PERFORMING POVERTY: ENTERTAINING FOR ALMS AND EMERGING VOICES IN STREET PERFORMANCE IN AWKA

Abstract

This study examines street begging as a form of performance and investigates how visually impaired street beggars in Awka transform poverty into performative acts through entertainment-oriented strategies aimed at attracting alms. Anchored in Richard Schechner's Performance Theory, the study adopts a qualitative research design utilizing participant observation and content analysis of four selected visually impaired mobile beggars operating in public spaces across Awka. The findings reveal that the beggars employ organized artistic and communicative techniques such as musical performances, praise singing, storytelling, instrumental display, vocal modulation, bodily expression, and strategic spatial positioning to engage passersby and sustain audience interaction. These performative practices function not only as survival strategies but also as forms of informal street theatre that communicate socio-economic realities, vulnerability, and resilience within urban spaces. The study further reveals that the interaction between beggars and passersby reflects core theatrical elements, including performers, audiences, performance spaces, and symbolic communication. It argues that entertaining for alms constitutes an emerging mode of street performance that challenges conventional notions of theatre as being restricted to formal stages and professionally trained performers. The study concludes that street beggars represent marginalized yet significant voices within contemporary Nigerian street performance culture. The study therefore recommends broader scholarly engagement with alternative, informal, and everyday performance traditions in Nigeria as part of efforts to expand the boundaries of theatre and performance studies.