Theatre Is a Mirror, a Sharp Reflection of Society Essay

The word theatre originates from the Greek language which means the witnessing place. It is one of the most remarkable arts of life due to its unifying factor that brings people from different backgrounds together and allowing them to work harmoniously towards portraying certain ideas and concepts of life. Ideally, people go to the theatre to see the realities of life and the social situations. It is also a source of inspiration and entertainment which unifies people from different backgrounds and cultures all over the world. The emotions created by the theatre often stimulate and leave traces of sentiments on the audience. The mind, therefore, plays a critical role in the theatre because the real art lies in the imaginations of the audience. The mind often creates various kinds of strong emotions that are intangible and is the reason why theatre is a noteworthy aspect of life. Theatrical art can be presented in many ways in the form of inspiration, education and information that shows the audience the real world in such a way that they do not imagine it.

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Yasmina Reza is one of the most influential novelist, playwright, dramatist and actress well known for satiric art. In her lifetime, Reza has always had a strong feeling that the society can only be influenced by the theatre if the audience is able to witness truths and realities of their own social class. Reza's experience on stage has influenced most of her artistic works. She asserts that what the members of the society often see in the real world is just a fantasy but the theatre shows well-rounded reflections which allow the audience to evaluate themselves and make necessary adjustments. The quote, "Theatre is a mirror, a sharp reflection of society", is evidently skewered in most of her plays. She even explains during an interview that her mind creations are never inspired by general social issues but with incidences that illuminate bigger things. Focusing on Reza's quote, it is true that theatre makes a lot of real-life concepts that people are able to relate to in many ways.

Soyinka's play, "The Trials of Brother Jero" is a theatrical art that captures global issues in a West African setting. The author's satirical technique critiques the vices and follies of the Nigerian society through a religious perspective (Gale). Soyinka ridicules social ills with an aim of correcting the society. It is through comedy, irony, and symbolism that the true corrupt nature of religious leaders is exposed. In the text, Jero pretends to be a genuine prophet but in the real sense, he is incarnate of the devil. Though Soyinka presents this character in a comical and humorous way the audience is able to see the hypocrisy of religious and political leaders in the contemporary world. Such vices are common and readers can create a link to actual people in the society who like Jero are in a profit-making venture by deluding Christian worshippers.

In "The Trials of Brother Jero" Soyinka exposes the rot in many churches by making Jero reveal about it from the very start. Judging from all indications, the characteristics and activities of the spiritual church reveal it as false given its multifaceted nature, locations of operation and varied claims of spiritual powers and abilities. The repetition of the word "many" eight times leads the audience to the author's exaggeration which goes a long way to fortify the proliferation of emerging false churches. Rather than telling the audience bluntly and outright how false churches have invaded Nigeria's social fabrics and the ongoing evil activities he uses the stage to illustrate this. For instance, he comically criticizes some names of churches such as "Heavenly Cowboys" which sound insulting and exaggerated at the same time because it shows the roguery that goes on in churches. Soyinka takes his audience to a new reality that shows characters presented as real human beings. The audience is able to find a lot of commons with the unfolding events. The irony and exaggeration presented by Soyinka in the play show the seriousness of the problem of quack religious leaders and churches and the urgent need to find a solution for it.

The justification of theatre as a mirror and a sharp reflection of the society is demonstrated in Soyinka's play, "The strong breed". In the play, the author illustrates the correlation between the values of ancient traditions and modern lifestyle. Eman who is the main character is a symbol of the past due to his devotion to ancient traditions that do not allow him to accept the modern lifestyle. As such, he can only lead a normal life in the village away from the civilizations. Here the author shows the audience that even in the era of modernization, ancient traditions have not vanished. What is even more surprising is the fact that despite the unjust and cruel nature of some of these traditions they are still present.

Extreme African traditional rituals such as self-mutilation and cannibalism are exposed. The play shows savagery and brutality of ritualistic African societies. The moral disgust of the cruel nature of members of such societies evokes questions in the mind of the audience as to whether extreme traditional practices are beneficial to the society. The capture of Eman saddens most villagers in the strong breed because he is an innocent man (Figueiredo & Branca). However, that feeling of sorrow is superseded by the beliefs of the beneficial effects of human sacrifice to cleanse the community. In such a way, the author intends to show that humans are selfless. The fate of Eman evokes internal protests due to the injustice and cruelty did to him by the sinful and corrupt society.

Soyinka's play intends to show that the society has remained corrupt in both the ancient and modern eras. The author sees the need for societal cleansing to free people from social vices. According to him, this can only be done through good leadership. Through Eman's innocence, the author reveals that only uncorrupt individuals can be trusted with leadership. As such, Soyinka develops Eman as strong and divinely empowered to cleanse evils of the society at all levels. He further states that since the evils of the society are many, it takes an extraordinary person in the status of a superhero to free the society. Also, Eman being a stranger chosen in a foreign land shows that good people do not exist. From the play, the audience is able to note some of the evils that have plagued our current society and that they can only be wiped out through collective responsibility and not through an individual who sacrifices their lives for the cleansing of societal ills.

Conclusion

Indeed, theatre reflects the social-cultural realities that surround human society. The two plays analyzed above relate to the society and shows that artists do not create their artistic composition from a vacuum. They collect materials from their surrounding environment and use them to expose real-life experiences. Yasmina's quote "Theatre is a mirror, a sharp reflection of the society", reveals the place of art in the society. All forms of art, including music, dancing, literature, sculpture, and paintings are not all about entertainment but also exposing the society for what it is while presenting useful ideas that might bring change.

Works Cited

Figueiredo, Rosa Branca. "Success and Failure of Ritual: wole Soyinka's Theatre." (2016).

Gale, Cengage Learning. A Study Guide for Wole Soyinka's" The Trials of Brother Jero". Gale, Cengage Learning, 2016.