A Dance of the Forests

As Murete gets ready to attend the village festival, he is accosted by an irate Eshuoro. The angry god vows to punish the humans himself for desecrating the forest as he believes that Aroni, who plans to judge the humans’ guilt, will let the humans go alive. Murete insults Eshuoro, who then tries to kill him. Murete flees, leaving Eshuoro alone with his rage.

In another part of the forest, the Orisha assemble. The Forest Head turns back time to eight centuries ago, and the setting changes to the Court of Mata Kharibu. The previous incarnations of the human characters from Part 1 are all played by the same actors in Part 2. Mata Kharibu and his queen, Madame Tortoise (the previous incarnation of Rola), preside over the court. Mata Kharibu is furious; Madame Tortoise is in a good mood. Madame Tortoise forces the Court Poet (Demoke’s previous incarnation) and his apprentice to fetch her missing canary from the roof; the Court Poet is apprehensive, having heard of a man who recently fell off the roof and died.

The Warrior, who is the living version of the Dead Man from Part 1, enters in chains. Mata Kharibu is furious with the Warrior for refusing to lead his men into battle over what the Warrior thinks is an unjustified matter: Determined to start a war, Mata Kharibu stole another king’s wife and now demands her possessions as a dowry. The Court Physician attempts to convince the Warrior that it is a matter of honor, but to no avail. The Warrior’s refusal risks not only his own life, but also that of his wife (the Dead Woman from Part 1) and his soldiers.

The Court Historian (Adenebi’s previous incarnation) enters, telling Mata Kharibu that there is no precedent for a soldier refusing to fight, so the Warrior must be a traitor. Mata Kharibu agrees. The Soothsayer (Agboreko’s previous incarnation) enters, warning of much bloodshed on both sides, should Mata Kharibu decide to go to war. However, Mata Kharibu calls for the Dead Man and his soldiers to be enslaved. Mata Kharibu exits after being assured by the Soothsayer that the future holds nothing for men like the Warrior.

The Court Physician argues with the Slave-Dealer about the conditions on the slave ship; The Court Physician thinks it would be a mercy if the Warrior’s soldiers were killed instead of enslaved. The Slave-Dealer secretly bribes the Court Historian to say that he has visited the slave ship and that the conditions are not bad.

The Court Poet returns with Madame Tortoise’s canary. The Court Poet’s apprentice fell off the roof and broke his arm. Madame Tortoise dismisses the Court Poet, waits until the court clears, and then summons the Warrior to her side. Madame Tortoise offers to save his life and have the Warrior take Mata Kharibu’s place as king. The Warrior cries out for guards, but his cries summon his pregnant wife instead. Angry upon being spurned, Madam Tortoise sends the Warrior off to be castrated and sold into slavery as a eunuch. The Warrior’s pregnant wife dies soon after out of despair.

The Forest Head and Aroni watch the spectacle of the past play out. Eshuoro enters, calling the Warrior a fool. Eshuoro complains that he has been wronged by the murder of Oremole and the carving of his tree, and that the Forest Head has done nothing to rectify it. Ogun enters, and Ogun and Eshuoro fight until the Forest Head breaks it up. The Forest Head admonishes the two Orisha for behaving like humans. Aroni, still intending to judge the humans himself, will not allow Eshuoro vengeance for Oremole, nor will he listen to Ogun and let Demoke go free.

The scene shifts back to the forest in the present. The Forest Head sits on a large stone with the Questioner—who is really Eshuoro in disguise—standing beside him. Aroni and the other spirits and humans are gone. The Questioner asks the Dead Woman why she did not live for the child growing inside her. The Dead Woman responds, “I was a woman. I was weak” (69).

The Dead Man enters, and Forest Head addresses him by his real name, Mulieru. The Dead Man lived three reincarnated lifetimes after the death of the Warrior. The Questioner cruelly presses the Dead Man about why he seemed to learn nothing in those generations of wandering. Aroni appears and rips off the Questioner’s mask, revealing Eshuoro. Eshuoro flees. The Forest Head is amused. The god Oro—one aspect of the hybridized Orisha Eshuoro—enters, claiming he has played fair the whole time. The Forest head shrugs this off and summons the living humans of the present and the Interpreter, who is secretly Eshuoro’s attendant, the Jester, in disguise.

Demoke, Rola, and Adenebi enter, led by the Interpreter. They are given masks to wear, bearing the same expression of resignation that their faces show. The dead couple are led offstage, and the Dead Woman returns shortly, having finally given birth to the Half-Child. The Forest Head calls forth a procession of spirits who each interact with the Half-Child. One of the spirits, a Figure in Red, plays a game with the Half-Child as the other summoned spirits chant. When the Figure in Red wins the game, Aroni worries that the Figure in Red may be Eshuoro in disguise again, but the Forest Head holds him back.

The Forest Head questions some of the spirits, including the Spirit of the Volcanoes and the Ant Leader. Eventually, the three humans are unmasked, and three spirits, the Triplets, are summoned. The first of the Triplets represents the End that justifies the Means, the second Triplet represents the Greater Cause, and the third Triplet represents Posterity.

The Figure in Red reveals himself to be Eshuoro, who tries to take the Half-Child. With the help of his Jester, disguised as the Interpreter, Eshuoro snatches the child and throws him to the Triplets, who toss the Half-Child back and forth, keeping him away from Demoke, who tries to help the Half-Child. Ogun intervenes, catching the Half-Child and giving him to Demoke. After some hesitation, Demoke gives the Half-Child to the Dead Woman. The Forest Head, Aroni, and the other spirits leave. Eshuoro shouts triumphantly.

Eshuoro and his Jester lead Demoke to the village idol in a Dance of the Unwilling Sacrifice. Demoke climbs the totem, and Eshuoro sets it on fire, but Ogun catches Demoke as he falls from the totem tree. Eshuoro vents his rage to the Jester.

At dawn, the Old Man, Murete, and Agboreko enter. The Old Man is delighted to see that his son, Demoke, is alive. They all realize that Obaneji must have been the Forest Head in disguise, and that Aroni punished the villagers for wronging the Dead Man and Dead Woman in their past lives. The Old Man asks if Demoke learned anything about the future from his experiences, but Demoke is unable to give a straight answer.