































Canice C. Nwosu & Njideka Ihekwoba-Ulaka’s Folkism and the Poetics of Performance space.

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UKALA’S FOLKISM AND THE POETICS  
OF PERFORMANCE SPACE 

 
Canice Chukwuma Nwosu 

Department of Theatre and Film Studies 
Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria 

+234(0)8037415046, nwosucoc@gmail.com 

and 

Njideka Ihekwoaba 
Students Affairs Department 

Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education, Owerri 
ihekwoabanjideka@gmail.com  07036488535 

Abstract 

Recently, the word theory generates controversy, skepticism and 
lackluster attitude among scholars any time it is mentioned in 
academic parlance. This trend has contributed to dearth of theories in 
the various disciplines including theatre. However, its centrality to 
disciplinary and professional scholarship makes its total negation 
impossible as this will amount to reduction of disciplines to mere 
occupations. Objectives of the study include assessing the 
acceptability and service of theory to practitioners, the ubiquity, 
viability, suitability, simplicity, fluidity and adaptability of theories 
by practitioners. The study evaluates Ukala’s folkism to ascertain if
it possesses these qualities. Hence, the preoccupation of the 
researchers is to interrogate the capability of Ukala’s folkism to
support performances on any type of theatrical space both the stage 
and electronic media so as to reveal the importance of this theory to 
contemporary theatre practice in Nigeria. Case study and content 
analysis approaches of the qualitative research method were adopted 
by the researchers for data collection and analyses. The study 
concluded that folkism is suitable for both stage and electronic 
performance and is capable of repositioning the declining live theatre 
culture and sustaining the gains made in the electronic media.   

Introduction 

Theatre experience of any kind involves space, either by entering a theatre 
of any kind or watching the performance on the electronic media, a 
spectator walks into a specific space, one that is designed to produce a 
certain reaction or series of responses from the audience, during and after 



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the performance. Hence, how space impact on the production and the 
audience during and after production to motivate expected audience 
experiences generate discourses that may be referred to as poetics of 
space. Thus, the impact of space on the performance and the reception of 
the performance space by the audience become part of the total theatrical 
experience that cannot be ignored. There are several dimensions that affect 
the audience entering into or viewing performance on a particular space 
for the first time; therefore, several questions need to be asked. Lloyd 
Llewellyn-Jones listed the following questions: How, for example, is the 
space entered by the audience? Do they enter through grand wide-open 
doors or do they climb narrow stairs? Moreover, where has the audience 
come from before entering this specific space? In other words, is there a 
space before this space? Once the audience has entered into the theatre 
space it becomes important to note how the space is divided. Where does 
the audience sit (or stand) in relation to the performance area, if such a 
formal space exists? (2) 

Bearing these factors in mind, the importance and relationship of Ukala’s
folkism to theatrical space, medium and stage design concepts as they 
affect audience reception in modern and postmodern productions in 
Nigeria are examined; for it is evident that several contemporary directors 
are yet to utilize Ukala’s folkism for productions on theatrical spaces of 
different media to full advantage in order to maneuver audience reactions 
in particular ways.  

Though the researchers focused on the television medium as an electronic 
performance space, it is hoped that folkism will be applied to other 
performance spaces following the basic ideas expounded here to a fuller 
range of productions than those alluded to in this paper. Presentational and 
performative techniques of folkism conform to contemporary organization 
of postmodern productions that “… undertake a radical rethinking of 
theatrical performance at the end of the twentieth century…” (Gay
McAuley, 1) 

Though postmodernism is still epileptic in Africa and postmodern 
performances are not popular, Ukala’s folkism is among the earliest 
performance theories that bestride modernism and postmodernism. It is 
hoped that utilizing Ukala’s theory across the stage and electronic media
will help usher in postmodern performance culture in Nigeria theatre 
practice. Postmodern Directors are: 



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…reinventing ways and means of exploring the multi-functionality 
of space as the essential medium of theatrical performance. . . . Space 
in Performance is a highly accessible, lucid and engaging piece of 
writing. It is essential reading for its exemplary theoretical and 
methodological approach to the study of theatrical performance as a 
spatial phenomenon. . . . At the same time, in its passionate support 
for the theatrical experience, space offers a great deal to theatre 
practitioners and spectators seeking to enhance their understanding 
and appreciation of the fascinating art of theatre." (Gay McAuley, 1)  

