A Discourse on The Evangelical Motifs in S. N. A. Agoro’s The Catalyst and Another Chance

Mumeya Fidelis Wilson; Benedict Binebai

doi:10.56201/rjhcs.v12.no8.2026.pg131.141

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A Discourse on The Evangelical Motifs in S. N. A. Agoro’s The Catalyst and Another Chance

Mumeya Fidelis Wilson, Benedict Binebai

Abstract

This article examines the evangelical motifs in S. N. A. Agoro’s The Catalyst and Another Chance, the first two parts of his Prison Plays, and asks how drama carries Christian evangelism in an African setting. Scholarship has said little about how Agoro’s plays represent evangelism itself, and the article addresses that gap. Agoro’s Ultimate Theatre Theory, which treats theatre as an instrument of moral instruction and spiritual witness, supplies the theoretical framework. The study follows the literary method: close textual analysis of dialogue, characterisation and plot, set against secondary scholarship on motif, evangelism and religious drama. It finds that evangelism in the plays is relational, gradual and experiential. Redemption, forgiveness, moral constancy under persecution, patient influence, emotional awakening and the offer of a second chance recur across both texts, and conversion follows ethical example more reliably than argument. Akpan, Dada, Aneze and Udensi mark distinct routes to transformation, while Bonta and Zema show that refusal remains possible. The article recommends authenticity, patience and emotionally attentive outreach to evangelists, and fuller use of drama by literary practitioners for moral and spiritual instruction.

Keywords

evangelism; evangelical motifs; S. N. A. Agoro; Ultimate Theatre Theory; Nigerian drama

References

Abrams, M. H., and Geoffrey Galt Harpham. A Glossary of Literary Terms. 9th ed., Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2009. Agoro, Saviour Nathan Anari. Another Chance. The Prison Plays. ---. The Catalyst. The Prison Plays. Baldick, Chris. The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. 3rd ed., Oxford UP, 2008. Brockett, Oscar G., and Franklin J. Hildy. History of the Theatre. 10th ed., Allyn and Bacon, 2008. Brooks, Peter. Reading for the Plot: Design and Intention in Narrative. Harvard UP, 1984. Chatman, Seymour. Story and Discourse: Narrative Structure in Fiction and Film. Cornell UP, 1980. Chen, Ling, and Jing Wang. “Emotional Responses to Dramatic Performances and Their Impact on Evangelism.” Journal of Theatre Studies, vol. 14, no. 3, 2017, pp. 87-101. Davidson, Clifford, et al., editors. Everyman and Medieval Miracle Plays. Medieval Institute Publications, 2007. Emily, James. The Art of Faith: Drama and Evangelism. Religious Press, 2021. Esslin, Martin. An Anatomy of Drama. Hill and Wang, 1976. Garcia, Miguel, and Raj Patel. “Narrative Structure and Theatrical Evangelism: A Comprehensive Analysis.” Journal of Religious Performance Studies, vol. 22, no. 4, 2018, pp. 120-35. Green, Michael. “What Is Evangelism?” CORE, 1 Jan. 1984, core.ac.uk/outputs/155819573/. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026. The Holy Bible: New International Version. Biblica, 2011. Kight, Chelsea. “What Is Evangelism?” Cru, www.cru.org/us/en/train-and-grow/share-the- gospel/what-is-evangelism.html. Accessed 30 Mar. 2024. Nicoll, Allardyce. The Development of the Theatre: A Study of Theatrical Art from the Beginnings to the Present Day. Harcourt Brace, 1966. Osakue, Stevenson Omoera, editor. Studies on the Ultimate Theatre Poetics of Saviour Nathan Anari Agoro. Galda Verlag, 2025. Rimmon-Kenan, Shlomith. Narrative Fiction: Contemporary Poetics. 2nd ed., Routledge, 2002. Sutherland, Jim. Theology of Evangelism. rmni.org/files/handouts/Evangelism%20Helps/Theology%20of%20Evangelism.pdf. Accessed 7 Mar. 2025. Terry, John Mark. Evangelism: A Concise History. Broadman and Holman Publishers, 1994. White, Ellen G. Evangelism. Ellen G. White Estate, 2017, media2.egwwritings.org/pdf/en_Ev.pdf. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026. Wong, Sarah, and Hannah Kim. “Visual Storytelling in Dramatic Evangelism: Reaching Diverse Audiences.” International Journal of Performing Arts, vol. 25, no. 1, 2019, pp. 56-70.

A Discourse on The Evangelical Motifs in S. N. A. Agoro’s The Catalyst and Another Chance

Abstract

Keywords

References

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