The artistic portrayal or representation of folkloric forms into plays
ought to reflect the crux of such traditional forms or materials in
order to underscore their significance. This research examines the use
of folkloric forms in a number of Tiv plays: Iyorwuse Hagher‟s Swem
Karagbe (1979), Saint Gbilekaa‟s Prized Chickens are Not Tasty (2002)
and Yev Peter Gande‟s The Rebound (2012). The use of Tiv religious myths
of Swem (ancestral land), Tsav (Witchcraft), Kor (concoction) and dance
festivals through folktale narratives is considered a vehicle of
conveying cultural education. The methodology deployed for data
collection and analysis for this research is qualitative method, through
content analysis of the three plays. With the aid of Sam Ukala‟s
"folkism" as the theoretical framework, analysis of data obtained from
the three plays is put into proper analytical perspective and context.
The research therefore, found that: (a) the three drama texts
significantly use folklore as a composite phenomenon. The usage ranges
from Tiv religious myths like Swem (ancestral location), Adzov/Mbatarev
(non-human spirits), Tsav (witchcraft), Kor (concoction) and dance
festival or celebration. The plays also use complementary folkloric
forms like connotative names of characters, proverbs, amongst others.
The use of oral narratives by the narrators, thereby juxtaposing history
and folklore tradition to make statement in the three plays is also
another important finding. The use of folklore, allows important themes
to be communicated to the audience. Another finding in this regard is
the use of linguistic variables in the plays. There are cases of code
switching involving English (dominantly used) and the Tiv (minimally
used) languages. The research then concluded that folklore is very
significant, because it facilitates cultural education. Playwrights who
desire to write on folk culture should therefore harness them with
genuine adequacy that would translate to cultural education instead of
misrepresentation of folkloric forms in a creative piece.