[01] Samuel O. Chukwu-Okoronkwo, Department of Mass Communication, Abia State University, Uturu, Nigeria.

Femi Osofisan ranks among the foremost contemporary Nigerian dramatists. He is a prolific and radical writer who addresses himself to the socio-political problems in contemporary Nigerian society. The interest to undertake a Marxian perspective on Osofisan is predicated by the Marxist influence which informs most of his works. This is an influence which places Marxism as the ideology of the proletariat … a formidable weapon in the struggle for social progress and the world’s reconstruction along new and just lines [1]. The Marxian philosophy, therefore, is a revolutionary philosophy which places the destiny of the proletariats in their own hands. Osofisan’s dramas underscore the utility of art as agency for conscientisation and social mobilisation. Through these works he evinces his belief in the power of literature/theatre to enlighten and spur the masses to take decisive actions in combating and changing a plaguing and oppressive system which does not favour them. Morountodun and The Chattering and the Song, therefore, encapsulate this belief. The paper presents them, however, as Osofisan’s rehearsals of revolution, and highlights their strengths and revolutionary aestheticism.

Aestheticism, Art, Functionality, Marxian Philosophy, Rehearsal, Revolution

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