Salient points of Ukala’s Folkism reveal that Performance, as distinct from
other media, is essentially a relationship between performer, spectator, and 
the space in which both come together. Space in Performance examines 
the way arenas, theater buildings, television, radio and film spaces 
function to frame the performance event. Folkism is not particular about 
any medium, but the organization of audience and practitioner spaces 
within the performance space must give the narrator, other performers or 
actors and the audience room to operate. The nature of the stage and the 
modes of representation it facilitates, and the relationship between the real 
space of the theater and the fictional places that are evoked in the story 
may not matter. The performer’s improvisational ability facilitates the
marriage of real theatrical space and allusions to fictional places.  

Live performance takes place in a three-dimensional space. The study of 
the theatre of any period in theatre history will reveal that there has always 
been a constructed evolution of theatre spaces, both formal and informal. 
Almost in all cases, the audience member becomes part of the 
performance, hence, an integral part of the performance space. However, 
the level of involvement of the audience from one era or region to the other 
differs. Folkloric performances provide strong indicators that the 
participation of the performer and the audience are almost at the same 
level whether the performance space is an informal space of village path, 
market square, river bank or a formal space of shrine or village square or 
electronic space of radio, television or video. Therefore, the preoccupation 
of the researchers is to assess the capability of Ukala’s folkism in
influencing and conditioning theatre practice in the diverse theatre spaces 
of both the stage and electronic media. 

 

 



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Folkism and Space in Organization of Stage and Electronic 
Performances 

The theoretical and methodological framework of this paper is both 
semiotic and phenomenological, based in part from the seminal work of 
Anne Ubersfeld, based on direct observation of the rehearsal process, to 
production and analysis of professional performances including the role 
of theory in these activities. The theorist in the rehearsal room has much 
in common with an ethnographer in the field. This is because 
contemporary ethnographic practice requires personal participation and 
observation. Hence the researchers collapsed Ubersfeld theory of 
performance space into Ukala’s Folkism theory to arrive at a strong
theoretical base for the analyses of the case studies. The theatre space is 
product of the interplay between stage space, gestural space and dramatic 
space and, according to Anne Uberseld, “it is constructed, on the basis of
architecture, a (pictorial) view of the world, or a space sculpted essentially 
by the actors' bodies” (85). The focus of this study is therefore the
theatrical space as it impacts, first of all on the performance space, and 
how the duo of performance space and production impact on the audience. 
“Ukala’s folkism enables him communicate with his audience which is a
mixed audience of rural, peri-urban and literate audience. Yet, this erudite 
scholar in his “Folkism” addresses popular concern in an assimilable
manner, deciding the appropriate language in which to do so.” (Nwosu,
102-103) 

The emerging status of Performance studies as a discipline is obvious; 
hence it is still evolving appropriate theoretical methodologies. The multi-
media and multi-faceted approaches adopted by the researchers engage 
theater and performance studies specialists, those concerned with modes 
of representation in contemporary and electronic culture, and students of 
theater, semiotics, architecture, set design, acting and performance theory. 
It also offers a great deal to theater practitioners as well as to spectators 
interested in deepening their appreciation of theater space.  

Drama is drama anywhere no matter the medium of performance, thus it 
is the space that makes the difference, cultural space inclusive. By cultural 
space we mean the society that houses the performance and the 
performance space meaning the medium of performance. It is a truism that 
Ukala’s motivation for the evolution of his folkism theory stems from 
critique of the prevalent theatre performance culture in Nigeria by Critics 
and Playwrights like A Bodunrin, Oyin Ogunba, Biodu Jeyifo and Bode 



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Sowande. (Ukala,1). These artists maintain that, there is no certitude in the 
process of evolving a prototype Nigerian dramaturgy. They insist that; 
plays written by Nigerian literary play wrights are usually unpopular 
among the Nigerian audience. (Ukala,1). Looking at socio-economic 
problems in Nigeria one will appreciate the need for Ukala’s experiment
with folkism. According to Ukala, these Critics maintain that the 
unpopularity of Nigerian plays is attributed to: 

