Dynamics of distancing in Nigerian drama: a functional approach to Metatheatre. By Nadia Anwar. Stuttgart: ibidem-Verlag, 2016. Pp. xiv + 256. £26.86/€29.90 Pb. [Book review]

Book review

From page to the stage: a choreographic analysis of Felix Akinsipe’s Struggling to Die

The juxtaposition of various artistic genres, ranging from the performative to the non-performative, to create an aesthetic whole is not novel in indigenous African society. This is evident in the artistic fusion of dance, mime, poetry, costume, sculpture, and other performative and visual arts in performance, and is a clear reference to the total theatre concept. However, postcolonial developments in contemporary African societies have fostered a new and compelling understanding of performance, which has led to a separation into three distinctive and often independent performative arts of dance, drama and music. The situation then arose where dance which is considered to embody the idea of performance in indigenous African society lost its autochthonous articulacy in contemporary African performance, a point which is well noted in a 2001 co-authored paper with Sunday Ododo. At the heart of this 2001 paper is the understanding that, “even though, formal drama is considered younger than dance and music, drama often tries to force dance and music as artistic appendages to its own artistic expressions” (Ododo and Igweonu, 2001: 51). However, the paper goes on to argue that dance experiments and productions at the University of Ilorin are specifically geared towards re/asserting the position of contemporary African dance as a distinct artistic genre that has potentials, not just for spectacle, but as a perfect tool for didactics as is the case with performance in indigenous African society

A ritual for survival: questions of identity and politics in one hundred year of Nigerian dance

This paper sets out to examine questions of identity and politics in one hundred years of Nigerian dance practice and scholarship. It takes off from the premise that the idea of 'Nigerian dance' came into existence with the amalgamation of the Southern Nigeria Protectorate and Northern Nigeria Protectorate to create a single Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria in 1914. In other words, prior to the British amalgamation of the two Protectorates, the notion of a Nigerian dance tradition(s) could not be said to exist in any sense of the word. It acknowledges contributions by foremost dance ethnographers like Peggy Harper in shaping the study of indigenous dance forms in Nigeria; as well as those of leading dance scholars exemplified by Chris Ugolo - with his long-held view and effort to articulate the sense of a national choreographic style for Nigeria by drawing specifically on the work of Herbert Ogunde. Following on from Ugolo's work in this area, the paper sets out to examine some of concerns and aspirations for Nigerian dance in its one hundred years of existence. The paper uses A Ritual for Survival (1989), Peter Badejo's first dance production in the UK, as a metaphor to contend that there is a need to revisit the issue of identity and politics in Nigerian dance, a challenge that is all the more imperative considering that Nigeria, as we know from the recently concluded national conference, is a country in search of identity. Ultimately, the paper seeks to infer that the founding of ADSPON portends good news and marks the first real/considerable effort in that process of framing a consensual identity for Nigerian dance

Feldenkrais Method in performer training: encouraging curiosity and experimentation

HEA (PALATINE) funded Project Report. The Report serves as a resource to be dipped in and out of for information on how the Feldenkrais Method is being used in performance training contexts within UK higher education institutions. There is a DVD to accompany the original report (not available online)

Talawa

The chapter examines the first decade of Talawa’s existence as a black-led British theatre company, since it was founded in 1985 by the quartet of Yvonne Brewster, Carmen Munroe, Mona Hammond, and Inigo Espejel. Talawa, which was founded as a black-led theatre company, in response to what was then perceived as the lack of representation and creative opportunities has since cemented its place in mainstream Britain theatre and prides itself as Britain’s primary black-led theatre company. This chapter utilises a range of sources, including material from the company archives held at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London to construct a narrative of its development from 1985 to 1994—a period of phenomenal rise for the company that contrasts sharply with a decline in the number of black and ethnic minorities (BAME) theatre companies in Britain

Two plays: Ofotiriofo and The Siren

Reviews: "The two plays have the flavour and energy of a young writer as it emits all the vibrance it could in the area of employing all the other arts of the theatre, music and dance in the process of its realisation" - Professor Ayo Akinwale "The two plays - 'Ofotiriofo', a well-conceived combat (revolutionary drama) and 'The Siren' (a psycho-drama) - have gone through stage baptism, as all viable play-texts should before publication" - Professor Olu Obafem

Culture and identity in African and Caribbean theatre [Book review]

Book review of "Culture and identity in African and Caribbean theatre by Osita Okagbue. London, Adonis & Abbey, 2009, 269 pp., (hardback), £50.00, ISBN 978-1-90-506860-9

Stanislavsky in Nigeria: convergences and counterpoints in actor training and practice

Nigeria boasts a significant number of talented actor, directors and theatre scholars who work on the cutting edge of a creative sector that gave rise to Nollywood, often described as the second largest film industry in the world. Without prejudice to multifarious approaches to performance training and practices that are indigenous to Nigeria, Stanislavskian principles remains, by far, the most recognised and acknowledged approach to contemporary actor training and practice in the country. In this chapter, we reflect on the many ways in which those working in educational and theatre training institutions, as well as on the stage, throughout the country are engaged in applying and transmitting Stanislavsky's principles through their work. The chapter looks at the transmission of Stanislavsky's principles for actor training to Nigeria from the mid-Twentieth Century, and how it has been taught, propagated and sustained since introduction to Nigeria theatre training and practice. The case studies examined in this chapter reveals the fertile grounds found for Stanislavsky in Nigeria. At the same time, they reveal the many convergences and counterpoints evident in Stanislavsky's interaction with the Nigerian cultural environment as they transform, appropriate and sometime challenge conventional ways of thinking about Stanislavsky's legacy

Plays one

This is the first major collection of plays by Kene Igweonu. He has been described as a ‘young and visionary playwright’ (Professor Sunday Ododo) and ‘one of the most creative talents that have come out of the Performing Arts Department of the University of Ilorin’ (Professor Olu Obafemi). The longer length plays show him to be a moralist, with a passion for social change, employing Brechtian techniques that inspired post-Soyinka writers such as Femi Osofisan and Bode Sowande, who were adapting committed theatre for a popular audience, providing counter-narratives to established myths and norms. Like the major plays of Osofisan, Igweonu challenges Soyinka’s notion of an individual saviour of exceptional qualities and opts for a communitarian solution to society’s ills. Hence Igweonu’s plays deal with the perennial problems of leadership and followership, and the attendant individual and collective responsibility that comes with it. In short, this collection represents Igweonu at the beginning of his writing career. Despite the variety of artistic approaches, the themes of leadership and followership and of moral responsibility are constants in this his preliminary body of work