RENEGADE THEATRE: IN THE SERVICE OF THE OLYMPICS

By Yemi Olakitan

When renowned UK based Theatre Company, Shakespeare Globe announced plans to celebrate the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympics games with a unique multilingual Shakespeare project, few people realized that Nigeria’s Wole Oguntokun and his Renegade Theatre would be one of the 38 international theatre companies that would be chosen for the six weeks theatre fiesta. Renegade theater recently organized a public audition in preparation for the Globe theatre’s plans to host all the Shakespeare plays in a single season beginning on Shakespeare’s birthday, April 23rd, 2012. Renegade theater audition took place at its Yaba office. There was a large turn out at the audition. Over a hundred people attended and it is not finished yet. According to Oguntokun, Renegade theater will be performing at the Globe theatre alongside various companies from different parts of the world who will perform all of Shakespeare’s plays in different languages as part of the celebrations, marking the Olympics Games in London. ‘‘This project is perhaps, the most daring Shakespeare project ever attempted. It builds on multilingualism, a tradition of Shakespeare production in London and a celebration of the multi-cultural identity of the city of London.’’ Says Oguntokun.
While Shakespeare’s Globe project forms part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad and celebrates international cultural collaboration, the company will also celebrate its 15th birthday in at the same time. This is an example of artistic activities that have established the theatre as an indelible part of the national and international theatre landscape and welcomes hundreds of thousands of people a year from around the world to its annual summer season and a wide variety of educational projects on the theatre. Within the season, the theater company will stage one production, and leave the remaining 37 plays for the invited theatre companies from around the world. A production from one of the world’s greatest Shakespearean directors, Eimuntas Nekrošius will be staged In Lithuanian language. In Urdu language, Pakistani TV star Nadia Jamil will step on stage as Katherine in the Taming of the Shrew. In Greek, there will be a visit from the National Theatre of Greece with one of Shakespeare’s Mediterranean masterpieces. In Aboriginal languages, for the first time, a co-production of King Lear from the Malthouse Theatre and Bell Shakespeare Company will be staged.

In Maori, a new production of Troilus and Cressida starring Rawiri Paratene comes on stage. In Shona language, The Two Gentlemen of Verona will be presented by Zimbabwean actors, Denton Chikura and Tonderai Munyevu; In Turkish, a production from the immensely popular Istanbul theatre Oyun Atolyesi; In Spanish, the Madrid-based company Rakata, who specialize in work from the Spanish Golden Age will come with a production of Henry VIII; In Mandarin, a history play from the National Theatre of China; In Portuguese, the return of the celebrated Grupo Galpão from Brazil; In Italian, Cometa Off Theatre will be coming with a new production of Julius Caesar; In British Sign Language, a groundbreaking production of Love’s Labour’s Lost comes from Definitely Theatre; In Cantonese, Hong Kong director Tang Shu will be staging Titus Andronicus. In Arabic, a musical version of The Tempest emerges from Sabab Theatre. Oguntokun said, Renegade Theater is the only company that is invited from the West African sub-region. The company would stage Shakespeare’s the winter’s Tail in Yoruba language. The play, which was translated by Ayotade Ipadeola, will answer to the directorial skills of Oguntokun. ‘‘Every company will perform a play in one day. There are companies from South Africa, Indian, South Sudan, Germany, and many others. There are only five theatre companies from Africa and we are the only one from Nigeria. This is a great honour for all of us,’’ he said.
Oguntokun’s Renegade theatre began in1998 when he staged "Who's Afraid of Wole Soyinka?", which criticized the Nigerian Military in government.
He produced and directed the play at the University of Lagos' Arts Theatre. He was a pioneer of the "Theatre@Terra project which regularly stage Nigerian plays at the Terre Kulture arts center in Victoria Island, Lagos
Oguntokun is one of Nigeria's most consistent theatre activists with plays being produced every Sunday at the venue. He has produced and directed numerous plays by many of Nigeria's best-known playwrights including Wole Soyinka's (Kongi's Harvest, Madmen & Specialists, The Lion and the Jewel, The Swamp Dwellers, Death and the King's Horseman, The Strong Breed, Childe International, Cam wood on the Leaves, The Jero Plays); Femi Osofisan's Morountodun, Once Upon Four Robbers, The Engagement, The Inspector and the Hero; Professor Ola Rotimi's The Gods are not to Blame; Zulu Sofola's King Emene, Wedlock of the gods, Wizard of Law as well as Athol Fugard's Sizwe Banzi is Dead. Renegade theater will also be performing at FESTINA, the yearly festival of theatre, which is organized by National association of Theatre Arts Practitioners

Government must Do More To support the Fashion Industry- Fayemz

By Yemi Olakitan

Adebola Fayemi is the CEO of Fayemz, a fashion label that has become a household name in the Nigerian fashion industry. The fayemz fashion company is known locally and internationally as a top rated African fashion label. A graduate of Graphic Arts from the Federal Polytechnic, Ibadan, Fayemi has spent most of his life as a fashion designer, having invested more than 20 years in the sector. His designs cut across different age groups and he caters to the clothing needs of the average urban middle and upper class Nigerian. In this interview with Yemi Olakitan, he speaks on challenges facing the Nigerian fashion sector among other issues. Excerpts

The early Days
I worked with an advertising agency before I decided to start a fashion Company. I left the advertising industry because fashion has always intrigued me and I know that I can do some great things there. The reason why I went into advertising was because I studied Graphics Arts and that is the place where we are most needed. On the other hand, fashion was an entrepreneurial calling. One of the challenges of the early days was the high turn over of staff because a lot of young people are not always patient and relaxed enough to learn. They are always looking for greener pastures.