Use of foreign and “deliberately made difficult language” for average
literate Nigerian and infectivity of the plays in tackling Nigerian socio-
economic problems because: 

(i) Subject matter does not reflect Nigerian socioeconomic 
condition and current history and aspirations 

(ii) Aesthetic distortion of subject matter beyond local recognition 
(iii) Subject matter presented in foreign and unfamiliar manner that 

the generality of Nigerians may not identify with it. (Ukala,1) 

Apart from these knocks given to Nigerian drama, by these Critics, Ukala 
is of the opinion that drama in Nigeria has shown non-totalistic drive 
towards evolution of new forms and genres. This is partly because of 
Jungian and Freudian influences on modern dramas across the globe and 
interplay of socioeconomic, political and religious forces in Africa. 

The impact of religion is more on the pioneer playwrights like Soyinka, 
Kalu Uka, J.P Clark and so on as seen in the metaphysical themes of their 
plays. However, the acceptance of Brechtian influence by the younger 
generation of modern Nigerian playwrights like Ukala marks a major 
departure towards a relentless demonstration that man and space (his 
environment) are pivots upon which creativity and performance rotate. 
Hence, rather than wait for divine intervention, Ukala has shown in his 
folkism theory and plays that man can alter his unjust world on the 
performance space and re-construct it with his creative ingenuity.
However, like the ethnographer, working in the field, Ukala achieved this 
feat through research and experimentation that took him back to his roots. 
Through observation, personal participation documentation and 
production as stated by Ubersfeld, he evolved the folkism theory. 

Ukala offers a working definition of folkism in his theory and posits that: 
“Folkism is the tendency to base literary plays in the history, culture, and 
concerns of the folk (people in general) and to compose and perform them 
in accordance with the African conventions for composing and performing 



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the folktale (285). According to Ukala; “the African folktale is not prose,
it exists only in performance before a live audience. It therefore entails
dramatic phraseology, pleasant to speak and to hear; movement, gesture, 
impersonation, music-making and dancing, and sometimes costuming, 
make-up, masking and puppetry (171). Interestingly, highlights of folkism 
as stated by Ukala are not stage bound and therefore apply to any type of 
medium or performance space. The dynamism of folkism as a 
performance theory is appreciated more in the multifaceted attributes of 
its laws of aesthetic response.   

According to Ukala, the laws of aesthetic response were inspired by: “the
conventional responses of the narrator and the audience to folktale 
performance as found by researchers, such as J.P. Clark, Efua Sutherland, 
Ruth Finnegan and Dan Ben-Amos in different parts of black Africa (33). 

The laws are eight in number: 
- The law of opening   
- The law of joint performance   
- The law of creativity, free enactment and responsibility  
- The law of the urge to judge 
- The law of protest against suspense 
- The law of expression of emotions: grief, fear, sympathy and 

scorn 
- The law of ego projection 
- The law of closing (33) 

Ukala applies these laws in the structuring of his folk scripts like: Placenta 
of Death and Akpakaland. Ukala’s fokism is also effective in the
performance of the folk scripts because: 

- It is effective and popular among the Nigerian audience. 
- The folk play unlike the other traditional performances is 

narrative realized in performance 
- The folktale and the play are temporal (allows for creativity), 

mimetic, interpretative and synthetic. 
- Unlike other African traditional performances, the folktale is 

like a play because it entails much speech.(38) 

The influence of Ukala’s folkism on modern and African theatre practice
cannot be overemphasized. The popularity of the folkloric tradition among 
Nigerian Playwrights and Directors is part of Ukala’s influence. Recently
one of the foremost exponents of African postmodernism Canice 
Chukwuma Nwosu through the thaumaturgy of M.J.C. Echeruo’s



Canice C. Nwosu & Njideka Ihekwoba-Ulaka’s Folkism and the Poetics of Performance space.

