Performance as Spiritual Conjuring: Exploring Influences of Alárinjó Theatrical Art in the Works of Taiwo Ajai-Lycett.

Taiwo Ajai-Lycett, Nigerian-British actress of stage and screen, stands as a compelling contemporary figure whose work bears the imprints of this indigenous theatrical heritage. Her praxis is shaped by the “disguise” and culture-custodian legacies of the Alárìnjó theatre., blended with the Western performance styles of Konstantin Stanislavski, Lee Strasberg, Bertolt Brecht, and Sanford Meisner. Through her, we can conceptualise Alárìnjó as a living system of performance, thereby expanding the discourse of performance theory as well as the pedagogical landscape of performance from an African indigenous knowledge location – one that has remained comparatively underexplored until now. With this objective, this paper explores how Ajai-Lycett channels aspects of this receding theatre tradition into her contemporary screen and stage work. It examines key Alárìnjó concepts - such as “invisibility”, “disguise”, and “spirituality” - alongside exemplars of her performances from 1973 to the present. In doing so, it spotlights three cultural subtexts of the Alálàrinjó form that are typically lost to the casual observer. These include: (1) the transcendental mindset required by the actor to simultaneously inhabit the dual roles of entertainer and cultural curator (Kalilu 1991); (2) the spiritual significance in costume selection (Aremu 1983); and (3) the cultural dimensions embedded in blocking and dance expressions of human experiences such as birth, death, loss, and marriage. In this way, the paper contributes to extended critical conversations on Nigerian screen performance and nuances key dynamics of gendered presences in Nigerian television systems since the 1970s.