Journal of Development Communication And Applied Theatre

This paper examines the functional intersections of narrativity and creativity as aesthetics of communicationwithin the paradigm of Theatre in Nigeria. Using Iyorwuese Hagher’s Swem Karagbe (1979) and Femi Osofisan’s Morountodun (1982) as primary texts, the paper interrogates how these playwrights repurpose indigenous folkloric materials such as myths and legends through oral storytelling traditionsto communicate contemporary socio-political challenges such as leadership failure, class struggle, and national consciousness. While Swem Karagbe harnesses a parable of the consequential trip to Swem Karagbe, the narrative deeply rooted in Tiv mythology to critique elite greed and corruption, Morountodun reinterprets the Moremi mythic legend through a Marxist perspective to highlight peasant resistance and ideological transformation. The study adopts qualitative research method through content analysis to find that the playwrights’ deployment of typical "storytellers", “role-play” dramatic technique, “characters allegory” and “audience-performer” rapport transcends mere entertainment, and functions instead as a strategy for target conscientisation and social advocacy. These findings presuppose that narrativity and creativity in these plays serve as Theatrical aesthetics, which bridges the gap between traditional oral performance and modern interventionist theatre. The theoretical framework underpinning this paper is Sam Ukala’s Folkism, which spotlights the bridging of gap between traditional African oral performance and the modern play-text, through an analytical parameter refers to as Laws of Aesthetic Response. The paper therefore concludes that the integration of folkloric aesthetics is vital for facilitating a theatre that is both culturally grounded and instrumentally relevant to Nigeria’s developmental aspirations.

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