturgical structure in which narrative time, performed time, and audience interaction time are dynamically interwoven, producing a live performance event of considerable complexity. The research fills a disciplinary gap by situating the Hausa oral epic within African performance theory. The study concludes that oral epic performance deserves greater recognition as a sophisticated theatrical form. Keywords: oral epic, Hausa performance, dramatic structure, audience interaction, North West Nigeria.