The play, Dance of Fury, written by Feyi Abiodun- Oyeniyi and published by Feyisam (Publishing) Ventures Limited, Ikeja, Lagos is a story that demonstrates the author’s firm belief in the rights of women, particularly the girl-child and widow who are often victims of obnoxious cultural and traditional practices in our society.

It is crafted as a weapon exposing the ills of polygamy forced and early marriage, abuse of widows and bitterness caused by disregard for African cohesive bonds. Dance of Fury exhibits the beauty of African culture, and at the same time, laments its internal contradictions.

Dance of Fury,which is an adaptation of one of the stories in the writer’s first published work, Frogs for Dinner and Other Stories, is a drama adapted from a prose, Iyawo Sara, for the films and theatres.

The 182 page book which is presently on the list of books recommended for students in the Senior Secondary School Three (SSS III) of the Lagos state government, is laced with Yoruba words and phrases. Readers need not to worry as the publisher provides for glossary pages at the end of the pages. Film makers will find this particular book, not only interesting but, easily adaptable for screen production.

The play is set in Omu-Aran, as the original story, the prose, an Igbomina area of Kwara State. It tells the story of two lovebirds, Abike and Adewale who both hail from different warring communities in the town. In the ensuing love tango between them, Abike became pregnant. While the two decided to formalize their union through marriage, their people insisted that history and tradition forbade such relationship.

Under duress, and while the mother of the girl, Abike faces criticism and ostracism, being blamed for her daughter’s waywardness, she was forced to terminate the pregnancy. Abike and Adewale were forced to separate, and each betrothed to different persons thereby resulting to pains, sorrow and regrets for them, until the two felt compelled to eat the forbidden fruit and break the jinx of tradition and faced the consequences which readers can only garner by reading it.

Feyi-Abiodun Oyeniyi is a Nigerian journalist and a former reporter for The Guardian Newspaper, a radio and television broadcaster. He is a member of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) and human rights activist.