Book Review: Osagie, Iyunolu, ed. Theater in Sierra Leone: Five Popular Plays

Abstract

Iyunolu Osagie’s collection features five Sierra Leonean dramatists, including the renowned Raymond Caleb Ayodele-Charley, John Kolosa Kargbo and Tonie French. The plays address a number of issues from colonial arrogance, corruption and exploitation; betrayal; patriotism and resistance; to oppression; tradition versus change and the condition of the African woman.The dramatists for the collection are of the same generation, with a few years separating them; consequently, some common themes run through their works. The significance of the collection lies in its capacity to expand our knowledge of theatre in Sierra Leone in particular and West Africa in general.