- Act 2 picks up in the bungalow of the District Officer Simon Pilkings and his wife, Jane; they are tangoing and wearing costumes in preparation for some big party that night.
- Amusa, who is described as a "native administration policeman," comes in to tell Simon something, but he gets too freaked out by Simon and Jane's get-ups to come out with it right away. It seems that they are wearing costumes confiscated from local egungun men, who used them for a masquerade representing the reincarnated spirits of their ancestors. Despite the fact that Amusa has ostensibly converted to Islam, he still seems to treat the costumes (and customs around them) with respect… and is nervous that Simon and Jane don't.
- Because Amusa is too freaked out to tell Simon what he came to tell him, Simon tells him to write it down on a pad of paper. Then he and Jane leave.
- When Simon comes back to see what Amusa came to tell him, he calls Jane back in and reads the note.
- Although he initially gets the precise details a little funky because of the way Amusa phrased things, Simon gets the gist: some kind of death is going to occur that night. At first, he thinks that means a murder, and since this kind of thing is illegal under the English administration there, he figures Amusa thought they should know.
- They call their servant, Joseph, in to ask him what he knows about all this. He has the lowdown, and clarifies that the event actually involves a local chief sacrificing himself.
- Simon is bummed by the news—and, in particular, the info regarding which chief is involved. It seems that he and Elesin have history; they clashed when Simon helped get Elesin's son into med school in England.
- Joseph asks to leave, but they soon have him back in to answer questions about the drumming they're hearing in the background. Joseph is finding it hard to interpret the music, though, since it kind of sounds like wedding drums and the kind of drums you'd use to herald the death of a chief.
- While they're talking, Simon offends Joseph by being sacrilegious, and Jane is concerned that their servant is now going to quit. Simon ends up apologizing.
- Anyway, back to the rumors of ritual death happening that night: To deal with the issue, Simon sends a note back to Amusa via Joseph.
- Although Jane had kind of given up on going to their own masquerade that night, Simon tells her to get her costume back on, explaining that he's as instructed Amusa to arrest the chief and lock him up to prevent the ritual from going off.
- Also, Simon reveals that he's so supercharged about the ball because the Prince is in town and attending.