FROM INTUITION TO ECLECTICISM: TRACING INDIGENOUS DIRECTING IN SOUTH-WESTERN NIGERIAN THEATRE, 17TH CENTURY TO PRESENT
Indigenous directing practice in South-western Nigerian Theatre has undergone a significant transformation from the 17th century to the present. This study traces the movement from intuition-led traditional festival theatre to a self-conscious eclectic paradigm known here as “direclecticism” The paper argues that contemporary directing in SWNT is neither a wholesale import of Western methods nor a static continuation of pre-colonial practice. Instead, it is a deliberate synthesis of indigenous performance logics with Western directorial theories and techniques. Using qualitative methods of participant-observation, interviews, and textual analysis, the research maps three distinct phases of development: the traditional phase rooted in communal intuition and ritual leadership; the folk opera and travelling theatre phase which introduced choreography and directorial control; and the modern literary theatre phase marked by the formal adoption and adaptation of Western dramaturgy. The concept of eclecticism provides the central analytical lens. Nazerzadeh-Kermani identifies eclectic theatre as a relatively new genre invented by American directors and later adopted by figures such as Peter Brook and Max Reinhardt. SWNT directors followed a comparable trajectory by integrating traditional components with Western theatrical forms to create a new movement. This synthesis is from the folk opera era and now functions as the dominant directing paradigm in SWNT. The study further situates directing within an African communal ethic which frames the director as a reciprocal guide rather than an authoritarian controller. This is consi notion of reciprocity between director and actor. The paper concludes that directing in SWNT balances opposing antinomies of control and sensitivity, discipline and encouragement, structure and experimentation. It recommends that theatre training in Nigeria foreground eclectic competencies that honor indigenous forms while engaging global theory. By doing so, SWNT can articulate a distinct directorial identity that is historically grounded, theoretically rigorous, and culturally responsive.
Keywords: Eclecticism, Indigenous Directing, SWNT, Direclecticism, Folk Opera, Nigerian Theatre