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Dramatic Limits of Igbo Ritual and Ukala’s folkism evolved the Mythic-
Folkism African Postmodern Theory. The influence of Ukala’s folkism
over Nwosu’s theory is obvious in the reflection of latent postmodern 
elements of Folkism in The Mythic-Folkism Theory.  Though the 
influence of folkism is yet to be fully harnessed in the electronic space of 
radio, television and film media; there are fleeting moments of adherence 
to folkism in these areas of Nigerian Theatre. For instance, NTA Tales by 
moonlight, Umuaka Igbo Taa, designed and produced by Chidi Opara-
Ibeleche and aired on the IBC TV now known as Orient TV Owerri and 
the popular Nollywood film, Odum na Akwaeke directed by Amayo Uzo-
Philips are based on folkism. Even though, the adherence to Ukala’s
theory may have occurred consciously or unconsciously, the influence of 
Ukala’s Folkism in these performances outside the stage medium;
provides strong indicators about the ubiquity and versatility of Ukala’s
Folkism. Moreover, the successful adaptation of Ukala’s folkism into film
further justifies the potentials of folkism for both the stage and electronic 
media in Nigerian theatre practice. According to ofonime Inyang “… such
repositioning within the context of Sam Ukala’s effort in moving the story
of Akpakaland from its stage orientation to a screen version,” (184)
remains a plus for folikism especially with regards to its versatility in the 
present digital age.  Hence, the researchers situate this proposition within 
two episodes of a television performance: Tales by Moonlight selected for 
interrogation, to enable the researchers, ascertain the versatility of Ukala’s
Folkism across performance spaces.  

Ukala’s Folkism and the Poetics of Performance Space in Tales by 
Moonlight  

The poetics of Performance space and media affirms that space impacts 
on every performance, reshaping, focusing and repositioning such 
performances. Theory on the other hand explains principles of 
performance, conventions, ideas behind the performance and general laws 
applied by the cast and crew. Therefore, theory combines with the impact 
of space to shape the performance.  

The impact of any electronic medium especially television on a 
performance cannot be over emphasized. As a medium, television is very 
powerful because of the influence of immediacy, combination of visual 
and audio codes and its ability to create a sense of authenticity on the 
viewer. Folklore as stated by Ukala’s folkism involves a narrator who tells 
a story in the presence of an audience with elaborate use of dialogue and 



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visual aids which the TV medium also explores extensively. C. Okezie 
opines that “Folktales are very easy to understand” they are presented in
the language of the people, and do not have a fixed form” (24). 

During the traditional era even up to colonial period, folktale performance 
involved a narrator who performed for a number of people from his 
immediate environment as audience, there was limited coverage as it 
involves the people within a particular environment. But the narrator 
communicated and made impact. It is this limitation in limited outreach in 
the stage folkloric performance that the electronic media folktale is 
building on for wider acceptance and popularity. Hence, the impact of the 
television space is obvious in the wider outreach and enhancing of 
folkloric performative technique. 

Tales by Moonlight, a television programme of the Nigerian Television 
Authority (NTA) is an archetypal electronic media folktale selected for 
study. The programme was introduced by the National Television 
Authority in the 1980’s to meet the moral and entertainment needs of
children, youth and even adults through television. According to B. 
Gerald, "next to the home and school, I believe television has a more 
profound influence on the human race than any other medium of 
communication.” (23)   

Therefore, Tales by Moonlight as a television programme has spontaneous 
message carrying tendency, wide coverage and estimated viewers of about 
one hundred million people across the Nigerian nation and even beyond. 
Tales by Moonlight as a contemporary electronic media folktale 
performance is an update of traditional folktale. This is to conform to the 
paradigm shift from the traditional means of information dissemination to 
the modern means of information that characterize the emergent electronic 
culture. According to Sunday Anozie "A story that is well told and well 
written will be understood by children for what it is worth; above all, we 
must remember that if children’s literature is taken as a natural language,
then the children are the sole heirs and native speakers of the language" 
(7). Since its emergence in the Nigerian air space, Tales by Moonlight has 
followed the presentational and performative techniques of the folklore 
and researchers affirm that its high impact on the citizenry derives from 
the folkloric tradition. Tales by Moonlight is produced in different 
network centres of NTA across the country. This programme despite its 
electronic mode of transmission exhibits all the attributes of a folkloric 
performance and Ukala’s laws of aesthetic performance proposed by



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folkism theory. Hence, Tales by Moonlight aims to carry out the same 
functions of stage performed folktale: teaching, entertaining and 
informing the audience through the electronic space.  

