Death and the King's Horseman (Paperback) [first edition]

Elesin Oba, the King's Horseman, has a single destiny. When the King dies, he must commit ritual suicide and lead his King's favorite horse and dog through the passage to the world of the ancestors. A British colonial officer, Pilkings, intervenes. "This play, by the winner of a Nobel Prize for Literature, asks: "On the authority of what gods" the white aliens rupture a world. It puts exciting political theatre back on the agenda ... a masterpiece of 20th century drama."-Guardian "The action of the play is as inevitable and eloquent as in Antigone: a clash of values and cultures so fundamental that tragedy (ensues): a tragedy for each individual, each tribe."-Daily Telegraph "A transfixing work of modern world drama."-Independent