by Kayla Orthman
For my first Unessay, I decided to outline the basics of a hypothetical production of Death and the King’s Horseman by Wole Soyinka. As someone who is heavily involved in theatre, this is an idea that really jumped out at me. Planning a production is incredibly complicated and requires a lot of different people doing different things, so instead of going heavily into detail on one thing I decided I would look at almost everything briefly. I made a prop list, put together costume ideas for the characters, and looked at different sets to get a feel for what is usually done with this show.
For the props, I read through the play again and made a list of all of the mentioned props that I could find. The issue that I ran into with this was that sometimes, during a show, you don’t know you need a prop until you get to it. Prop lists are often changed and added to during rehearsals as the director realizes things. For example, the director might realize that during a certain scene, a character might want to be holding something, or that a prop should serve as part of the set. I felt like there weren’t enough props that I could come up with in a list. In the slideshow showcasing my ideas, I only chose to include what I felt were the most important props. In this case, it was Elesin’s chains, Amusa’s hat, the drums, and the sash that was given to Elesin in scene 1.
I sketched the costumes of what I felt were the most important characters. To design the costumes, I got together references for what a typical Nigerian Yoruba person would wear. I found some good pictures that showed every part of the attire and added a color palette that I thought would work for the character. For Elesin, I wanted him to be wearing reds to symbolize both the honor of his death and the tragedy of the story. I felt that Iyaloja should wear the opposite color, blue, because she and Elesin are always in opposition. I also thought that there should be some overlap in the accent colors to emphasize that they’re still alike. For Elesin’s costume in scene 5, I thought it should be the same as the other scenes, but all white or off-white.
Something I struggled with was making sure costumes were accurate to the time and place. This was especially hard with the traditional egungun that Simon and Jane wear (and appropriate.) I felt that I shouldn’t design something that I am not an expert on for fear of ending up offending or being insensitive. Instead, I found a photo of two egungun and used that as an example. I felt that Simon and Jane would wear similar but different ones. Simon later wears a police uniform, but I wanted Jane to just wear typical attire for a British woman.
I also struggled with the set design. I really liked the designs used in the productions from Columbia College and Washington State University. I felt that this play would be best produced on what’s called a thrust stage, which is a stage that is surrounded on 3 sides by the audience. This would make the set feel more open and like it’s actually outdoors, but not block anyone’s view of the actors.
Overall, I had a lot of fun with this project. While I did struggle with making sure it’s historically and culturally accurate, it was a fun challenge that helped me learn more about the culture the play is about. I think that seeing this play performed would do the same thing for the audience.
Works Cited
“DEATH and the KING’S HORSEMAN.” Public.wsu.edu, public.wsu.edu/~converse/wsupics/horsemanpics/index.html. Accessed 1 Mar. 2022.
“Death and the King’s Horseman.” Columbia College Chicago – Theatre, theatre.colum.edu/death-and-the-kings-horseman. Accessed 28 Feb. 2022.
“Dundun (Iya Ilu).” Metmuseum.org, 2020, http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/503288.
“Egungun.” Wikipedia, 1 Jan. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egungun.
Fadare, Modupe. “Aso Oke the Legendary Ceremonial Outfit of the Yoruba People.” 234gist, 26 Mar. 2021, 234gist.prestigenigeria.com/aso-oke-the-legendary-ceremonial-outfit-of-the-yoruba-people/. Accessed 28 Feb. 2022.
“Metropolitan Police – Metropolitan No 1 Uniform, circa Late 1940’S – British Police Online Museum.” Www.pmcc-Club.co.uk, http://www.pmcc-club.co.uk/museum/displayimage.php?album=201&pid=909#top_display_media. Accessed 28 Feb. 2022.
“Nigerian Hausa Baskets Bowls.” Nativo Art, nativoart.com/product/nigerian-hausa-baskets-bowls/. Accessed 28 Feb. 2022.
Omoloja, Matthew. “Roadside Foods Lagos Nigeria; Makeshift Roadside Stall Stock Photo – Image of Lekki, Tourism: 148179880.” Www.dreamstime.com, http://www.dreamstime.com/roadside-foods-lagos-nigeria-makeshift-stall-stalls-selling-foodstuff-along-lekki-epe-expressway-tomatoes-yam-lemon-onion-image148179880. Accessed 28 Feb. 2022.
Sessions, Debbie. “1940s Fashion: What Did Women Wear in the 1940s?” Vintagedancer.com, 5 Aug. 2013, vintagedancer.com/1940s/what-did-women-wear-in-the-1940s/.
Stites, Catherine. “The Egungun: The Costume and the Ritual in Death and the King’s Horseman.” Yoruba Material Culture, 15 Dec. 2017, medium.com/yoruba-material-culture/the-egungun-the-costume-and-the-ritual-in-death-and-the-kings-horseman-945fa1cd26a.
Wikipedia Contributors. “Thrust Stage.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 14 Oct. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrust_stage.
WorldAtlas. “Traditional Nigerian Clothing.” WorldAtlas, 23 May 2019, http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/traditional-nigerian-clothing.html.
Sprockets and Springes 