*Event to herald National Theatre Festival of Unity, Dec 17 & 18
A ‘National Roundtable on Play Creation’, holds virtually Friday, December 16 as opener to the National Theatre Festival of Unity which runs December 17 & 18.
Organised in partnership with the Nigerian Centre of the International Theatre Institute, ITI, the Roundtable will feature two eminent Theatre artists, Professors Femi Osofisan and Ahmed Parker Yerima, both playwrights and teachers whose works have been widely read and produced by students and professional theatre companies over time in Nigeria and other parts of the continent.
With the National Theatre General Manager and Chief Executive Officer, Professor Sunnie Enesi Ododo, the initiator and director of the Festival of Unity, as host, the Roundtable is moderated by Professor Emma Dandaura, President of the Nigeria Centre of the ITI, who has urged would-be participants to join up via ID: 850 3243 3225 | Passcode: Christm@s; or by clicking at: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85032433225pwd=U2xpdHdRUFgrZVcvdWplRDFQWTZVdz09 .
Remarkably the two featured playwrights-resource persons in the roundtable had at different times been Chief Executive Officers of the nation’s prime culture house, the National Theatre. Osofisan, who has published over 70 drama texts and is recognised both locally and internationally as a leading light of playwrighting on the continent and beyond, was CEO of National Theatre, 2000-2004; while Yerima, also a widely read and performed dramatist in Nigerian theatre circuit, was the Director General of both National Theatre and National Troupe of Nigeria, 2006-2009.
The event will also feature as panelists three relatively younger playwrights, who had each won different editions of the National Theatre Public Reading Spot: Dr Abayomi Adegbamigbe, a lecturer with the Adekunle Ajasin Univerity, Ondo State, winner 2000; Gloria Akayi, student Nassarawa State University, Keffi, winner 2021 with her work, Who Knows Amanda, which was read in Keffi; and Testimony Jesutofunmi, a student of Obafemi Awolowo University, who won the 2022 edition, and whose work, Where Three Roads Meet, was read last June at the OAU Ile-Ife.
There will be goodwill messages from chief executives of federal agencies and parastatals under the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, as well as presidents of National Academy of Letters, NAL; president of Society of Nigerian Theatre Artists, SONTA, and President National Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners and the Vice President of the International Theatre Institute, ITI.
…Festival of Unity in celebration of Life
INTRODUCED in 2020 as an annual event by the General Manager/CEO of the National Theatre, Professor Sunday Enessi Ododo, the National Theatre Festival of Unity was conceived to celebrate life, build bridges of unity, promote peace and harmony as well as rekindle hope in humanity following the disruption caused by the Coronavirus pandemic which rocked the globe.
Directed from inception by Biodun Abe, Deputy Director at the National Theatre, the maiden edition held December 10-13, on the theme Healing Nigeria featured music, dance, and stand-up comedy at the National Theatre complex, Iganmu-Lagos. It offered Nigerians and residents alike fresh opportunity to engage and enjoy live performances which were temporarily suspended because of the pandemic. The second edition the theme Enduring Optimism, held December 10- 12, 2021.
The theme of the 2022 edition, according to a statement by Victor Oki, Director of Communications, MediaGate Nigeria, is Celebrations, and is designed to consolidate upon the gains of the first two editions.
“The theme is carefully chosen to give Nigerians an opportunity to take stock of God’s abundant blessings in their lives.
Oki said the edition, which falls within the last four months of the tenure of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to take stock of the achievements of President Muhammadu Buhari despite daunting challenges foist on Nigeria by escalating global economic recession and daunting security challenges”.