The electronic folkloric performance of Tales by Moonlight serves as a 
medium of communication through which the individual shares in the 
world around him and beyond his immediate environment. By means of 
television, millions of people partake of experiences that impart on their 
lives and help them survive in both difficult and progressive societies.   

Like the traditional folkloric performance, the electronic version still 
depends on a narrator who translates words into action, using stylistic and 
aesthetic elements to put the message of the performance across to the 
audience in a specific occasion. The audience through the same art of 
storytelling is entertained through another performance space- the 
television medium. Thus, the programme has the necessary 
communicative values of a folkloric performance that is didactic in nature 
and gets across to numerous viewers. The narrator in the process 
communicates certain moral, cultural, social, political and religious values 
to the listening, viewing and participating audience. During the traditional 
era, folktales were recited and presented by the narrator to the audience 
orally, without documentation. The narrator might be parents, uncles and 
aunties who by this method pass these folktales on from generation to 
generation.   

Due to the influence of the electronic culture and emergence of the 
electronic spaces, folktale performance takes place in new media that still 
hinge their performances on the theoretical propositions of Ukala’s
folkism. This is without prejudice to the fact that some changes take place 
in this transition involving stage to television adaptation. Thus, in Tales 
by Moonlight the narrator has folkscripts that are written and edited before 
presentation. The studio manager sees to the stylistic and aesthetic 
elements of the programme like the lighting, costume, props, and other 
materials for the production. He equally makes use of music, drums to 
convey the emotions and mood of the story as it is being performed so as 
to achieve the desired effect on the audience. 

“The Restless Merchant” and “The Bad Deal” produced by Moonlight
NTA Sokoto Network Centre, are the episodes selected for analysis. These 
episodes were taken from Tales by Moonlight of the Sokoto Network 
Centre NTA and were aired on the 27th of November 2015 by 5:30pm. The 
story teller in the first episode is Isyaku Abdullahi, who imitated different 



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voices, used dual language and dramatizations to enable her communicate 
to her audiences effectively. 

The story started with folkism’s law of opening with the Narrator
employing the opening code: “Story! Story!!” Decoding it, the audience
responded “Story!!!” The Narrator did this to awaken the consciousness
of the audience and to further draw them into the story, The narrator 
employed another aspect of Ukala’s law of opening “once upon a time!”
and the participating audience according to Ukala responded “time time!!”
The narrator aroused the interest of the audience by making use of the law 
of opening especially by chanting the code “Story! Story!!” Then the
Narrator continued: There lived a man called Mallam Edu in a certain 
village. He was such a busy man and wanted to make a lot of money. 
Following Ukala’s law of folkism this part of the story was performed with 
some members of the audience coming in to join in the performance. This 
is in line with Ukala’s law of joint performance which recognizes the
audience as active and participating audience. The narrator continued after 
the performance that: 

In a bid to be wealthy, Mallam Edu forgot everybody around him 
including his brothers and sisters. At this point people began to complain 
about him and his selfish ways of life. Edu always responded by saying 
that business is competitive and time is precious. He placed money first 
before anybody even his wife and children. His friend Mallam Abasi 
advised him but he cared less. The narration conforms to Ukala’s
proposition that, the folk play unlike the other traditional performances is 
narrative realized in performance. Hence, the play goes into performing 
the narrated version after which the narrator continued: 

A time came in Mallam Edu’s life when he became very sick. (The story
is dramatized). And the narrator moves on: 

Members of his family were the only ones taking care of him. No one 
cared to visit him or ask how he was faring, even his other relatives. Edu 
was bewildered by his loneliness and he complained to his wife. Calmly, 
his wife reminded him of his sayings, and told him that money is not 
everything. When Edu was well and hearty he never visited anyone or 
even cared for anyone except his business and financial achievements. He 
deeply regretted his actions and asked God for another chance. The 
narrator ended the story by announcing to the audience that the story has 
ended. This also conforms to the law of closing in folkism. Following the 
law of creativity, free enactment and responsibility, while closing the 



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story, the Narrator asked the children the lesson they learnt from the 
performance which originally was not part of the story. Responding, four 
children mentioned one lesson each which include: “No man is an island”,
“We need people around us”, “We should listen to good advice”, and “You
should care for others, do not be selfish. 

