Wole Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman, first staged in 1975, is one of the most important plays of modern African theatre.
Set in colonial Nigeria during World War II, the story begins with a sacred duty: when the Yoruba king dies, his chief horseman, Elesin, must follow him into the afterlife through ritual suicide. This is not seen as tragedy, but as tradition, a necessary act to keep the world in balance.
But the British colonial officers misunderstand, and step in to prevent the ritual. In trying to “save” Elesin, they shatter the community’s spiritual order. What follows is a clash of duty, culture, and misunderstanding, ending in devastating consequences.
Soyinka makes clear this is not just a play about colonialism, but about the universal tension between individual desire, communal responsibility, and the sacred.
Death and the King’s Horseman is poetic, tragic, and deeply rooted in Yoruba culture, a masterpiece that asks: what happens when worlds collide, and who has the right to define life and death?