Follow Us on Google
By Gospel Okoro
The brilliance of Cheta Igbokwe’s plays is like murals trapped on the heart of his audience, such that if and when they look into the mirror, his plays come alive in their eyes, a reflection of themselves in fragments. From the award-winning Homecoming through Awele to the recently staged Brother-Brother, Igbokwe has literally made words dance on the stage to the music of fate and the question of death. Arguably, while this is a recurrent motif in the sequence of his plays, Brother-Brother only comes to securely tie the knot at the edge, with finely woven elements such as the chorus, a professional cast, and an expert directorship. Thus, this has earned the play a top seat in the echelon of African plays and also validated Igbokwe as a maestro of the theatre.
Directed by Roland Odo and Ugochukwu Ugwu, Brother-Brother premiered in Nigeria on the 6th of March, 2024, and was staged again on the 7th and 8th at the New Arts Theatre, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The play, with a runtime of over ninety minutes, follows the story of two brothers: Ndaa Okenta and his brother-brother, Ojemba, who happens to be a professor of theatre at Iowa, unfortunately plagued by a cancerous growth in his body. These two brothers embark on a mission to defeat death just like their father who had embarked on such quest but failed.
The play opens with three masquerades rhythmically dancing the dance of the spirits, mirroring the cultural ingenuity of Africa(ns) which Igbokwe has overtime integrated in his plays as a means of preserving the cultural heritage of his people. More so, it portends the death of the three men: two brothers, Ndaa Okenta and Ojemba, and their father. As such, death is not just presented on the table as an inevitable visitor of life; it is presented in such a way that it becomes your next-door neighbour, relatable with the average man, you and me. This ignites sparks of universality, a reminder that we all are born, we all would die; the best thing we can do is to try not to evade death like the brothers did. Rather, one should make the most of time while it is at hand.
Furthermore, the concepts of death, fate and destiny, which oftentimes are recurrent motifs in Igbokwe’s plays, resonate with the Grecian tradition where fate is considered the supreme, deciding factor of a man’s life, even before such a person is born. Hence, Brother-Brother casts a clinical gaze on the narrow margins of freedom afforded humanity by powers that are more than man. Through the lives of the two brothers whose father’s fate was foretold by a magician, we see that man is in constant struggle with the Divine, to be or not to be all that the inevitable writes as the script of our lives. And perhaps, this is why the younger brother, Ndaa Okenta, believes that killing the medicine man who made the life-intertwining medicine for him, and whose father had been responsible for his own father’s death, would be the ultimate solution to death. Still, it solves little to nothing about this fated issue, hence confirming fate to have the upper hand. This sequence of event streams off from all Greek tragedies where fate overpowers the tragic hero, no matter how much they fight or try to escape their fate. This infusion of Grecian tradition into modern tragedy has placed Igbokwe and his craft on the canvas of budding playwrights in Africa, and the globe at large.
On the other hand, it also suggests a birthing of change owing to the nursing hands of social commitment Igbokwe adopts as a playwright. Like his previously reviewed plays, Igbokwe’s Brother-Brother flashes light on sensitive issues that stand as a bone in the society’s neck. One of such issues is the construction of a woman’s image, especially in the African traditional society. In the play, we see Ifenkili tied up in her husband’s bedroom to protect her (and by implication, her husband) from dying untimely. She is held hostage and confined to the bedroom, reflecting the notion that, traditionally, the woman’s place is nowhere beyond the bedroom and kitchen, to please her husband. Ifenkili’s tied up hands and legs are only symbolic of the many chains of limitations the society places on the female gender. The workplaces, sports, entertainment, literary world, to mention but a few, are only but platforms to transform women into stooges.
More so, especially as I have argued in one of my award-winning critical papers: “The Politics of the Earth and Women: Towards an Ecofeminist Comparative Analysis of Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus and Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God”, culture—and religion— plays a big role in subjugating women. Ifenkili is tied up and surrounded by candles because of an advice borne out of culture and religion (traditional religion, in this case) intended to shield the life of her husband, Ndaa Okenta, from premature death. However, despite this binary opposition of culture and tradition, Igbokwe counters the ill narrative against women by creating Oriaku (the wife of Ojemba) as an independent female character who has been given a sort of agency. Although she has agency, she is not presented in a positive light, especially as she becomes a vessel to commit corrupt acts like inflation of budgets and syphoning of funds, her husband’s wealth originally meant for charity.