The second story started with the narrator opening the performance 
session with: 

Narrator:  “Story! Story!!” The audience responds with “Story”. The
Narrator continued with the opening and said. “I have a story to
tell you” and the audience responded: 

Audience: Tell us so that we shall be happy. The opening session like in the 
first performance followed folkism’s law of opening before the
narrator started the story which is titled “The Bad Deal” The
story is about a king and his wife who lived with many 
differences for many years, despite their differences, the king 
always wear a cheerful countenance, and pretends that all is well. 
This is dramatized by performers with the action showing the 
king and his wife. The narrator also adopted the law of creativity 
as she adapted new experiences into the dramatization. 

Contrarily, the Narrator continued, another man in the same community 
called Mallam Esike has a wife and they always quarrel. One day he 
visited the king to seek advice, when the king sighted him, he greeted him 
and asked after Esike’s wife, Mallam Esike replies that the woman’s
attitude has become worse and he is fed up with the woman. The king 
advised him to divorce his wife and marry another woman with a better 
character. The king told him that it will save him from dying prematurely. 
Dramatization of the story follows. This is also in line with the law of 
creativity, free enactment and responsibility. The narrator continued with 
the story after that; informing the audience that: 

Esike’s wife ran to the queen as soon as the news of the king’s verdict got
to her. She told the queen the king’s verdict on her. The queen told her to
ask her husband Mallam Esike to visit the queen. When Esike got to the 
palace, the queen requested that Esike should visit her and the king the 
next day, she told him to hide himself to avoid being seen by the king.The 
next day on reaching there, the man saw how the king was running errands 
for the queen and was practically serving her. The man was very surprised 
and he understood he has a lesser problem compared to the king. 



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Dramatization follows then the Narrator continued and informed the 
audience that:  

The following day, Esike went to the king and told him of his decision to 
continue to marry his wife that other people are going through worse 
situations and still manage to smile. He told the king that he saw a man 
running errands for his wife which his own wife never allowed. 

The king replied that as long as Mallam Esike continues to complain, he 
will continue to receive bad advice. The king told him that his major 
problem is that he likes to advertise his problems. He should learn to 
manage his affairs like a man, because other people have their own 
troubles too. Following the law of closing the narrator ended formerly with 
this is the end of the story. Then following the law of creativity he asked 
the audience moral lessons they have learnt. The following moral lessons 
were learnt by the audience as they were asked to contribute: “Don’t
expose your problems anyhow.” Do not give bad advice to people.”
“Learn to manage your problems” “Everyone has one problem or the 
other.” 

Ukala’s Folkism on Stage and Electronic Performance Spaces: A
Comparative Analyses 

Folkism has been tested in stage performances, and its acceptance and 
popularity is no longer in doubt as seen in the performance of plays like 
Akpakaland and Placenta of Death mentioned by the researchers. The 
aesthetic makeup of stage performance comprises the presence of the 
performer in flesh and blood, captivation of the audience, direct retention 
of audience attention and the impartation of cognitive experience to the 
audience.  

The personality of the narrator in the traditional folktale performance 
helps to recreate through his worldview, religious belief, experience, 
verbal skill and appealing voice to give his audience a fulfilling moment. 
Here, the audience feels the narrator’s personality in flesh and blood. They
interact with the narrator physically and the audience is limited in number. 

However, the strength of the television version of folktale performance 
lies in wider coverage, more artistic elements and use of spectacles. The 
two media make use of the narrator, dramatization and performers. The 
audiences are participating audiences. The narrator exudes such pleasant 
personality through his electronically controlled voice, photogenic face to 
hold his audience to attention in the electronic media folktale 



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performance. This is because television has powerful visual effects; it is 
the most influential of all mass media and holds its audience in rapt 
attention. 

