The Playwright as a Global Interpreter: An Examination of Femi Osofisan‟s Adaptation Techniques in Wèsóo Hamlet

Abstract

Adaptation of literary works, most especially classic plays is a tricky business that tasks the writer. Adapting a well-known Shakespearean  play like Hamlet to fit the Ijebu culture in Yorubaland, Western Nigeria, West Africa would have been an arduous task for a neophyte  writer, but for a mature writer like Babafemi Osofisan, it is an opportunity to experiment. This paper explores the innovative techniques  Osofisan used in transplanting a global tragic play into an African setting and soil. It also examines the various innovative themes and  ideas introduced into the adaptation making it different from other adapted plays. The paper finally registers the challenges the  playwright must have faced in localizing a play like Hamlet while exploring global issues like the impact of tobacco companies on less  developed countries (LDC).