Eguria

  THEMES (Thematic Preoccupation)     Inordinate ambition and desire to govern                This theme of inordinate ambition and desire to govern is evident in the play. Madam Yoko for instance, cannot be said to be excessively ambitious but she holds on to the vow Gbanya made towards her to relinquish power to her a long time ago, that upon his death the chiefdom hill is passed into her hands.  Gbanya insists because if Senehun is to survive a man must lead her not a woman.  Yoko who knows what it means to be in power, and knows what she wants, refuses to be bribed with all the cattle Gbanya offers to compensate her with. Also, the theme of coordinated ambition can be traceable to the characters of Lamboi, Yoko’s brother, and Musa, the beer and medicine man.  Lamboi hashes a plot to eliminate Gbanya and succeed him for fear of Yoko.  “I fear that woman.  Yoko, if he lives longer, she might be able to convince him to pass the chiefdom to her.  And with her threatening each pas

AFRICAN DRAMA  Let Me Die Alone   -John K. Kargbo     A Brief Biography of the playwright   John Kolosa Kargbo was born in Sierra Leone in 1954 and died in 1992.   He attended the Prince of Wales’ Secondary School in Freetown together with Clifford Gaber, john Kargbo founded Songhai Theatre, known as Shegureh players, and Balangi Dramatic group founded in 1974.   They produced other plays and English plays called Choice of the Gods.   Apart from Let Me Die Alone, which was impressive, Otegu was a successful comedy about love infidelity.               It is probably Let Me Die Alone that assured Kargbo’s reputation; a meticulously researched and well-constructed script.   His early death was a tremendous blow to the development of dramatic literature in his country.       Setting/Background of the play   Let Me Die Alone is a historical-based play that mirrors the life and times of a legendary woman in Sierra Leone known as Madam Yoko, who lived between 1847 to