Steve Inegbe's Birthdays are for the Living: A Dramasophic Synopsis of the Meaning of Life

Abstract

This paper is an exposition of the dramasophic synopsis of the meaning of life as encapsulated in Inegbe's Birthdays are for the Living. The question, “what is the meaning of life?” continues to bemuse the finest of minds in human history. It has generated a litany of narratives that seems to be unsatisfactory in making sense of what it all means. In a bid to add his voice to this philosophical discourse, Inegbe adopts a dramatic approach to reflect on the meaning of life. In his dramatic master-piece, Birthdays are for the Living, he illustrates the workability of the idea of dramasophy as an interdisciplinary discipline at the intersection of drama and philosophy by reflecting on the philosophical question “does life have meaning?” In view of this, this paper sees Inegbe's work as a dramasophic synopsis of the meaning of life. In a bid to justify this claim, the paper attempts a conceptual analysis of dramasophy. It presents the meaning of life as espoused in Inegbe's play Birthday's are for the Living. In addition, it shows the proclivity between dramatic presentations and philosophical themes within the purview of Inegbe's birthdays are for the living. Finally, it calls for the cultivation of selfreflective attitude in recognition of the temporality of our earthly existence.