Thirteenth International Conference on The Arts in Society

Abstract

In Igala of Central Nigeria of Kogi State, the words Ógwù, Ógwú and Ògwù are used to mean different things, but they are strongly linked to each other in the phenomenon. Ógwù simply means medicine/charm (curative and protective). Ògwù means feat and Ógwú means war. In times of war Ógwú, the Igala warriors must have themselves “roasted” or “cooked” in Ógwù charm. Such Ógwù or charm used by the warrior can turn the warriors’ gun shorts ineffective. According to Robert G. Armstrong, “the near – mad behaviour of a successful killer is Ògwù and the water of a blacksmith’s forge along with other rituals activities are used to cool the person down…” (235) The Ògwù theatre as theatre of metaphysics is a derivation from the contents of the performance which hinges on spirit, spirit essence, mythology, mysticism, trauma, debacle, phenomena, prodigy and thaumaturgy. The theatre is assumed to encapsulate the activities of the spirits and those of mortal beings. The Ògwù theatre of metaphysics speaks about the life we live through staging. There is a metaphysical quest that stands behind the acting method of Ògwù theatre. The primordial function of Ògwù theatre is to bring the Ògwù characters to presence using their bodies as threshold for the supernatural powers. There is a metaphysical quest that stands behind the acting method of Ògwù theatre. The Ògwù characters try to reach a state of affair where their bodies are employed as threshold for the spirits. In Ògwù performance, what transpires in the arena is a synthesis of what exists in the supernatural world.