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”.