Communication elements in cultural troupes’ performance in Benin City, Nigeria

Daniel Eromosere Omoruan & Sam Erevbenagie Usadolo

Volume 5 Issue 2, June 2025

Abstract

Cultural troupes (CT) are community-based performing groups that deploy traditional resources and heritages in their performances to communicate community issues to the people. Communication is a fundamental aspect of cultural troupes’ performance (CTP) across various cultures and CTs in Benin City, Nigeria adopt similar communication approaches to educate their audiences and propagate the culture of the people. The study aims to stimulate broader academic interest in CTP towards addressing language and cultural degradation in the community. It uses the artistic communication (AC) framework to analyse the communication elements and conveyed messages in cultural troupes’ performances (CTP) in Benin City. A qualitative methodology is employed, incorporating data collection through focus groups (FGs), key informant interviews (URs), purposive sampling of respondents (Rs), and observation. Data analysis follows an interpretive thematic approach. Findings reveal that communication elements in CTP in Benin City align with established communication patterns in other cultural communities, and there is a constant transformation of traditional forms and intercultural penetration, alongside a low level of language and cultural knowledge among the young generations in Benin City. Additionally, the scarcity of research on communication within CTP in other communities limits the data available for this study.

Keywords

Author information & Contribution

Daniel Eromosere Omoruan. Corresponding author. Department of Visual and Performing Arts, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa. Email: 22176420@dut4life.ac.za

Sam Erevbenagie Usadolo. Department of Media, Language and Communication, Faculty of Arts and Design, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa. Email: samu@dut.ac.za

"All authors equally contributed to the conception, design, preparation, data gathering and analysis, and writing of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript."

Disclosure statement

Funding

Institutional Review Board Statement

Data and Materials Availability

AI Declaration

Notes

Acknowledgement

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Cite this article:

Omoruan, D.E. & Usadolo, S.E. (2025). Communication elements in cultural troupes’ performance in Benin City, Nigeria. International Review of Social Sciences Research, 5(2), 156-177. https://doi.org/10.53378/irssr.353201