Dramaturgy of Space and Theatricality of Counter-Terrorism: Farewell to Babylon and Farewell to a Virus of Anomie as Paradigms

Abstract

That the Greeks gave us the theatre as “a seeing place” since the 5th Century BC is no longer contested, because it is a space; space, according to the English Dictionary, being “of unlimited or generalised physical extent or a bounded or specific physical extent”. Consequently, several scholars, including Peter Brook, have come up with diverse definitions and perceptions about the space of performance. Theatre is “an act of arts and an art of acts”, since several acts and arts collaborate to ‘terrorise’ the audience into accepting the point of view expressed on stage, the space. Whereas terrorism is a method which can be used by any group or person and for any kind of motive, terrorism equally involves unlawful and typical random acts of violence or the threat of such violence employed by an individual. group, or government to achieve political goal, counterterrorism is all about measures intended to combat or reduce terrorist activities. This paper argues that Nigerian playwrights and dramatists have created drama of counterterrorism to pass warnings to the public about the contestation for the Nigerian space by many groups or individuals. The theory of social change and the literary theory of Eagleton are used in looking at two plays which dwell on the theme of counter-terrorism, from different perspectives. The paper concludes that the dramaturgy of Bode Sowande and ‘Diran Ademiju-Bepo has helped in charting a survival agenda to counter the terrorism of contestation for space.