Through Oriaku’s independence leading her to swim in corrupt tendencies, one is exposed to the intricate web of corruption eating neck-deep into the fabric of so-called independent African nations, using Nigeria as a microcosm. Oriaku’s intentional and wilful channelling of funds meant for charity is akin to our leaders channelling funds meant for public use into their private pockets. Hence, Oriaku is symbolic for bad governance, especially as Igbokwe is a socially committed writer who not only seeks to expose societal ills but also make his audience aware of them that they might join the fight to restore sanity to the society. And though literary scholars tend to avoid the topic of social commitment, we can’t argue blindly that it is integral to art.
Therefore, art is not just created for art sake; it is functional and has a useful value. This is reflected in the play through the different characters: Painter (Ejere Preciousgift), Writer (Ben-ekpe Divine Favour), and Singer (Nnandi Victor) who are contracted by the dying Ojemba (acted by Nwajei Kelechi) to paint, write, and sing for his funeral. The infusion of creativity like music, writing and painting reflect on the different genus of art. This reveals the aesthetic functional value of art to the society. To the best of my knowledge as a literary scholar, this corroborates Horace’s view of literary mimesis as a mirror of the society.
Speaking of the society, there is need to mention a very vital aspect Igbokwe introduced in Brother-Brother: the concept of charity. This is borne out of keeping a legacy. Hence, Ojemba, knowing full well he is without an heir, decides to will all his property to charity—the heart of the society which majority of people often turn blind eyes to. This paints a picture of charity as a means of continuing one’s name. Well, this is arguably Eurocentric, but it clearly stands as a good alternative to the African tradition of compelling, and even threatening, women to always give birth to a male child, a heir to the father’s inheritance. When those chips are down, probably due to the generous hands of fate, then the society should not be neglected: give back to them to continue your name. Therefore, charity becomes the best way to continue one’s name—legacy.
While you, as an audience member—and reader—seek to leave a legacy, we can unarguably attest to the legacy Cheta Igbokwe has left through his plays, especially as he keeps raising the bar and blazing the trails. For instance, seeing the live performance of Homecoming, then Awele and now Brother-Brother, you would know Igbokwe outdoes himself, and leaves traces of him in the audience. More so, his use of characters who have mastered the art of wearing the professional nature of their characters on stage is quite impeccable. Nwajei Kelechi’s enactment of the character of Ojemba was nothing short of excellent. His mannerisms, tonality, gesticulations and facial expressions all added beauty to the play. Of course, we cannot forget the comic but intriguing role of brother-brother, Ndaa Okenta acted by Nwachukwu Sopulu. Meanwhile, the confidence Ilogeme Chidinma, who acted Oriaku, exuded on stage was powerful.
The performance of these actors was made more potent by the infusion of certain props and costumes for which the costume manager deserves a hat—and oh, pun intended! The stage lighting gave off a scenic view that reflected on the sensitive issue of death recurrent in the play, though there was a slight technical issue with the lighting on the first night, which was not so on the second and third. More so, the chorus with their sonorous voices helped to advance the course of the play through a reflection on the previous scenes or a foretelling of the next. Also, the directors, both technical and artistic, in the persons of Richard Umezinwa, Roland Odo and Ugochukwu Ugwu, were professional with their roles, especially as they understood the mind of the playwright and were able to birth it on the stage that was ably managed by Blessing Chinenye Odoh.
All hands were on deck to tell the story of Brother-Brother, such that beyond selling tickets and the noise of fame spread across the campus from the play, Brother-Brother is still vividly told in the hearts of the audience.
Brother-Brother can be seen on YouTube.
Gospel Okoro is a writer and researcher at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He was the critical writing editor for the Muse Journal No. 50, an alumnus of the Journalism for Liberty Fellowship, Africa, and a member of the University of Nigeria Scholars Accelerator Community. He is the recent winner of the Leonard Ugwuanyi Prize for Flash Fiction and the Damian Opata Prize for Critical Writing, and the recipient of the INKBLED AFRICA Under-30 Impact Awards. His works have appeared on Alewahouse, UpwriteNG, Providus Bank Poetry Café, OneBlackBoyLikeThat, Fiery Scribe, Liberty Magazine, The Nation’s Newspaper, and elsewhere. He loves God and books.
