Some weeks ago, John Osadolor, our news editor here at BusinessDay, accused me of having too much fun 'going out' on weekends. He believes covering a beat like mine means 'over enjoyment.' However, what he considered 'going out' was not going out in the real sense of it. I go out to work and not for pleasure as he thought. Going to watch stage plays on Sundays at Terra Kulture or Muson Centre or any other place, depending on the venue chosen by the organisers, may not be fun at all unlike what John thought. Instead of having fun like other members of the audience, I tend to be more attentive thinking within myself how the actions of the characters affect the development of the plot.
I don't just go there to sit and laugh, but it's more of an intellectual work, one that requires doing a critical analysis of what is unfolding on stage. Hence, I cannot watch the play with the ordinary eye of someone who went there to enjoy herself. But I have no choice but to have an eye for a critical analysis of the play. Well, you may want to agree with John that, that is just one occasion when socialising and having fun were all in a day's work for me since journalists do not have weekends - every day is work!
And so, like most Sunday afternoons, I am clad in my 'Sunday's best' on my way to Terra Kulture as usual to watch a stage play. As is his custom, when a play is about to start, Wole Oguntokun, producer, Theatre@Terra, stands in front of the audience to introduce the play.
Just few weeks ago, he started off by introducing the play staging for the month of October, The Tarzan Monologues, a male version of the famous Vagina Monologues. For me, there is nothing wrong in Wole coming up with his own version of the play, since he was discriminated against by the all female crew of the last edition of the play, which he directed and co-wrote the script.
"The women said they did not want a male directing their play," he explained, and this gave birth to the idea of The Tarzan Monologues.
"Why Tarzan?" asked a woman in the audience. "Why Tarzan?" echoed Wole. "Well, Tarzan was a white man who lived in the jungle. We want to show that men also have a story to tell. Women have been talking; we also want men to talk. The characters will talk about many issues, issues bothering men too."
"Men talk about politics," another woman in the audience noted. "No, they don't talk about politics," denied Wole. "Men talk about their kids, about a landlord knocking at the door. I live in a room with a woman who worries about what to wear every morning. Men don't worry about what to wear. Men don't worry when they are not invited to a party, but women do."
Wole's position begs for question and I believe, dear readers, you will agree with me, because making such a general statement about women is not totally right. Not all women worry about such mundane issues. For instance, I don't worry about such things. I don't even like parties.
Besides, there are men who also worry about not being invited to parties and what to wear. The fact that Wole does not worry about such issues does not mean some men don't worry about them and vice versa. I still insist that life is not about gender discrimination, but about people who inhabit it. Our preferences for things differ from person to person.
Am not a feminist, but if I want to do a feminist analysis of Wole's intention given the play's title, then, it will be instructive to do an analysis of the character, Tarzan. Tarzan was actually a fictional character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and it first appeared in the novel Tarzan of the Apes. Tarzan was an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by gorillas, who later returned to civilisation only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer.
In Tarzan, Burroughs created an extreme example of a hero figure largely unalloyed with character flaws or faults. He was described as being Caucasian, extremely athletic, tall, handsome, and tanned, with grey eyes and black hair. Emotionally, he was courageous, loyal and steady, intelligent and learns new languages easily.
He was presented as behaving ethically, at least by Burroughs' definitions, in most situations, except when seeking vengeance under the motivation of grief, as when his ape mother Kala was killed in Tarzan of the Apes, or when he believed Jane had been murdered in Tarzan the Untamed.
He was deeply in love with his wife and totally devoted to her and in numerous situations where other women expressed their attraction to him, Tarzan, politely but firmly declined their attentions.
When presented with a situation where a weaker individual or party was being preyed upon by a stronger foe, Tarzan invariably took the side of the weaker party. In dealing with other men, Tarzan was firm and forceful. With male friends, he was reserved but deeply loyal and generous. As a host he was likewise generous and gracious, and as a leader he commanded devoted loyalty.
