By Damiete Braide
Last week, Auditorium 2 of the Lagos State University of Education, Oto, Ijanikin, Lagos State, formerly Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, was agog as the Department of Theatre Arts entertained the university community, parents and friends with the annual Festival of Plays.
This year, Nigerian poet, playwright, author and professor of English and Dramatic Literature, Prof Olu Obafemi’s three plays, Love Twirls of Adiitu and Iyunade, Near and Distance Cries and Ogidi Mandate, were performed by 200 level students of the department.
Love Twirls of Adiitu and Iyunade was directed by Rokeeb Shanu, with Esther Ekhator the Assistant Director, while Near and Distance Cries was directed by Joseph Agbaje and Assistant Director was Jumoke Taiwo. Ogidi Mandate was directed by Samuel Kuti and Joy Ibizugbe was the Assistant Director.
Each of the plays had a large cast, and they made good use of the stage.
Head of Theatre Arts Department, Bimbo Adeniyi, said the plays had become a tradition from inception where members from the university community, parents and theatre lovers in the community converge to watch the plays performed by the students.
The plays, he said, also demonstrated what the students were taught in the department and had also brought attraction to the students. For the past 21 years, Bimbo said the department had held the Festival of Plays, which hadn’t been easy, because it involved much energy and financial resources.
“The quality of the performances are directly proportional to the level of professionalism that the lecturers have put into teaching the students, and is an avenue for the students to showcase what they have been taught practically and theoretically,” said Bimbo.
The HOD described Professor Olu Obafemi as a renowned and foremost professor of theatre arts, “and it is our tradition to choose notable authors whose works will be performed by the students.”
Bimbo recalled that plays of Prof Wole Soyinka, Prof Femi Osofisan, Prof Ahmed Yerima and other notable playwrights of Nigerian descent had been performed by the students.
“This year, we celebrated Prof Olu Obafemi’s works, because he comes from a particular culture that we have not worked on before, and when you watch the play, you will see the nuances of the North and their culture. Most of the plays that have been featured had their settings from the South East, but this year, we went to the North Central. .
“Over the years, we have used his plays in class and we decided why can’t we produce these plays, too, and, as you have seen, his plays are very interesting. They deal with activities of people daily in the society, and it is a way of going through the playwright to talk to our society at this period when our society is challenged, and that informs the kind of themes that the play relates to the society. Most of these plays proffer solutions to the problems in a way more than the ordinary level of solving problems.
“Through this exercise, the department, through the students, is giving back to the society by conscientising the society about what happens and, to our students, the plays have enabled them to work independently and the entire work is solely by their efforts.
Kuti Samuel, a 200 Level student of Theatre Arts, who directed Ogidi Mandate, said, with the help of our lecturers and with strict rehearsals, the play was a success and had a massive turnout of students from the university.
Adeshina Oluwafunmilayo Deborah, stage manager for Ogidi Mandate, said he played the role of the main character, Seye. “It wasn’t easy when I started playing the role, because I had to interpret the character, and some of the roles were quite difficult, but with determination, I was able to give my best in the play.”
A parent who watched her daughter perform on stage said, “I am happy to see my daughter perform her role very well. With what I have seen from the performances, the students will become super stars in future and people should watch out for them.”