Dramatic Technique in Once Upon An Elephant: Bosede Ademilue-Afolayan

 Once Upon an Elephant by Bosede Ademilua-Afolayan critiques autocracy and the self-perpetuating tendencies of African leaders post-colonialism. Using Yoruba oral traditions and folktales, the playwright examines dictatorship, corruption, and moral decay in African governance.

The play metaphorically draws from Adeboye Babalola's Salute to the Elephant and parallels works like Wole Soyinka's Kongi’s Harvest and King Baabu. It highlights the misuse of power through King Ajanaku, who, despite not being the rightful heir, schemes dishonestly to ascend the throne. He engages in rites that exploit virgins in a bid for immortality, leading to his eventual downfall, orchestrated by Iya Agba, a fearless elder who stands for justice.

Through poetry, drama, and African traditional theatrical elements, Ademilua-Afolayan crafts a 14-act, 105-page story blending suspense and irony. The play is a stark reminder of the consequences of unchecked power, underscoring the need for ethical leadership.

Ademilua-Afolayan, an Associate Professor at the University of Lagos, enriches African theatre with her work, following her debut play, Look Back in Gratitude (2013).

Dramatic Techniques in Bosede Ademilua-Afolayan’s Once Upon an Elephant

 Proverbial Use of Language

A proverb is the witty use of language to convey some seeming universal truth. Proverbs are an integral part of the Yoruba language. They are used in between conversations to express some truths or to reinforce some positions made by the speaker. Bosede Ademilua-Afolayan copiously uses proverbs in  Once Upon an Elephant. The proverbs serve two purposes in the text. One, they culminate in a rich use of language. Two, they unanimously assert the countrified Yoruba setting of the play.

Proverbs are instantiated in expressions like:

Three

“. . . if a cock crows on earth, its peers in heaven respond.”

“Many hands are required to rub camwood on the body. It is by coming together that a task is thoroughly done.”

“The baldness that afflicts the vulture is hardly the result of its carrying heavy loads.”

“The hedgehog does not live in the grassland but in the forest. Certain things are proper, and certain things are not.”

“Until a dog begins to have stomach troubles and then vomits, it will never listen to any advice to desist from eating food from the ground.”

Five

“Because a child committed the first act and was not caught, he was happy. He forgot that misfortune does not kill; indulgent happiness kills.”

“The leper said two things, one of which is a lie; he said that after he had struck his child with his palm, he also pinched him severely with his fingernails.”

Nine

“Whoever conceals a disease from his medicine man is beyond help.”

“Wherever the jackal lurks, the chicken must give the place a wide berth.”

“Unless an elephant has swallowed something, it doesn’t turn its bloated stomach to the hunter.”

“Anger does not know that its owner has no leg to stand on.”

“Unrestrained daring makes the acrobatic masquerade to expose his private in public.”

“If a tick fastens onto a dog’s mouth, does one ask a jackal to dislodge it?”

Twelve

“That the calabash faces downward is no antisocial behaviour; the calabash is only acting according to its nature.”

“The handcuffs are fine, but has anyone seen the blacksmith fashion one for his children?”

Fourteen

“Whoever wishes to die a decent death should live a decent life. As one lives, so one dies, and so shall one be buried.”

These are some of the identifiable proverbs in Ademilua-Afolayan’s Once Upon an Elephant. The proverbs add to the linguistic richness of the play. Iyale sums up the use of proverbs in Scene Four of the play with her expression: “life is a bunch of proverbs”.

Folklore

Once Upon an Elephant predicates on a Yoruba folklore where an elephant is egged on by the tortoise to his death in his pursuit of power. The play relates to this folklore in more ways than one. One, the refrain from this folklore is sung severally in the play. Two, it can be argued that Serubawon and Ajanaku are the proverbial tortoise and elephant respectively. Like the tortoise, Serubawon eggs Ajanaku on in his pursuit of power and immortality, till he comes to his imminent end. To cap it all, the title of the play, “once upon an elephant,” alludes first to the elephant in the folklore, and then to the tragic tale of dictators like Ajanaku whose inordinate quest for power undid them.