Folkism’s laws of aesthetic performance are capable of providing support
for the two performance spaces to realize their peculiar potentials. The 
service of Folkism to the theatre practitioner is ubiquitous irrespective of 
the medium used. Therefore, both in stage folktale performance and the 
electronic media performance, the laws of aesthetic performance are never 
absent. Audiences in traditional folktale performance are captivated by the 
aura and acting techniques of the narrator, who sometimes demonstrates 
the story and sings alluring songs to add beauty to the story. The narrator 
makes good use of his descriptive ability to create mental pictures of the 
story. The electronic performance also makes use of dramatization by the 
Narrator and members of the audience to add beauty to the narration and 
to captivate the audience more. The actors through skillful acting tell part 
of the story. 

Comparatively, in the area of impartation of cognitive experience to the 
audience the two versions (Stage and Television folktale) teach morals and 
impact knowledge. They inculcate moral virtues and attributes for 
molding responsible members of society. C. Okezie affirms that folktales 
may entertain or condemn certain social vices and immoral life; the lesson 
is either implicit or explicit” (30). Though in stage folktale performance,
the audience may be few individuals who sit in front of the narrator and 
maintain eye contact with him; there are spontaneous reactions from the 
audience as they are physically present with the performers. However, in 
the electronic version, there is wider coverage as it cuts across the length 
and breadth of the entire nation and beyond. Never the less that Eucharistic 
celebration experienced in the stage version is absent. 

The traditional folkloric performance takes place in the open spaces 
sometimes in natural settings like under a tree, on moonlight nights or fire 
place depending on the weather, while the setting of an electronic 
performance is still done outside the house but it is electronically recorded 
and aired to the millions of viewers at home. There is audience 
participation in the two versions. Though audience participation in the 
stage version may appear more interjectory and disruptive, they are all part 
of the folkloric staging techniques. Tracie Uto-Ezeajuh affirms that;  

…in telling a story, the narrator advances the plot, but participants
typically interrupt, in order to reinforce a point, savour a moment or 



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delay the onset of an action. During the performance, the audience acts 
as both audience and chorus. (54) 

Giving these similarities in staging techniques, theme, plot and goals of 
the stage and electronic folktale performances; difference in space cannot 
hinder the service of Ukala’s folkism to both stage and media 
practitioners. 

Conclusion 

The researchers noted that apart from change in medium, the producer 
harnessed the impact of the new medium and used it to modernize the 
electronic folktale productions, by using dramatic language in telling the 
stories including the use of idiomatic expressions and proverbs. Language, 
humour and imagery were creatively used by the narrator in the new 
medium. He also employed studio facilities like lighting, the use of 
microphones and props. The languages used in the performances were 
English and Hausa. This enabled the audience particularly the children and 
even those at home to understand the stories properly. The actors 
employed their dialects in their expressions in the dramatizations and this 
bilingual approach added glamour to the productions. There is law of free 
enactment as the narrator breaks off from narration to engage the 
performers in the dramatizations. 

The study reveals that the programme has promoted the use of local 
language as the actors always act in English and Hausa languages inter 
changeably. English has become the major language for most children in 
the contemporary society. Eventually, these children are the future 
generation so one of the aims of the progamme is to teach children and 
even people who are not from the north basic Hausa language. This 
approach has helped to promote the local languages against foreign 
languages like English and French languages, which are being forced on 
children these days. 

The researchers also deduced that even though, the contemporary Nigerian 
society is over whelmed by the craze of the moment like the Internet, 
Telephone, Computer, Satellite Television, Radio and other electronic 
media, the programme has helped to revive traditional values through 
folkloric stories and pass them on to the next generation, to inculcate in 
them sound judgment and need to choose good over evil.  

The study also revealed that the audience was actively involved in the two 
versions (the stage and the electronic versions) by paying attention to the 



Canice C. Nwosu & Njideka Ihekwoba-Ulaka’s Folkism and the Poetics of Performance space.

