Soyinka's works

The Lion and the Jewel

The hilarious play is centered on a competition between a "civilized" rural teacher Lakunle and an Ibadan chief Baroka, "the Lion", to woo young pretty Sidi, "the Jewel".

Originally written in English, Soyinka's musical language echoes Shakespearean lines and is also rich with folk color.

Soyinka says Lakunle, who challenges the village customs, represents neither modernity nor tradition, but is a "half-baked person" in the colonial culture.