Death and the King’s Horseman

Death and the King’s Horseman takes place in the ancient Yoruba city of Oyo in British-ruled Nigeria, in 1941. The King is dead. Tradition says that the King’s Horseman must commit ritual suicide in order to accompany the King to the world of the dead, thereby ensuring the continued well being of those he leaves behind in the world of the living. At midnight tonight he will dance himself to death.