The Trials of Brother Jero by seminal playwright, poet, and essayist Wole Soyinka is a satire about a fake prophet. It was first performed in Ibadan, Nigeria in 1960; at 26 years of age, it was one of Soyinka’s first plays. Having grown up in an evangelical household in Nigeria, Soyinka became suspicious toward religion, particularly Islam and Christianity; instead of making the most of their talents or helping society, their brains were wrapped and shriveled up, which increased the superstitious nature of many middle and working-class Nigerians. While supportive of spirituality, Soyinka is against using religion for social, economic, moral, or political advantage. Soyinka received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986. The themes of The Trials of Brother Jero include romantic betrayal; religious hypocrisy; the skepticism over the use of religion. Much of the satire and <a href="http://www.supersummary.com/irony/">irony</a> in The Trials of Brother Jero comes from the contrast between a self-proclaimed “man of god” and the ordinary community life he finds himself within. The play is technically a one act but has five scenes. Brother Jero (full name: Jeroboam) is an evangelical prophet practicing along a large beach in Lagos, Nigeria. Despite his supposed holiness, he often takes advantage of people. While opportunistic and largely dishonest, Jero is also a product of the ignorant people around him. Jero understands what people want—money, respectability, political power—and he is willing to offer them compelling “prophecies” to reaffirm their deepest desires. The audience receives all of this information from the first scene, which is of Jero speaking directly to the audience. He says that his parents thought he’d be a successful preacher because his unruly hair gave him the aura of something holy. But the preaching business is tough these days: he faces increasing competition from the other preachers on the beach, as well as the fact that more and more people would rather stay home and watch TV. Jero tells the audience that what they will see is all from a day in his life that continues to haunt him. But before this, he’s interrupted by Old Prophet. The spectral figure berates him. Not only has Jero stolen the man’s prime pulpit, but he has also shown himself to be very ungrateful for the lessons that the older man once gave to Jero. Jero ignores Old Prophet. Scene two opens to Chume, Jero’s most ardent supporter, and his wife, Amope, a tax-collector who hates Jero, appearing before his house. The married couple enter a verbal fight, and Jero tries to leave his house as the appearance of the couple is never a good thing for him. He doesn’t yet know that Amope intends to collect three months’ worth of taxes. Chume does not know that this is Jero’s house. As Jero escapes, Amope shouts insults after him and gives chase. The play leaps forward to Jero standing in his “church” on the beach. He claims to be super successful and a self-made man. Despite all these seeming advantages, Jero is single; throughout the play, some comedic moments occur as he struggles against his sexual impulses toward women, as well as their rebuffs. Jero admits that he doesn’t want any of his followers to be entirely absolved from their problems. When Chume asks for permission to beat his wife, Jero claims that that isn’t the right thing to do; the real reason for this advice is that Jero doesn’t want Chume to be so independent that he doesn’t require Jero’s services. Jero thinks that he needs to have a good brand name and starts thinking of something ostentatious to call himself. Later in the play, he’ll settle on “the Immaculate Jero, Articulate Hero of Christ's Crusade.” Chume then joins Jero at the beach. Chume called sick into work. Jero is pleased that Chume found him on the beach, as he likes to appear as if he sleeps on the beach in an act of devotion. Jero’s followers start to arrive on the beach. This includes two government workers, whom Jero enticed into his congregation by prophesizing that they will gain an even higher government post in the future. From an off-hand comment that Chume makes, Jero realizes that Amope is trying to collect a tax debt from him. To avoid having to pay anything, Jero finally tells Chume that God has told him it’s now okay to beat his wife. Later that evening, Jero returns home to find Amope and Chume fighting in front of his house. Chume insists that they must go home; Amope refuses—she must collect money from Jero. The physical and verbal disagreement escalates, and neighbors start to gather to watch. Chume screams at Jero’s house that if he curses Chume, Amope will forgive all of his debts. At this, Chume finally realizes that Jero only agreed to the wife-beating for his own benefit. Betrayed by his prophet and angry, Chume returns to the beach to punish Jero. The final scene takes place at nightfall on the beach. Jero watches a young politician practice a speech he’ll give to his superiors. Scheming that Chume will no longer depend on him, Jero decides he needs more followers, and approaches the young man. He claims that unless the young man follows him, God will take away his future political success. Helpless, the young man agrees. Chume appears on stage muttering to himself. He believes Amope and Jero are having an affair. He exits, and it’s implied that he soon will commit a violent act against Jero. The young politician kneels in the sand as Jero begins the conversion. But then, Chume bursts back onto the scene wielding a dulled sword; Amope accompanies him, and together they chase after Jero. When the young politician opens his eyes again, Jero has disappeared. He interprets this as a sure sign that Jero is/was a man of God. Once the scene calms down, Jero tells the audience what happened next. The politician started telling everyone that Jero was whisked away by God; he prays that the prophet will return. The politician is asleep on stage. Jero says that when he wakes up, he will tell him that Chume is an agent of Satan and must be locked up in a mental hospital. He throws a pebble at the young man, who wakes up and exclaims, “Master!”

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Wole Soyinka

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