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The action takes place in the remote Nigerian village of Ilujinle, in the territory of the Yoruba people. Sidi is the local beauty, much admired by the village school teacher Lakunle (la-kun-li), who wants to make her his bride. She is not averse to his intentions, but insists he must pay her 'bride price' to maintain her reputation. Lakunle however, is a modernist, he has been to Lagos and is filled with modern ideas, consequently he is reluctant to fall in line with what he sees as an archaic tradition (at least that is his excuse, we surmise its more a case of penny-pinching). A photographer who had visited the village sometime earlier and taken photographs of the people returns to deliver a copy of the magazine in which the photographs appear. Photographs of Sidi have pride of place, on the cover and centrespread, whilst the village bale ('ba-lay' = chieftain) Baroka has only a small corner inside. Sidi realises the power of her beauty, placing her above even the leader of her people.
Baroka was once a powerful warrior known as 'the Lion'. He has lived a long life and collected many concubines. Now he wants to add Sidi to his harem and sends his head wife, Sadiku, to proposition her. Sidi is not interested since he is an old man, and with the arrogance of youth rudely rebukes his advances. But Baroka is a wily old fox, not so easily brushed aside. He has determined to have Sidi, and hatches a plan to seduce her. Who will win the battle of wills, the naive but headstrong young girl, or the wily experienced old statesman?
Wole Soyinka's play is a spirited and ribald account of African village life that explores the conflicts between traditional and modern values, third World reality against first world ideals, and the power of men against the influence of women. The action is interspersed with raucous African song and dance. The visit of the photographer is told as a play within a play, a musical re-enactment with the villagers acting out the events of that day. The set is a simple circular affair but imaginative use of props serves to transform it from the schoolhouse to the village square and Boroka's bedroom. Colourful costumes round off the effect.
The strong accents of the characters make the dialogue a little difficult to follow at times for unaccustomed ears but adds to the realism of the piece. Unfortunately, the play loses it's way a little in the second act, accenting the humour but in so doing straying away from the darker side of the original story.
Omonor Imobhio is ideally cast as the beautiful young Sidi, the 'Jewel' of the title. She captures perfectly the essence of the uncultured 'bush woman' who allows the power of her beauty to go to her head turning her world upside down. But Anthony Ofoegbu is the undoubted star of the show, garnering most of the laughs as the lovestruck modernising schoolteacher. Toyin Oshinaike was impressive as the 'Lion' of the title, Baroka, despite struggling with his lines on a couple of occasions and Shola Benjamin was wonderfully comic as the mocking head wife Sadiku. The remainder of the fifteen strong cast, including musicians, all performed admirably.
A colourful production with many genuinely funny moments. Despite the generally strong perfomances however, it has to be said that the direction went somewhat astray with the result that this production fails to capture the acerbic edge of the original play.