Based on the above analysis, would it be right to say that all men possess the character of Tarzan, at least, that is what Wole wants us to believe when he titled the play The Tarzan Monologues.
Anyway, I will keep my fingers crossed to see if the stories of Kunle of Rooftop MC, Bob Manuel-Udoku and Denrele, who would feature in the play, be interesting enough to deserve such title.
I don't just go there to sit and laugh, but it's more of an intellectual work, one that requires doing a critical analysis of what is unfolding on stage. Hence, I cannot watch the play with the ordinary eye of someone who went there to enjoy herself. But I have no choice but to have an eye for a critical analysis of the play. Well, you may want to agree with John that, that is just one occasion when socialising and having fun were all in a day's work for me since journalists do not have weekends - every day is work!
And so, like most Sunday afternoons, I am clad in my 'Sunday's best' on my way to Terra Kulture as usual to watch a stage play. As is his custom, when a play is about to start, Wole Oguntokun, producer, Theatre@Terra, stands in front of the audience to introduce the play.
Just few weeks ago, he started off by introducing the play staging for the month of October, The Tarzan Monologues, a male version of the famous Vagina Monologues. For me, there is nothing wrong in Wole coming up with his own version of the play, since he was discriminated against by the all female crew of the last edition of the play, which he directed and co-wrote the script.
"The women said they did not want a male directing their play," he explained, and this gave birth to the idea of The Tarzan Monologues.
"Why Tarzan?" asked a woman in the audience. "Why Tarzan?" echoed Wole. "Well, Tarzan was a white man who lived in the jungle. We want to show that men also have a story to tell. Women have been talking; we also want men to talk. The characters will talk about many issues, issues bothering men too."
"Men talk about politics," another woman in the audience noted. "No, they don't talk about politics," denied Wole. "Men talk about their kids, about a landlord knocking at the door. I live in a room with a woman who worries about what to wear every morning. Men don't worry about what to wear. Men don't worry when they are not invited to a party, but women do."
Wole's position begs for question and I believe, dear readers, you will agree with me, because making such a general statement about women is not totally right. Not all women worry about such mundane issues. For instance, I don't worry about such things. I don't even like parties.
Besides, there are men who also worry about not being invited to parties and what to wear. The fact that Wole does not worry about such issues does not mean some men don't worry about them and vice versa. I still insist that life is not about gender discrimination, but about people who inhabit it. Our preferences for things differ from person to person.
Am not a feminist, but if I want to do a feminist analysis of Wole's intention given the play's title, then, it will be instructive to do an analysis of the character, Tarzan. Tarzan was actually a fictional character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and it first appeared in the novel Tarzan of the Apes. Tarzan was an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by gorillas, who later returned to civilisation only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer.
In Tarzan, Burroughs created an extreme example of a hero figure largely unalloyed with character flaws or faults. He was described as being Caucasian, extremely athletic, tall, handsome, and tanned, with grey eyes and black hair. Emotionally, he was courageous, loyal and steady, intelligent and learns new languages easily.
He was presented as behaving ethically, at least by Burroughs' definitions, in most situations, except when seeking vengeance under the motivation of grief, as when his ape mother Kala was killed in Tarzan of the Apes, or when he believed Jane had been murdered in Tarzan the Untamed.
He was deeply in love with his wife and totally devoted to her and in numerous situations where other women expressed their attraction to him, Tarzan, politely but firmly declined their attentions.
When presented with a situation where a weaker individual or party was being preyed upon by a stronger foe, Tarzan invariably took the side of the weaker party. In dealing with other men, Tarzan was firm and forceful. With male friends, he was reserved but deeply loyal and generous. As a host he was likewise generous and gracious, and as a leader he commanded devoted loyalty.
Based on the above analysis, would it be right to say that all men possess the character of Tarzan, at least, that is what Wole wants us to believe when he titled the play The Tarzan Monologues.
Anyway, I will keep my fingers crossed to see if the stories of Kunle of Rooftop MC, Bob Manuel-Udoku and Denrele, who would feature in the play, be interesting enough to deserve such title.
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