Full Synopsis of the Play: War Between Zavasha and Bovaren By Jighjigh Adolphus Sefa

Act 1

"War Between Zavasha and Bovaren" is a tragic play about war and the weak balance between ancestral vengeance and the pursuit of lasting peace.

The play opens at dawn during the harmattan season. Liamvarem and his son, Banenga, sit by a fire. Banenga reveals to his father his passion to become the bravest warrior of his time. Liamvarem puts his son to a test through a traditional proverb. When Banenga asks about it, Liamvarem explains the history of a shattered dynasty and why the era of war must be brought to an end.

Liamvarem recounts an encounter between two kings: Kaveraa, the King of Lomshasha, visits Shakyum, the King of Tandera, with presents. He requests to buy a piece of land for whatever it is worth. Kaveraa argues that he needs the piece of land bordering his territory to accommodate his captives. Shakyum refuses to sell ancestral ground. He declares that a king is only a custodian, not an owner. Shakyum is not convinced by the requests, and Kaveraa leaves angrily.

On his way back, Kaveraa is ambushed, looted, and killed in the desert along with his company. The attackers are raiders from the kingdom of Shitile—agents of a collective power where the ruler and subjects act as one. In death, Kaveraa utters a prediction: his blood will not end in silence, but it will sow war.

Years later, Zavasha, the King of Shidoom, sends a letter to Bovaren, the King of Shitile. He threatens to avenge his brother Kaveraa's death. Bovaren goes into a rage after reading the letter. The letter carries the news of Kaveraa's death, heavy accusations, and an oath of total destruction, as Zavasha ties his cause to the prediction.

Bovaren feels proud as a great king. He rejects the blame and chooses defiance. He says no king has ever dared him and gone scot-free. He instructs his servant, Sughnen, to summon all the chiefs and fighting men to his palace.

In the Great Courtyard, the chiefs gather to form a strategy. They plan to ambush the enemy at the River of Red Silt, using the terrain and fire to counter Shidoom’s cavalry. Some chiefs seek peace through negotiation, while others crave battle. Bovaren asserts his dominance, reveals Zavasha’s threat, and rejects all options of appeasement.

Bovaren prepares to meet the enemy on his own terms the following day. While they are still planning, a messenger brings devastating news that Zavasha is already advancing with a fierce army. Zavasha does not come as expected. He bypasses their strategy, terrain, and anticipation. He attacks through the Silent Woods, striking directly at the heart of Shitile. The city is set ablaze.

Act 2

Midnight falls over the broken city of Shitile. The city is in ruins and the inhabitants are massacred. Bovaren is dragged in the dust. Zavasha enters with his spear dripping blood. Luamo throws Bovaren down into the soot-covered dust. Bovaren pleads for his life and claims he is innocent. Zavasha does not care. Zavasha assaults Shordoo, Bovaren's wife, before his very eyes. Zavasha puts Bovaren to the sword right after. Bovaren dies sorrowfully, and Zavasha takes Shordoo away as a captive.

Three decades later, Zavasha feels lonely and dejected after the death of his primary wife. He has no heir. He summons Shordoo from her captivity. Zavasha offers her a place as his new queen. Shordoo turns down the offer and sets a condition that her people must be freed. Zavasha refuses.

Zavasha subsequently makes Shordoo his wife and queen anyway. In the course of their conversation, Zavasha asks Shordoo about the baby boy he heard she gave birth to over 30 years ago, during the early years of her captivity. Shordoo replies that the baby boy got lost while she was still in the dungeon. Afterward, Zavasha leaves with her for a more private place because he has something confidential to tell her.

Agbokpile, an elder, confronts Zavasha without fear and strongly challenges the king's shortcomings. Agbokpile warns him that what a man sows, he must reap. Zavasha has planted violence, oppression, and death. His throne, though strong in appearance, will collapse over time.

Act 3

Dooshina, the successor of Bovaren, mobilizes his forces against Zavasha to avenge his father’s death. He does exactly what Zavasha did to his father—he assaults Shordoo, who is now the wife of Zavasha, and finally kills Zavasha.

In the course of the incident, Shordoo remembers her son because of the birthmarks she marked on his wrists during his childhood. Dooshina marvels when she calls him by his private name, Doomômi, which only a mother would know. This raises suspicion. Dooshina demands the truth, and Shordoo reveals a painful secret: she is his mother, and Zavasha—the man Dooshina just killed—is actually his biological father because he assaulted her during the war.

At this exact moment, she reveals that he can rule both kingdoms through the signs marked on his wrists. The Addition Sign (+) stands for the soil of his physical delivery in the dark of Shidoom where she lay captive. The Multiplication Sign (X) implies crossed-citizenship, marking the moment he was carried across the stream to Shitile, where he was raised and crowned king.

Dooshina later rules both kingdoms and tries to lead with justice and peace. His chiefs suggest removing a group of people they see as visitors to the land, but he refuses. He insists on unity, fairness, and peaceful coexistence instead of hatred and division.

Later, Shordoo gives birth to a set of twins that are the result of the unwitting, incestuous relationship between her and Dooshina. She presents the children to him, and Dooshina is horrified. He sees it as a terrible curse, an abomination, and a continuation of the broken past he is trying to escape.

Unable to accept this, Dooshina kills Shordoo and the twins. He uses his mother’s blood to make inscriptions boldly in the palace of Shidoom. He orders the blood of a slaughtered ram so that the same inscriptions can also be made in the palace of Shitile, as he rules both cities.

"ABJURE THE DYNASTY;

DEFY WAR AND CAPTIVITY;

YA KWAGH NA ANMGBIAN —

FOR BREAD SHARED AMONG BROTHERS,

IS THE ONLY HOLY FEAST."

Dooshina, seeing his final wishes completed, runs himself through with his sword and dies.

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