Spiritual Aesthetics and Audience Reception in Contemporary Nigerian Christian Drama Using Festus Dairo’s Production of Mike Bamiloye’s The Return of the Bridegroom

Abstract

When theatre becomes a vessel for spiritual encounter, it transcends entertainment and enters the realm of sacred experience. This study explores the reception of The Return of the Bridegroom, a stage play written by Mike Bamiloye and directed by Festus Dairo under Zion Royal Theatre, as performed at Joseph Ayo Babalola University (JABU). Anchored in Reception Theory and the Theology of Aesthetics, the research investigates how a faith-based university audience interprets and internalizes the play’s theological messages, symbolic imagery, and emotive performances. Reception Theory—particularly the contributions of Hans Robert Jauss and Stuart Hall—frames the audience as active interpreters, while Spiritual Aesthetics positions the dramatic experience as a site of divine mediation and theological reflection. Using focus group discussions, audience surveys, and thematic analysis, the study reveals that the play elicited profound emotional engagement, spiritual introspection, and moral conviction. Cultural familiarity with Christian doctrine within the Nigerian context further intensified the reception of the play’s eschatological and ethical themes. By centering audience voices, this study contributes to scholarly conversations on African Christian dramaturgy, religious performance, and the affective power of faith-based theatre. It affirms that Christian drama, when rooted in spiritual aesthetics and performed within a receptive community, becomes a participatory space for theological reflection and communal transformation.