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Article: 'Horseman's' culture clash; Washington Shakespeare plays colonial Brits against Yorubans.(SHOW)(THEATER)
- Article from:
- The Washington Times (Washington, DC)
- Article date:
- February 17, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 The Washington Times LLC. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Jayne Blanchard, THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Elements of classic Greek tragedy intermingle with Yoruban rites and beliefs in "Death and the King's Horseman," a vigorous and dreamlike play about racism and the effects of cultural superiority by Nigerian playwright and author Wole Soyinka, winner of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature.
Mr. Soyinka spent much of the late 1960s in solitary confinement as a political prisoner, which explains the bleak political tone of the play, written in 1975. After his imprisonment, he spent years living and writing in exile.
"Death and the King's Horseman" is based on real-life events that occurred in the city ...