WRITING PLAYS FOR NIGERIAN CHILDREN ABU SHARDOW ABARRY

Drama is one of the most important artistic and communicative media in African cultures. From very ancient times through these days of the global village and space laboratories, drama has been used as a powerful instrument not only for artistic expression and critical reflection of values, but also for national growth and cultural continuity. It has further served as a potent vehicle of national identity and political aspirations. While the significance of drama in our lives has long been recognized and fully exploited by modem African playwrights, their creative productions seem to be made largely for adult audiences. Thus, whereas African adult plays are generally well-known, amply documented, and analyzed, the chil-dren's counterpart are scanty, unknown, and virtually nonexistent. Nor are serious and deliberate steps being taken now in the educa-tional and cultural program of African countries to foster in children a genuine understanding of the nature of theatrical artifacts, their creation, consumption, and health evaluation. There is, therefore the need to develop a dynamic program that would expose African children to the total artistic and communica-tive resourcesof drama and theater in a way that fully develops their intellectual, emotional, and sociocultural potential. This article, then, attempts to examine some of the ways in which the high objectives comprehended in the program envisaged above may b