7.+Okoh

//Please discuss this statement in GROUP 2 discussions ONLY.//
Juliana Okoh (University of Port Harcourt)

=Julie Okoh's //Closed Doors//=



In the play //Closed Doors//, the playwright treats many intersecting issues relating to the regrettable ugly experiences encountered by the youth, especially young women in contemporary Nigeria. The roots of these experiences are traceable to the unscrupulous and ineffective laws promulgated by the government as well as the unwritten traditional laws that enshrine gender discriminations. But the laws have done more harm than good to individuals as well as to the nation. For example, the “quota system” in Nigeria constitutes a major obstacle to human progress as well as to national development. They implant tribal sentiments in individuals from childhood and exult mediocrity over merit. Yet the political leaders are nonchalant about these problems. In treating these issues, the playwright makes use of a synthesis of concepts developed in the disciplines of philosophy, religion, sociology and psychology to bring the problems home to the audience.

The violence and brutality suffered by women in the society are exemplified in the cruel and ugly experiences of betrayal and dashed hopes of the female characters that populate the play. Tracy, the protagonist of the play is naturally a brilliant and vibrant young girl who slowly degenerates into a psychopath. The first major obstacle she encounters in life is her inability to gain an admission into the university. This is not because she didn’t score high in the qualifying examination, but due to government’s policy to give opportunity to people from the unprogressive states of the country to catch up with development. From then on she experiences a series of overwhelming disappointments. Abused, battered and rejected by those she loves so much, her father inclusive, she arrives at the Goodwill Maternity Home mentally and physically broken and psychologically deflated. She becomes a loner who refuses to talk to the other inmates. But she must learn to assert herself if she is to survive in a world controlled by the “Untouchables” who deal out commands and threats to reduce others to silence. Tracy’s personal experience and the cruel stories of the other inmates provide the needed motive for her to reflect on her situation, to search for her true self. From timid, voiceless, hopeless state, she transforms into a different person. The cleansing ritual brings about a “born again” Tracy, a Tracy that is now bold, self assertive and full of self esteem. In her exhilaration, she proclaims:

“I am born again! Now I fully understand the meaning of that phrase: “To be born again.” “Unless you are born again, you can not enter into the kingdom of God,” says the Lord. For me, the kingdom of God is here and now. Only those who understand the universal values promoting personal development and good human relationships can be at peace with the world and with themselves. Yes, I am born again!” (p. 48)

This cleansing ritual does not only stimulate personal change in Tracy but also energizes her to promote and propagate the doctrine of pro-activity, which empowers the individual to elevate her life by conscious endeavours.

Tracy’s story is not different from that of the other inmates, all victims of betrayal, all abused, abandoned and forced to leave their homes by the leaders of their communities: Imam, politician, teacher et cetera. Although they were all victims of sexual abuses which stir up in them violent emotions, yet they learn to survive in a jungle of wild animals. These young women had dreams but they were shattered into particles. They all encountered obstacles caused by unjust laws. Thus the characters in the play are caught in a web of events that leaves them only with bitter choices. There is fatalism in the world, violence and brutality befall individuals and they are frustrated and dejected. But these are not caused by the will of the gods nor by their own personal flaw, but by man-made laws established and operated by men who know nothing about governance nor about democracy, but by men who are power-drunk and would stop at nothing to retain their power. That is to say in this society, one’s personhood is shaped and controlled by fellow human beings who blindly exercise raw power conferred on them by their position of authority. But such condition cannot produce healthy citizens. It rather tends to suffocate and strangulate human essence. Since the characters find such condition not salutary for their personal growth and progress, they struggle for their self determination and assertiveness.

The playwright positions the theatre as a potential medium for self discovery and personal healing. The concept of self discovery and transformation are expounded in the play through the journey motif. The characters undergo different types of journey, spatial, spiritual and psychological. In fact, they all cover quite a lot of geographical distance by moving from village to the city. These are journeys they undertake not in search of the Golden Fleece but in search of self redefinition. As they travel they gain experience, maturity and transformation. They are fortified to face the world around them with determination. They make their own choices instead of allowing others to dictate to them.

Without limiting her self to the use of dialogues, the playwright uses various dramatic techniques such as story-telling, flash-back and “play-within-play”, to propel the movement of the dramatic action and also to emphasis her message. The play as a whole is structure as a play within a play. The prologue and the epilogue are happenings in the present while PHASE I to VII constitute embedded past events. The opening scenes of the play therefore becomes a dynamic dramatic method that closely follows the cinematic montage technique of multiple images including a panning through the city under the rain which is immediately juxtaposed by a scene at the Maternity Home. Even within PHASE I and VII, that constitute the main part of the play, there are other embedded scenes. It is in the dream scene that the montage technique is fully elaborated. Other dramatic techniques used by the dramatist include ritual performance, dances, songs and sound effects. All these sum up to place the play under consideration, within the realm of African traditional theatre performance. The use of various levels of language to create special effects must also be pointed out.