Playwright's Note
The play MAD MEDICUS is an absurd, ironical theatrical presentation, which questions the relationship and behavior of man towards God. Meanwhile absurd theatre is said to be a nonsensical type of drama that questions the existentialist of man.
The play's major point is that human beings are the creator or master planner of their problems and they're the only one responsible for the possible solutions to the problems. This play pictures the situations of my country, NIGERIA; almost everything that happens in the play reminds us of what is real in our society.
A typical example is an expression of Sixtus' soliloquization, in his premier appearance. Every bit of his expression is related to Nigeria:
"Out there…planes run on railway tracks and let the trains fly in the sky… ships have taken over the roads…our vehicles now sail through waters…Out there our soldiers return home and send their wives to the battle front, while they seat back to breast feed the babies. People die of hunger seated before a banquet. As flowers planted by the riverside die drought. Out there our government gives light to other nations and lights candles at night…"
The above expression describes the entire situation happening in Nigeria. It is a country that we see a teacher ends up a banker while a banker becomes a Yoruba teacher. It is in Nigeria, that a lawyer is appointed to become commissioner of education & vice-versa and the facts go on.
Everything we do is upside down just like the quoted lines above. Nonetheless, there are so many more instances in the play that highlight these realities, and they are a direct mirror of our society.
The play portrays Nigeria's journey over the years, based on her leadership and people that are being ruled. A few talk without reasoning, some speak words that carry no weight, and others act as if their actions have no consequences. Yet it also addresses the idea of a day of reckoning will come and we might all end up looking for solutions in the same place.
I only hope, we all come to understand & embrace the fact that each one of us, as Nigerians are the real solution to our hullabaloo!
Obinna-Blaise Orji
edited by Bola Stephen-Atitebi & 'Yomi Adediran