African Theatre 5: Soyinka. Blackout, Blowout and Beyond

This special issue, guest edited by Judith Greenwood and Chuck Mike, is devoted to early revue sketches by Wole Soyinka that had never been published outside Nigeria before. Soyinka's most recent plays - The Beatification of Area Boy and King Baabu, draw strongly on characters and incidents first created in Soyinka's revues and satirical songs, such as Before the Blackout and Unlimited Liability Company. Before the Blackout staged in the late 1960s, was published in Nigeria by Orisun Acting Editions, but is now a rarity. Unlimited Liability Company exists as a long-playing record - again rare. Other material, including the Unife Theatre Guerilla Unit's Before the Blowout exist only in manuscript. Very few younger students of Soyinka's work are aware of this material or have access to it. This volume brings these brilliant satirical works of Soyinka's back into life, and offers contextualising commentaries from Martin Banham, Femi Osofisan and colleagues of Soyinka's associated with this early, but fundamentally formative, work. Guest edited by MARTIN BANHAM with JUDITH GREEENWOOD & CHUCK MIKE North America: Africa World Press