Perspectives on Written Cameroon Literature in English

16. Bole Butake, Lake God and Other Plays, Yaoundé: Editions CLE, 1999

283 16 Bole Butake, L Lake God and Other Plays Yaoundé: Editions CLE, 1999 The publication of Bole Butake’s Lake God and Other Plays by Editions CLE, Yaoundé, confirms him as one of the two giants of the Anglophone Cameroon literary theatre today. Whether drawing from a mythic imagination or from the contemporary social scene, Butake succeeds in making his plays scathing commentaries on contemporary social life in Cameroon, in particular, and Africa in general, especially where there is irresponsible political leadership, unconscionable dictatorial rule, rapacious greed, corruption, immorality and the misuse of power. This malpractice by the elite in control of the reins of power provokes the justified anger of the oppressed who advocate a change of the status quo, a protest in which women play a fundamental role. For in most of Butake’s dramas women have moved from their traditional back-seat role of passive players to the foreground as a powerful force for significant social change. The six plays in the collection handle various themes and social issues: the eternal conflict between traditionalism and modernity (Lake God); insatiable greed and the inhuman exploitation of a human situation (The Survivors); dictatorial rule in a local chiefdom, the use or misuse of power, as well as the powerful role of women in combating the forces of evil (And Palm-Wine Will Flow); the negative effects, on the civilian population, of military dictatorship (Shoes and Four Men in Arms); a classic illustration of the maxim that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely (Dance of the Vampires); and corruption and the travesty of justice (The Rape of Michelle). 284 Owing to the caustic nature of his plays and the high political content of most of them, Bole Butake is regarded in Cameroon as a radical dramatist whose intention is to transform people’s consciousness so that they can begin to explore ways of bringing about a new socio-political order. Working in close collaboration with the University of Yaoundé Theatre and the Flame Players, he has taken his plays to jammed theatre halls in the major towns of the Anglophone regions in Cameroon. But, above all, his plays have been staged in the capital city of Yaoundé, the seat of government and the socio-political nerve centre of Cameroon. Prior to their publication in 1999, one of the plays (Shoes and Four Men in Arms) was staged by the Flame Players in the three German cities of Leverkusen, Gelsenkirschen and Bayreuth. That Butake is able to stage plays in Yaoundé that are critical of the political system in Cameroon in particular, and Africa in general, without provoking bitter reaction from political authorities, is a measure of both the playwright’s ability to handle symbol, allegory and metaphor in which some of the plays are couched, and the relative freedom of the press under the ‘New Deal’ regime of President Paul Biya. During the rule of former President Ahmadou Ahidjo plays like Bole Butake’s would certainly have been banned in Cameroon. Owing to his unique way of handling his subject matter, Butake has not suffered the fate of his contemporary and compatriot, the irrepressible Bate Besong, whose fiery play, Beasts of No Nation, when premiered in Yaoundé in 1991 got him into difficulties with government authorities. The significance of Butake’s dramaturgy in Cameroon lies in the fact that his plays are an important aspect of the ongoing process of political sensitisation of Cameroonians in the wake of the wind of change from Eastern Europe in the late 1980s and the resurgence of multi-party politics in Africa, particularly in the last decade of the twentieth century. But above all, the successful production of Butake’s plays in 285 Cameroon is a pointer to the fact that in Cameroon today a skilful playwright or artist, that is to say, one with a good mastery of the English language, can be subtly critical of the political system without necessarily provoking a ban on his work. Butake’s example is an encouraging reality which other Cameroonian creative writers are likely to emulate. From the point of view of technique, Butake’s craftsmanship manifests itself in his adroit manipulation of dramatic elements like passion and poetry, sound and sense, suspense and spectacle, tension and tone, creative lighting and imaginative decor. Some of the dramas are rich in African theatrical idioms injecting freshness into them and expanding their range of...