All around the country, just as different sectors are gearing up for the centenary celebration, theatre artistes equally made their mark and not limiting it to the pros but also the very young in primary and secondary schools.
The National Troupe of Nigeria (NTN) in collaboration with Beeta Universal Arts Foundation recently held a National Schools’ Dramatised Storytelling Competition, themed ‘Nigeria : A Hundred Years of Existence – Our Story So Far’.
Aimed at dramatizing the country’s one hundred years in existence, the competition was also targeted at challenging school children to form their perspective, tell the story of the nation’s hundred years of existence in a complex entity called Nigeria.
No less than 30 primary and secondary schools from across the FCT expressed their passion and commitment to respect rules of theatre even at their level. They also distinguished themselves in their ability to interpret the theme and various sub-themes in their use of props, costumes and make-ups, just as they left no one in doubt that theatre art will not go extinct even with the overriding influence of sciences. The secondary school students provoked admiration from the professionals.
Asides entertaining guests, they also exhibited a vast appreciation of the socio-economic and political reality in the country. While some schools highlighted the era of imperialism and colonialism as beginning of Nigeria’s woes, others blamed bad leadership, avarice and corruption for the country’s developmental backwardness. Brilliant as their performances were, none was successfully able to enacted Nigeria’s 100 years of existence without reference to the nation’s early days of abundance and peaceful co-existence, the joy of Independence, military interregnum as well as the Civil War that almost disintegrated the country. They highlighted societal ills with references to the menace of militancy, incessant killings and kidnaps and other insurgencies which have recently besieged the nation will reflecting their negative impacts.
Using and sustaining techniques like Bertolt Bretch’s ‘Alienation Effect’, they captivated audience emotions. While some schools proffered divine intervention to Nigeria’s problem as part of their resolutions, others left it to the audience to decide way forward.
Josephine Igberaese, initiator of the competition, and NTN’s Director of Drama, said she was deeply fascinated by the children’s performance. “It is an indication that even the children are not oblivious of issues and challenges confronting the country. And there is hope for the future. Nigeria, I strongly believe, will be in capable hands that will transform it to a world power in the near future. Also, our home video industry that is currently enjoying a boom will benefit immensely from the varied talents that will be nurtured through this process.”
Diarra Eg Diarra 