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Movers of the
‘Fela!’ musical were part of a lively exchange with Nigerian theatre
practitioners, in an interactive session held Terrra Kulture, Lagos, on
April 19.

Organised by Beeta
Universal Arts Foundation (BUAF), the event was also an opportunity for
industry players to discuss the state of theatre in the country, with a
focus on the topic, ‘Theatre: Our Experience, Issues and Challenges.’

Although the cast
of ‘Fela!’ were absent, Stephen Handel, lead producer and co-conceiver
of the musical and the show’s art producer, Edward Tyler Nahem, were on
hand to talk about the musical, which opened in Lagos on April 20.

Among those who
came to make their contributions to the debate were: Ahmed Yerima,
professor of drama at the Kwara State University; Mufu Onifade, chair
of the National Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners
(NANTAP) Lagos; theatre director Najite Dede; and actors Bimbo Manuel,
Joke Silva and Carol King.

In her opening
address, Bikiya Graham-Douglas of BUAF said, “We want American and
Nigerian theatre practitioners to talk about their experiences. Why
can’t our artists go to Broadway to perform alongside American theatre
artists over there?”’

She added that, “I
founded BUAF in 2009 because I wanted to create awareness for theatre.
Theatre is not what it used to be. We experienced a depression but in
the last decade things have changed.

“We are grateful
to the likes of Professor Ahmed Yerima and the National Association of
Nigerian Theatre Art Practitioners (NANTAP) for improving theatre and
we are hoping to garner support for our local theatre,” she said.

“I am excited
about this gathering and especially the show. I want to see what they
did to my Fela. Bringing him back to us says a lot to us that we had
something great but did not know,” said Yerima in a brief speech before
the session began.

Fela’s message

“We are
overwhelmed and delighted to be home. It’s a very powerful experience,”
said Handel who also apologised for the absence of the musical’s cast
because they were hard at work, rehearsing for up to 12 hours each day.

“The music of
Fela, lyrics and what he stood for is not specific to Nigeria. It’s a
global message. People can respond to the music no matter who they are
and where they come from. To have his family entrust us with this is a
huge leap of faith,” he stated, reiterating the ‘universal Fela’
message he has been canvassing since arrival in Nigeria.

On how he
conceived the idea for the musical, Handel said, “The show had a
driving force behind it. When I heard his songs, I got an idea to do a
live performance piece. The only way to tell a story about Fela is to
do a theatre piece.”

According to him,
he had no idea in the beginning that ‘Fela!’ would go on to Broadway.
Handel spoke about Sahr Ngaujah, the actor of Sierra Leonean descent
who plays Fela in the musical.

“This was a young
man who lived afrobeat. His father came to the United States from
Amsterdam, and made his livelihood running afrobeat DJ parties on
weekends.”

Ngaujah auditioned
for the show in New York but didn’t get the part. However, “When we
started the process after I got the rights, we brought this fellow back
and his name is Sahr Ngaujah. He has spent years originating the part.
He was the original Fela Off Broadway. So he is here doing six of the
shows in Lagos,” Handel added.

“So, somehow we
had a Fela who was brilliant, America’s great performance artist and a
producer who was enamoured of the material and who was willing to see
what would come out of it. And it all has to do with the power of the
message,” he declared.

On some of the
challenges encountered with getting the musical on Broadway, Nahem
recalled that, “There were people who laughed at us and said ‘you are
not going to last a month. Who is going to be interested in a dope
smoking, polygamist revolutionary Nigerian musician?’”

Nahem, who called
the late Fela Anikulapo-Kuti “the Picasso of music”, said that bringing
the show to Lagos is a dream come true.

Closer to home

The challenges
facing theatre in Nigeria were brought to the fore from different
angles by the discussants. Carol King spoke about the challenge of
continuity. “How many plays do we have that run on?” she asked.

Bimbo Manuel noted
the government’s disinterest in the importance of drama in the school
curriculum, while Onifade pointed to lack of sponsorship as a major
problem in staging theatre productions.

“I am impressed with BEETA for putting this together. Things are going to happen with this ‘Fela!’,” said Silva.

Responding to
comments about the challenges facing theatre in Nigeria, Handel told
home-based practitioners, “You’ve got to get your business community to
understand that supporting the arts is a way of giving a gift to the
culture of your society, helping your children get a better future and
helping to better society.”

He added that,
“the only way to get the government to support the arts is to give them
statistics of how supporting the arts ends up creating employment.”

“The one thing that Broadway gave us was a huge publicity machine
and a huge world stage. I think what we’ve created is going to be
performed all over the world. It’s going to be taught in schools all
over the world. I think it has the potential of bringing the whole
world close together because Fela is a true global artist who has a
true global message,” he said.