His fashion shows
We had a show focusing on children fashion recently. It was a fashion show hosted by a school. We were able to showcase some of our designs using children models. It was great. The children modeled throughout. I decided to pay some attention to children designs because I realize that even the kids need to look good. The parents and the kids had so much fun and everybody felt great. This day, it is no longer an uncommon thing for kids to participate in fashion shows. It looks good and it adds another perspective to the show. We are always creating new designs every now and then. We made clothes for children as well as adults and we are planning other shows very soon to build the Fayemz brand further. The children fashion show was meant to sensitize the public on the different styles and designs on the Fayemz fashion label. We have designs for everyone, both young and old but that show was targeting the kids.
However, fayemz will be having a fashion show that will showcase all our fashion designs before this year run out. We are gong to have another early next year as well. Preparations are in top gear. I assure you.

Challenges in the industry.
The major challenge that we face in the industry concerns the lack of basic infrastructure particularly inadequate power supply. The other one is the harsh economic realities. What affects me the most as a designer is power. I donate half of my income to power generation. We are on diesel all the time. We are sitting down now here in this office. Lights can go off at any time and we have to run the generator on diesel and this costs money. I mean, you have the consciousness that lights may go off in the next four or five minutes. I know that there are signs of improvement but one cannot rejoice yet because just when you are jubilating that things are getting better that’s when the lights go off. If the government must help the fashion industry, they must improve power supply.
This is what will benefit every entrepreneur and have a multiplier effects on the economy because there will be jobs. If entrepreneur do not spend their money on what can be provided by government, the cost of production will be greatly minimized. This is the major obstacle that most Nigerians face. You provide water, you provide light, you clean you surroundings, if government can take effective charge of power and provide adequate power supply. Then we can concentrate our creative efforts on other areas, which will contribute immensely to the growth of our national economy.
The way I see Nigeria and this includes everybody, is that I see a malnourish child who has tremendous potential but is not flourishing. Nigerians are very resourceful even with the situation Nigerians have shown that they can perform wonders; given a conducive environment. Look at the music industry for example; Nigerian music is being played in the UK and the United States.
The same goes for the fashion industry. Our designers are on the runway robbing shoulders with the best designers all over the world. I don’t think that anyone can ignore the Nigerian spirit of ingenuity and this spirit cannot be cowed by lack of infrastructure and harsh economic conditions. Nigerian designers and musicians are doing their work without any form of government support. Look at private initiative such as Arise fashion. This is commendable but the people that should be doing something like that are the Export Promotion Council but they are not doing it. They are the one that should be organizing trade shows and al that but we thank God for such private initiative like the Arise fashion show.
I travel a lot and part of the reason why I travel is to see other culture. I travel in other to look at the fashion trends there so that I can know what to inculcate into our designs here in Nigeria in order to further promote the fayemz brand and contribute to the development of the Nigerian fashion
Industry. If I don’t do that, the customers will get bored with our designs and begin to prefer foreign brands. I like to go to countries like Tokyo, Thailand, Indian and look at the styles and designs because these countries are very rich in culture and style. I do not limit myself to Europe and the United states.

Words of Advice to younger designers
The harsh economic situation will not affect designers if we are serious about creativity because no matter how bad things may be people will always want to look good. People still travel to see their families abroad and spend money on holidays. The people who don’t have and the people, who have, always have. There will always be demand for good clothes. We must define our brand. At Fayemz, the kinds of clothes we make are ethnic incline and we make clothes for urban, middle and upper class Nigerians. Therefore, we always have demand for our clothes. It also depends on proper positioning and good marketing strategy. There are people who make good clothes but do not know how to market them. If you have your factory in Sango, for example and you have your shop in the same locality, this will affect your sales and the caliber of people who patronize you. Therefore, a designer must know where to place his finished products so that he can get good patronage. You must take your products to the people who will put good value on them.

