Death And The Kings by Wole Soyinka ( 1975)

*Death and the king’s horseman*

Elesin Oba, the King’s Horseman, has a single destiny. When the King dies, he must commit ritual suicide and lead his King’s favourite horse and dog through the passage to the world of the ancestors. A British Colonial Officer, Pilkings, intervenes to prevent the death and arrests Elesin.

The play is a set text for NEAB GCSE, NEAB A Level and NEAB A/S Level. ‘A masterpiece of 20th century drama’ – Guardian “A transfixing work of modern world drama” (Independent); “clearly a masterpiece…he achieves the full impact of Greek tragedy” (Irving Wardle, Independent on Sunday); “the action of the play is as inevitable and eloquent as in Antigone: a clash of values and cultures so fundamental that tragedy issues: a tragedy for each individual, each tribe” (Michael Schmidt, Daily Telegraph)