From Alarinjo to Arugba: continuities in indigenous Nigerian drama

Ethnic societies typically assign some degree of indigenousness or cultural originality to their arts, performances and other artefacts of their culture. This assignment has both historical and emotive values in terms of what the communities ‘call their own’. Definitions that threaten to ‘take away’ this emotive cultural anchor from them are therefore apt to meet with resistance. However, the definition of the term ‘indigenous’ is problematic today in a world that is characterized by a seamless cosmopolitanism and globalism, where neither language nor culture is free from substantial influences beyond the immediate environment. This paper asks whether the classification ‘indigenous Nigerian drama’ is valid in the Nigeria of today. The paper examines the parameters of indigenousness and applies them to the key stages in the development of Nigerian drama.