The play opens with a short prologue in which the spirit Aroni the Lame One names each of the characters and describes their relationships to one another as well as each character’s previous incarnation: Demoke the carver was once the Court Poet, Rola the courtesan was once called Madame Tortoise, and Adenebi, who is now the court orator, was known as the Court Historian in a past life. The Forest Head, an invented Yoruba god unique to the play, is disguised as a human man called Obaneji. The local people are preparing for the Gathering of the Tribes, and through Agboreko, the Elder of Sealed Lips, they have petitioned the gods to send illustrious ancestors to attend their festival. Instead, Aroni summons the Dead Man and the Dead Woman as accusers, explaining that the dead couple were wronged by Demoke, Obaneji, Adenebi, and Rola in their past lives during the time of the Court of Mata Kharibu, 800 years earlier.

The Dead Man and his wife, the Dead Woman, push their way up from the ground and ask passing villagers for help. Demoke the carver is in a hurry and will not listen.