The griot can spin his yarns, but it is better seen than imagined: thespians make you believe that’s the beauty of the make-believe world. Those wedded to the Braille may beg to differ, but, for those who trooped to the National Theatre, Lagos, on Easter Sunday, to watch the command performance of Spectacle,
a musical folk theatre performance by the National Troupe of Nigeria, no time went down the drain watching live theatre.
It was an impressive crowd, much more than the Hall 2 could take at a time. It had little to do with the fact that the box office wasn’t meant to contend with triple digits or more –of course, it wasn’t a pay-and-watch show–but theatre was beginning to witness a rebirth under the new Artistic Director of NTN, Mr. Akin Adejuwon. From their smile-creased faces, the audience relished every moment to get rooted to the spot.
In his opening statements, Mr. Adejuwon said he wasn’t surprised by the massive turnout for the event, because the audience included mainly traditional customers of the NTN, always eager to watch any performance by the troupe. Nigeria is moving forward, he said, which was why the audience had converged there on Easter Sunday for leisure.
Present at the command performance were seasoned thespians and theatre aficionados, such as the award-winning playwright, Eng. Solomon Uwaifo; actors, Paul Adam and Edmond Enaibe; theatre scholar and practitioner, Tunji Sotimirin; MD, National Theatre, Mr. Kabiru Yusuf; the writer, Mrs Mobolaji Adenubi, to mention a few.
The artistic director, restating the bias for traditional displays by the NTN, said: “According to the tradition, we shall continue to improve the contents of the National Troupe. We will always find something to educate, inform and entertain at the NTN,” he said, informing that the troupe, since he took over its administration late last year, had deployed traditional contents in its performances.
Before the spectacular potpourri began, the image maker of the troupe, Shuaibu Hussein, gave the audience tips on what to expect: a marriage of dissimilar artistic background to achieve a harmonious art form within real-time creative space. Due to the magnitude of the performance, NTN artistes teamed up with guest artistes, who played cameo roles.
Spectacle, a musical folk-theatre, is structured in four parts with a thematic thrust on national unity. Hence, the two-fold concept of creativity was meant to fuse the different artistic elements in performance, that is, the unity of the elements of the African performative stage on the wholesome representation of Nigeria’s diverse cultural heritage through music, songs, dance, narrative, masquerades and chants.
The performance itself showcased Nigeria’s rich culture from north to south. From the north, echoes of Hausa/Fulani folk spectacles resonated on stage; while, from the southern part of the country, the Yoruba, Igbo, Efik and Niger Delta folky art was showcased –a novel concepts that thrilled the audience intermittently.
The first part of the spectacle was entitled “Nigerian Folk-songs”. It opened with a group of artistes, comprising men and women, in black and white, performing Nigerian folksongs from different regions with a conductor directing the troupe.
The ante was upped moments later when Boy Sallah took to the stage with a love song dramatized by two Afro hair-styled performers, a couple. The hit Christian song “From a Distance” by Better Midler was choreographed by the National Troupe, with the artistes displaying spellbinding practiced jigs and body contortions.
The appearance of the comedian, Malam Spencer, added to the thrills with ribs-cracking jokes on Nigerian stereotypes. He soon made way to masquerades from Calabar, Igbo, Hausa, Fulani and Yoruba, which went with rapturous applause.
A drama sketch that juxtaposed Kano and Lagos street urban life added spice to the spectacle, amid a medley of songs. The euphoria and lust for the yarinya by one of the characters sent many roaring with laughter. A mimetic display by another cast ushered in contemporary dances, starting with Kiss Daniel’s hit single “Woju”. In the mime, a belle and a love struck lover boy appeared on stage backed by two groups of girls and boys. The Romeo was seen making love advances to the girl, who gesticulated to him to provide money, car and other good things of life, with the poor chap failing in his bid to woo her successfully for lack money to grant all her requests.
The other parts of Spectacles featured a medley of songs on Nigerian unity, musical parody and traditional music. Malam Spencer was called up to the stage once again to add more smiles on the faces of the audience, and he reaped bouts of laughter. The command performance climaxed with Ajodun (Celebration), elaborate recreations of diverse Nigerian folksongs and dances.
The evening soon came to an end, and the Easter treat couldn’t have been any better. The only dull moments that hardly excited the audience were the songs by the choir. A few argued that there was nothing fresh in their songs. Who knows, banalities might be part of the fun.
The final word of the day went to Mrs Ibokun Oduoye, a permanent secretary in the presidency, formerly in charge of the artistes. She applauded the vigour exhibited in The Spectacle, in spite of the obvious limitations, but was optimistic of a better future for the troupe.
The head of the Dance unit of the National Troupe, Mike Anyanwu, who coordinated The Spectacle, came up for praises by Mr. Adejuwon, while chatting with the press at the end of the show.
“Though there had been a lull in the recent past, I was determined to ensure that National Troupe marks this Easter with a command performance. I chose music this time around, because it is really the highest contributor in the entertainment industry today; it is what is trending and giving Nigeria a great mileage. So, I said my music department that was rather cold must come up. That’s what you have seen this evening. To me, that’s fulfilling.”
Plans, he said, were under way to take the troupe to Abuja, Ghana and other places. More frenetic displays on the Nigerian stage looked more probable on the horizon, as he promised.
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