Table of Contents

Summary

A Dance of the Forests is a complex play written for the Nigerian Independence celebrations that explores the cyclic nature of human history and the refusal of the living to learn from the past. Rather than presenting the idealized, glorious ancestors the “Human Community” expected for their “Gathering of the Tribes,” the forest spirits send two “restless dead” who were victims of the living’s ancestors centuries ago. The play serves as a sobering reflection on the repetitive pattern of human crimes, weaknesses, and the burden of guilt that links generations.

Plot

  • Part One: Two “obscenities”—a Dead Man and a pregnant Dead Woman—emerge from the earth, seeking someone to “take their case”. They are shunned by the living, who are busy celebrating their national union. Forest Head, disguised as a human named Obaneji, lures four representative living characters—Demoke (a carver), Rola (a courtesan), Adenebi (a council orator), and Agboreko—deep into the forest.
  • The Flashback: The scene shifts eight centuries back to the Court of Mata Kharibu. Here, it is revealed that the characters’ ancestors committed various atrocities: the Dead Man (a Captain) was sold into slavery and castrated for refusing to fight an unjust war over a queen’s wardrobe, while the Dead Woman (his wife) died while pregnant.
  • Part Two: In the forest, the spirits hold a trial through the “Dance of the Half-Child”. The Half-Child (the Dead Woman’s unborn child) is used as a pawn in a game of “ampe” between spirits like Eshuoro (who seeks vengeance) and Ogun (who protects Demoke). Demoke ultimately attempts to save the child, an act of “expiation” for his own crime of killing his apprentice. The play ends at dawn with the living characters appearing “chastened” but with the cycle of history left ambiguous.

Setting

The play is set in an empty clearing in a Nigerian forest during the “Gathering of the Tribes” (a metaphor for Independence). It also moves back in time to the ancient Court of Mata Kharibu, a setting described as having “splendour” but masking deep-seated cruelty.

Themes

  • The Repetition of Human Folly: The central theme is that humans are doomed to repeat the same crimes of violence, pride, and greed across generations.
  • Judgment vs. Avoidance: The conflict arises from the dead’s desire for judgment and the living’s desperate desire to avoid it by pretending their history is only filled with “illustrious” heroes.
  • The Cost of “Progress”: The play critiques the “spade of progress” and the “Gathering of the Tribes,” suggesting that the foundations of new nations are often built on the “headless bodies” of those sacrificed in the past.
  • Nature and the Supernatural: The forest is a living entity with its own hierarchy of spirits (like Ogun and Eshuoro) who intervene in human affairs, often using humans as “instruments” for their own divine squabbles.

Characters

Major Characters

  • Forest Head (Obaneji): The supreme deity who disguises himself as a human to lead the protagonists into the forest for judgment.
  • Demoke (Court Poet): A master carver who killed his apprentice out of envy and height-phobia; in his past life, he was a poet in Mata Kharibu’s court.
  • Rola (Madame Tortoise): A wealthy courtesan known as “the one who outlasts them all”; her past incarnation as a queen caused a war and the death of the Captain and his wife.
  • Aroni (The Lame One): Forest Head’s agent who orchestrates the summoning of the dead to expose the truth.
  • Ogun: The patron god of carvers and smiths who protects Demoke.
  • Eshuoro: A wayward forest spirit who seeks revenge for the desecration of his sacred tree by Demoke.

Minor Characters

  • Adenebi (Court Historian): A corrupt council official who accepted a bribe to increase a lorry’s capacity, leading to a fatal accident.
  • The Dead Man & Dead Woman: The “guests of honour” who return as a bloated warrior and a pregnant woman to testify against the living.
  • Agboreko (Soothsayer): The “Elder of Sealed Lips” who speaks in riddles and proverbs.
  • The Half-Child: The spirit of the Dead Woman’s child who wanders between life and death during the ritual dance.
  • Murete: A tree-demon who is often drunk on millet wine and acts as an unreliable informant.

Literary Devices

  • Proverbs: Extensively used by characters like Agboreko (e.g., “Proverb to bones and silence”) to emphasize traditional wisdom or obfuscate the truth.
  • Ritual and Masquerade: The play utilizes the “Welcome of the Dead” and the “Dance for the Half-Child” to bridge the gap between the physical and spirit worlds.
  • Irony: The primary irony is the “Gathering of the Tribes”, which was meant to be a celebration but becomes a trial of the nation’s past and present crimes.
  • Allegory: Characters like the Triplets represent abstract concepts: the “Ends,” the “Greater Cause,” and “Posterity,” illustrating how political ideologies are used to justify today’s crimes.
  • Symbolism:
    • The Totem: Symbolizes both the creative spirit of the people and the “bestial” nature of their history.
    • Fire: Represents both the creative forge of Ogun and the destructive “Incinerator” lorry that killed sixty-five people.
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Wole Soyinka