15

narrator as the stories unfold they also interject, ask questions and answer 
questions. This conforms to the law of joint performance as stated by 
Ukala since the audiences co-performed with the narrator by listening
attentively, joining the performance and answering questions when asked. 
However, it was also observed that the electronic version transmitted 
through television reaches millions of people at the same time, the 
audience at home and in the set of the production. But the audiences were 
emotionally and physically involved in the performances as they 
expressed their emotions through clapping, laughing, cheering and so on. 

The stories selected from “Tales by Moonlight” have reduced crime and
social vices among the younger generation. It is even more effective in the 
electronic media because unlike the stage medium, it appeals more to 
children and has wider coverage. Therefore, acceptable cultural norms and 
virtues incorporated into the plots and themes of the performance are being 
inculcated on the minds of the youth; to check the moral laxity of the 
present generation. These programmes have fostered sound moral virtues 
and acceptance of sound judgments. All these were achievable through the 
electronic transmission of these programmes across the length and breadth 
of the entire nation and even beyond. The programme enhances cultural 
transmission as its major target and is realized as a modernized folkloric 
performance. The myths, legends, folklores and other genre’s of African
oral literature are being passed on to the younger generation through the 
electronic medium which the youths now identify with. 

Furthermore, aside cartoons, children are encouraged to watch these 
programmes in television instead of the craze of the moment paraded in 
different stations across the country. The programs have served as agents 
of change and character mounding for the younger generation through 
television. 

Works Cited 

Abdullahi, Isyaku: “The Restless Merchant.” Tales by Moonlight. NTA 
Sokoto Network Centre. 27th of November by 5:30pm. 2015. 

Akparobaro, F B O: Introduction to African Oral Literature. Lagos: Princeton 
Publishers, 2012. 

Anozie, Sunday. “The Drum and The Flute: Reconstruction in children’s
literature.” Studies in African Literature. ed. Ernest Emenyonu. 
Ibadan: Heinemann Education Publishers, 2012 



AMA: Journal of Theatre and Cultural Studies

16

Gerald, Beatie. “Influence of Media and Television on the Society.” British
Broadcasting Corporation Television Journal. Vol. 6. London: 
British Broadcasting Corporation, (1984): 15-35 

Inyang, Ofonime. “Sustaining the African Theatre in a Digital Age: An 
Analysis of Sam Ukala’s Experiment in Akpakland.” Sam Ukala: His 
Work at Sixty. Asagba Ovigue Austin ed. Ibadan: Kraft Books. 2008: 
183-190 

Llewellyn-Jones, Lloyd. “Essay 4: Understanding Theatre Space.” Essays on 
Documenting and Researching Modern productions of Greek Drama 
The Sources. www2.open.ac.uk/ClassicalStudies/ GreekPlays.2002.  
Accessed. 26- 05- 2016. 

McAuley, Gay. Space in Performance: Making Meaning in the Theatre How 
real and imagined  theatrical spaces and the relationships 
between them evoke meaning https://www.press.umich.edu/ 
16220/space_in_performance Accessed 25- 05- 2016 

Okezie, C: A Handbook to oral Literature. Owerri: Great Versatile publishers, 
2012. 

Ubersfeld. A. L'école du spectateur. Paris: 1981. 
Ukala, Sam. From Folk to Popular Literary Theatre: A Study in Theory and 

Practice.  University of Ibadan, PhD Thesis, 1986 
- - -Folkism: “Towards A National Aesthetic Principle in Dramaturgy.”

Words: A Monthly International Literary Journal of Writers’ Resort. 
Vol. 79.  (1993):11-39   

- - -“Masquerade, Folktale and Literary Theatre of English Expression in
Africa.” Eagle in    Flight. Ibadan: Safmos, 1999 160-178 

- - - “Politics of Aesthetics.” African Theatre, Playwrights and Politics.  ed. 
Banham,  Gibbs and Osofisan. Oxford: James Curry (2001): 
29-41. 

Utoh-Ezeajugh, Tracie. “Communal Aesthetics of African Oral
Performance.” The Crab: Journal of Theatre and Media Arts. Vol.7. 
Port Harcourt: Department of Theatre and Film Studies, (2011): 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 


