Ọkụmkpọ́ Masquerade as Theatre Performance in Akpoha-Afikpo Cross River Igbo Area of Southeastern Nigeria.

The Cross River Igbo area of Southeast Nigeria has a wide range of masquerade cultural practices which has attracted several academic investigations. The most cited and popular performance is the Akpoha-Afikpo Ọkụmkpọ́ masquerade. Scholars have engaged with the Ọkụmkpọ́ masquerade phenomenon from va...

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Publicado en:Journal of African Cultural Studies Vol. 37; no. 4; pp. 478 - 497
Autor principal: Orji, Bernard Eze
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Taylor & Francis Ltd Dec2025
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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        atl: Ọkụmkpọ́ Masquerade as Theatre Performance in Akpoha-Afikpo Cross River Igbo Area of Southeastern Nigeria.
      aug:
        au: Orji, Bernard Eze
        affil: Department of Theatre Arts, Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike, Nigeria
      su:
        Cross River (Cameroon & Nigeria)
        Nigeria
        Social context
        Folk literature
        Cultural activities
        Performance theory
        Masquerades
        Performance art
      sug:
        subj:
          Social context
          Folk literature
          Cultural activities
          Performance theory
          Cross River (Cameroon & Nigeria)
          Nigeria
          Masquerades
          Performance art
      keyword:
        Akpoha-Afikpo Ọkụmkpọ́ masquerade
        performance analysis
        play production
        rituals
        theatre
        Akpoha-Afikpo Ọkụmkpọ́ masquerade
        performance analysis
        play production
        rituals
        theatre
      ab: The Cross River Igbo area of Southeast Nigeria has a wide range of masquerade cultural practices which has attracted several academic investigations. The most cited and popular performance is the Akpoha-Afikpo Ọkụmkpọ́ masquerade. Scholars have engaged with the Ọkụmkpọ́ masquerade phenomenon from varying perspectives, including its thematic preoccupations, the sociopolitical functions, the aesthetic dynamics, the ritual underpinnings, and the dramatic, sociological, and anthropological connotations, as well as the mask typologies. As far-reaching as these enquiries have been, however, there has been hardly any effort to investigate this performance within African theatricality, or to treat individual participants as individual performers. This article examines the processes involved in Ọkụmkpọ́ masquerade ritual as a theatrical performance. The research is based on participant observation, in-depth interviews and closed-group discussions. As a study that sets out to investigate the visual and kinetic spectacles of a particular Igbo satiric and didactic performance, ethno-poetics and performance analysis are the theoretical frameworks adopted. The article concludes that the production of Ọkụmkpọ́ masquerade follows the principles of play production: from scripting, auditioning, casting, rehearsal, directing, dress, and technical aspects, to the actual performance in both the village and the market square.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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