Book: Verdict of the Gods (a play)
Author: Iwu, Jeff
Publisher: Transconventional Publishers
Year: July 2020
ISBN: 978-978-979-443-0
Pages: 84
Reviewer: Nwokeabia, Ifeanyi John
When the gods decide to be mute, they seal all channels of communication between them and their mouthpieces and mortals have nowhere to go. This play of pathos, Verdict of the Gods, by Iwu Jeff is a revelational mixture of epic and tragedy. The play explores the village life of Achara Community, which suffers from an unforeseen ailment: lives, properties and dreams are lost on daily basis. The waking of every morning shrouds the heart with the pain of a new calamity.
The playwright, Iwu Jeff (Iwuchukwu Jephta) is a Nigerian writer who holds the Nigeria k Certificate in Education (NCE), English Double Major, from the Federal College of Education, Kontagora and Bachelor of Arts in Education (B.A. Ed, English) from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria. Iwu has become a formidable force in the literary world as he has written in all the three genres of literature- poetry, drama and prose. Each of his writing is identified with a special uniqueness, which is simplicity of his language and his love for epic writing. His writings address the issues of yesterday, today and tomorrow. Verdict of the Gods is no stranger to the aforementioned issues.
Eze Obioha, the king of Achara; who is equally the protagonist of the play, is greatly alarmed at the unhappy events churning up on daily basis in his kingdom. He feels emotionally abandoned by his ancestors who turned their backs on him. He is not always tired of summoning his cabinet members to find solutions to the recurring deaths and strange happenings in the land. Countless visitations are made to different Dibias, still no answer is found. What should the people do now that the gods are mute and calamities keep expanding with aggression? Who will save the land from its possible decay, now that death and destruction have the best set of eyes to pick whatever they want?
Nwokeocha and Ezemma are two comic characters used by the playwright to present a comic relief to the audience in order to reduce the tension built in the play. These two well-decorated elders always find a way of slowing or ridiculing the efforts of other cabinet members and the King by throwing up unnecessary banters each time they convene at the King’s palace.
The seriousness of Eze Obioha towards finding lasting solutions to the predicament of his people shows a leader who is determined to ameliorate his people from their shackles, and these goes a long way in drawing the audience to a round table of empathy on him. The play’s exceptional beauty lies in the playwright’s boldness by redefining drama. The playwright broke the convention of drama being arranged in Acts and Scenes, but equally maintained the three unities of drama – place, time and event. Its suspense is well built in such a way that readers will not have the urge to drop it until the end.
The play’s richness is the sky of Africa over it and the deep African proverbs used in the play depict the dramatist’s great skill in writing. The choice of words used by the playwright explains better the social class of the characters. Whenever Eze Obioha is speaking, you will see royalty written in his words. The writer used formal language for the king and his cabinet members while other members of the community use ordinary words, which portray the informal life of ordinary people.
It is worthy of note that the play ingeniously deviated from the stereotype in African works where foreign ‘God’ is used in solving African problems. However, the play affirms that African gods are equally potent in solving problems created by African people. In other words, in most African works, the God of the new religion (Christianity or Islam) is always called upon to help in cleansing our lands in a situation whereby we are visited by an untold calamity but in this play, the African gods come together and make their verdict. This to me shows unity and this is a timely boost to African literature as it recognises the importance of her gods in rebuking evil committed against ‘Ala’, the goddess of the earth.
Major settings of the work are: Achara and the land of Aro (Arochukwu). In Achara Community, most important actions happen at the King’s palace, on a village pathway where Adamma and Nnenna peddle their gossips, and Adamma’s compound. Aro on the other hand, is the second setting where a dibia is visited. Wole Soyinka in some of his great plays like Death and the King’s Horseman and Wasted Breed, explores the concept of Scapegotism. Also, in Verdict of the Gods, Iwu improves on Scapegotism, he explores the same concept beyond the borders of Scapegotism. I laud the play for defining a new form of scapegoatism as against what is seen in most African works.
Literature is life and every story created has humans playing roles just as we have in real life. So, the land of Achara as used in the play can be likened to Nigeria, especially at this period, where the world is suffering the wreck of Corona Virus. We are searching for solutions just like Achara people searching for solutions to the unknown ailments tormenting them. Who is going to save us? The play shows that the playwright is abreast with events happening in his environment and he comes with a timely play to help reawaken our spirit in this present time.
My emotion was touched –banded and disbanded. My eyes glowed, rained and weakly dried after drops as I dropped this play after reading. My emotion scattered according to the rhythm of the play. Every scene, every character, every word used by the characters is so unique that you will see yourself becoming a part of the community. I challenge you to pick a copy of Verdict of the Gods and remain unmoved till the end if you can.
Bio
Nwokeabia, Ifeanyi John is a writer, poet, reviewer and teacher of English and Literature-in-English. He holds the Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE) and Bachelor of Arts in Education and English. He has works published in different anthologies and virtual platforms.