Government must Do More To support the Fashion Industry- Fayemz

Government must Do More To support the Fashion Industry- Fayemz
By Yemi Olakitan

PLAYHOUSE UNPLUGGED AT MUSON CENTER

By Yemi Olakitan

It was an evening of the best of musical theatre as the Musical Society of Nigeria, MUSON in association with the Playhouse Initiative staged, Unplugged, a collection of different genres of music performed with a mix of dramatic expressions. This was part of fresh plans aimed at reviving theatre culture at the MUSON Centre in line with the original vision of its founding fathers.
Speaking in an interview, Chief Executive Officer, Marian Akpata, said such a step was necessary since the centre was fast becoming a place for religious and social functions. She said the centre would return to the foundation, which was laid down, by Akintola Williams, Ayo Rosiji and all the great Nigerians who worked tirelessly to build the MUSON centre.
According to her, it is the only way to contribute to the development of theatre arts in Nigeria, saying, “This is why we are staging the musical, Unplugged, which is produced by the Playhouse Initiative. MUSON was built for the enjoyment of musical theatre in all its beauty and what we are doing is to keep that legacy alive”.
Unplugged was a combination of music, dance, and drama sketches. The evening became truly unplugged as the performance traveled through different musical forms. It was a theatrical rendition of about 27 different songs, which were rendered in dramatic fashion with some percussion and jazz instruments over a period of about one hour and forty minutes by members of the Playhouse consisting of young and talented Nigerian musicians. The performances were taken from Andrew Lyord Becham’s plays: Phantom of the Opera, Jesus Superstar, and Cat.
The performance paraded songs from Fela Anikulapo’s Afrobeat and highlife music as well as compositions by Michael Jackson and Bob Marley. The Playhouse group began the show with an opening sketch tagged: This is Playhouse. It started with songs such as ‘Little Innocent Lamb’ and ‘Redemption’ song by Bob Marley. The lead singer’ Bennett Ogbeiwi’ was in shackles as he interpreted the song. His acting blended well with the song as his masterful facial expressions gave emotional fillip to the performance.
The second sketch, ‘Magic of the Broadway’ had songs such as ‘Music of the Night’, ‘That’s all I ask of you’ and ‘Gethsemane’, ‘Could we meet again’, ‘Don’t cry for me Argentina’. The third sketch was ‘Lagos Na Wa’, with songs such as ‘Love wan tin tin’, ‘Lagos Baby’ and ‘Me I like my country’, which was rendered in the spirit of the Nigerian independence celebrations. According to Leye Adekunle, a theatre enthusiast who was at the show, ‘Playhouse’ was a highly creative brand of theatre group in Nigeria and everyone needed to see them in actual performance.
The Playhouse Initiative was formally established in 2007 as a non-profit organisation to mentor young adults, using music and drama as a medium for youth development by Uche Nwokedi, a lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria and his wife, Winifred Nwokedi, after many years of organising and producing musical plays for young people. The vision is to develop a positive way of impacting proper moral and social values to young people in a very special way. The playhouse is involved in some charity projects, all of which are aimed at encouraging young Nigerians to develop their God-given talents. The Playhouse hopes to foster a rainbow coalition of young people from diverse backgrounds through music and drama.
In the last seven years, the founders of the Playhouse have successfully produced several musical plays at the Agip Recital Hall, which include, ‘Joseph and the amazing Technicolor Dream Coat’, ‘Jesus Christ, Superstar’ and ‘The Vision’, all of which received critical acclaim. To date, the Playhouse group has presented a total of 21 performances at the MUSON Centre and other places. The Playhouse has also staged six musical productions as part of the Terra Kulture Theatre project with a standing choral group of about 30 young people and a choir of 16 voices dedicated to liturgical music called ‘The Lagos Schola Contorum’.
According to Executive Director of Playhouse Initiative, Winifred Nwokedi, “Unplugged is a revue; a concept that has its roots in popular American theatre. It is a successful amalgam of several theatre traditions that blends with different genre of music that is performed in one continuous fluid motion”, saying the inspiration to set up Playhouse came as a result of her early childhood experiences as a student in St. Louis Grammar School, Ibadan and St. Gregory College, in the 60s and 70s when arts and culture were a major curricular of the educational system and was a way of developing young people.
She said, “Unplugged is a pleasing musical experience. It is as exciting as it is fresh, a complete entertainment for the family. Playhouse is a call to the Nigerian people to return to the theatre culture.
“In terms of technology, sound engineering, theatre effects, lighting and scenic design, we are behind and we need to catch up. During the time of our theatre heroes such as Duro Ladipo, Hubert Ogunde, Kola Ogunmola, theatre was very vibrant and when these generations passed, there came a vacuum in the theatre that led to the emergence of the home video industry. We have not filled that vacuum yet. We do not have a purpose-built theatre. If you look at the National Arts Theatre and compared that to what is happening abroad, you would see that the world has moved ahead of us in terms of theatre technology and all. We need to move forward because this is our country. We have so much talent, so much human resources that need to be utilized, and so much to do”.
Programme Director of MUSON, Gushi Egbumine also lent his voice when he said, “Playhouse fascinates young and old Nigerians alike”, adding that anyone who loves musical theatre would appreciate the Playhouse performances. Speaking further he said the Muson Centre would always have something to offer on a regular basis, saying, “We are working towards an exciting show every weekend. This is just the beginning”.