Exploring Africa:

The Lion and the Jewel

This semester the Performing Arts Department at Washington University will close their 2007/2008 season with a production of The Lion and the Jewel by Nigerian playwright and Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka.

Soyinka wrote several light-hearted plays that examine political ideas about colonization, culture, and gender roles and often makes fun of Westernized school teachers. In The Lion and the Jewel, Lukunle, the teacher, tries to woo Sidi, the Jewel, by belittling her and trying to convince her to adhere to modern ways. Meanwhile, Baroka, the tribe’s chief, decides that Sidi would make an excellent addition to his already large collection of wives. In a carnival of dance and song, Sidi must find her destiny somewhere between the old and the new, between the modern and the traditional in this comedy of the human condition.

The Lion and the Jewel will be directed by Ron Himes, the founder and producing director of The Black Repertory. Himes, an alumnus of the University, is currently the Henry E. Hampton, Jr. Artist-in-Residence in the Performing Arts Department. He is also directing another of Soyinka’s works, Death and the Kings Horseman, which opens at the Black Rep mid-March. 

Performances of The Lion and the Jewel will be held in the Edison Theater April 18, 19, 25 & 26 @ 8 p.m., and April 20 & 27 @ 2 p.m. Admission is $15 for adults and $9 for students and senior citizens. To order tickets call the Edison Theater box office at (314) 935-6543. Mention this article and receive one ticket half price with the purchase of one full price ticket.     

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