Zulu Sofola’s Legacy in Modern African Drama

Abstract

Zulu Sofola is undoubtedly the matriarch of modern African theatre. Her greatest contribution to African drama is the introduction of powerful women on the African Stage. But despite her persistent exploration of women’s dilemmas in her plays, she has refused to see herself as a feminist writer. This work studies Sofola’s dramatic plays in order to examine her perspective on gender in her early and later works. It proposes that though she regrets Western modes of female assertion, her dramaturgy affirms, celebrates and advocates female individuality within traditional boundaries. Zulu Sofola is, therefore, a feminist writer in-spite of herself.