The folkloric song is primarily raised to back Iya Agba’s derisive dialogue with Ajanaku, to tell him a tragic fate, similar to the elephant that was tricked by tortoise with the allure of power to his death, awaits him. The song, which adds to the musical richness of the play set already by the watered-down translation of Yoruba proverbs, comes across as “erin ka re’le o wa j’oba, erin yeeye; erin yeeye”. The singers in the background pick up the song every time Iya Agba sings it as an allegorical reminder to King Olaniyonu how the great ajanaku (elephant) came crashing down from the adorned royal throne of deception to the concealed pit of death.

Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is a literary technique used to predict an event that will happen in the future. Within the context of Bosede Ademilua-Afolayan’s Once Upon an Elephant, foreshadowing is evident in Iya Agba’s foretelling of Ajanaku’s doom. She is very certain that the power-hungry king will soon meet his downfall. While it can be argued that her position and prediction might have come from a place of her knowledge of Ajanaku’s illegitimacy and the shared experience of what becomes of tyrants, there is no gainsaying that Iya Agba foreshadows the downfall of Ajanaku and it comes to pass.

Chorus

Chorus is a group of actors who comment (by speaking or singing in unison) on the action in a play. The playwright uses chorus as a literary device, especially in the rendition of songs. In the actual staging of the play, the singers in the background take up Iya Agba’s derisive use of “erin ka re’le o wa j’oba” song. Iya Agba initiates the song during her dialogues with Ajanaku purposely to taunt him and remind him of the tragic fate that befell the real ajanaku after whom he took his name.

Symbolism

Symbolism is the use of objects, people, situations, or actions to represent other meanings, ideas, or themes. It manifests in a number of ways in the play. It is important to begin with the use of names in the play. There are three names that readily come to mind: Olaniyonu, Ajanaku and Serubawon. The name “Olaniyonu” means “wealth has flaws”, used to indicate the imperfections of a prosperous home. The underlying issues in King Akinjobi’s polygamous family, most of which are revealed towards the end of the play, typify the semantic import of this name. Despite being a successful polygamist with a good reputation among his people and holding the most coveted position in the land, he is betrayed by his wife (Adebisi) and his trusted subject (Serubawon) who have an affair together. He also fathers a bastard in Prince Olaniyonu. He is tricked by the same set of people into a web of conspiracy that leads to the banishment of his other wife, Omofadeke Adunni (Iya Agba), from the palace. These situations instantiate the semantic import of Olaniyonu, that even prosperous homes have their imperfections and challenges.

What Ajanaku represents in the play is very integral. It is the name Prince Olaniyonu adopts, to give himself a looming larger-than-life portrait. “Ajanaku” is an honorific term Yoruba people use for Eerin, the elephant. Olaniyonu’s adoption of this name is predicated on the trampling effect of the elephant. An elephant tramples “creepers, and thorns, and bushes, and thickets, and a whole forest of trees standing in its way”. The name “Ajanaku” is thus indicative of the tyrannic power of the elephant, which King Ajanaku as the name bearer brings to life in his relations with his subjects in the play.

“Serubawon” as a name visualises someone who imprints fear in people’s minds. The name bearer, putting into perspective the plague he brought to life and throne with his affair with Adebisi, represents calamity-inspired fear on both personal and communal levels. He destroys Iya Agba’s life, installs Olaniyonu as king and sets him on rampage, and brings calamity to his own very doorstep.

Suspense

Suspense is a literary device that creates an uneasy feeling of anticipation in the reader by withholding or releasing information in a way that raises questions and builds excitement. Bosede Ademilua-Afolayan uses suspense in her handling of Ajanaku’s paternity. When Iya Agba first raises the issue of Ajanaku’s illegitimacy, one thing that readily comes to mind is Ogundele’s concern about Ajanaku’s illegitimate claim to the throne: “What about those who came before him? What about his brothers and his seniors? What happens to the process?”. We think of a usurper who is positioned to take unmeritedly what his older brothers should naturally be considered for. But then, in Scene Six, when Iya Agba insinuates that Serubawon is the father of Ajanaku, the readers get a different understanding of what she meant by Ajanaku’s illegitimacy. This hint gets the readers hooked till the end of the play; it gives space for anxiety about Ajanaku’s paternity until Scene Thirteen when Iya Agba finally lets the cat out of the bag.