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Theatre, which
helps to reflect a people’s style and way of life, is dying in Nigeria
because most Nollywood stars are stage shy and also not sufficiently
schooled in stagecraft, Lari Williams, a veteran actor, has said.

The University of
Calabar Theatre Arts lecturer observed that, besides today’s actors and
actresses’ inability to stand before an audience to perform, government
at the federal and state levels have turned theatre halls to events
hosting centres, a development that has further worsened the prospects
of live stage acting.

“Most Nollywood
stars cannot act on stage. They cannot stand before a crowd. Theatre is
where we have to reconcile between stage and screen acting. Wole
Soyinka got annoyed and walked out of the National Theatre in Lagos
some years ago when one of the famous names in Nollywood could not
recite the lines of his play,” Williams said.

Also, most
Nollywood actors and actresses are not schooled in Theatre Arts, as
their only qualification for the screen is a beautiful face and good
voice, unlike the trained professionals that can act on and off stage
in accordance with the rules of the industry, adding that all Nollywood
people do is to memorise their lines for six weeks and get recorded on
video.

How to revive theatre

“Theatre in Nigeria
is dying. It cannot raise its head anymore because of Nollywood.
Nigerians now prefer to buy cheap video compact discs to watch films in
the confines of their homes. The implication is that they no more go to
cinema halls to watch plays. This, more than anything else, has killed
drama in the country,” he declared.

According to him,
this is not helping the country as “theatre is a reflection of a
people’s life. We vibrate through theatre, playing back our good and
bad sides. Despite the advent of technology and its advance in the
Western world, people there still go to theatre halls to watch plays.
Plays there are categorised and acted in the various cinema halls based
on their rating.”

The first
president of Actors Guild of Nigeria argued that if the West, which is
so advanced in everything, has not rejected stage acting, Nigeria that
is still crawling in all spheres of development cannot afford to do
otherwise. He solicited for the support of government, corporate
bodies, and wealthy individuals to revive theatre projects in the
country.

Williams, who is
the Omenka 1 of Akumazi Kingdom, Delta State, and director of the Lari
Williams Play House, particularly advised the Cross River State
government to encourage theatre, rather than waiting for only December
“to give our local musicians the voice to mime their records. Stage
acting should be an all year round affair. If theatre is still going on
in Britain and USA that produce all kinds of films, Nigeria should not
be an exception.”

Training is essential

He argued that,
for theatre to regain its lost glory in the country, there is the need
for basic training in the profession to be enforced. He further
stressed that, until the Actors Guild of Nigeria which makes it
compulsory for members to undergo the basic training in acting, films
produced in the country will continue to be of low quality, without
standing the test of time or competing favourably with others from the
rest of the world.

The university
teacher faulted the adoption of the name ‘Nollywood’ for the indigenous
movie industry, saying the lifting of the coinage from America’s
Hollywood without knowing its origin was wrong.

“Hoolywood came
about in the US because of the trees grown in that part of California.
Those trees are known as Hollywood, hence that part of Califorina is
known as Hollywood City. Pinewood (Studios) in England came about by
the pine trees found in that part of the country.”

Williams believes
that, instead of Nollywood, the Nigerian film industry should have been
known as Camwood, since camwood is found in abundance in the country,
that is if the suffix ‘wood’ must be used. Williams kicked against the
indiscriminate use of ‘wood’ after the different movie industries of
countries around the world.

“The proliferation
of home videos is good for actors and actresses, but the cradle of
acting is the stage. We should not let it die. Yes, home videos are a
reflection of our culture, but it is the arts that keep it alive. We
must do everything humanly possible to preserve the arts since acting
starts from the home through every day activities,” Williams maintained.

What government can do

‘In order to revive
theatre in the country, government should ban the use of theatre
auditoriums for wedding ceremonies, political rallies, and church
services. University authorities should stop hiring out their arts
auditorium for non-acting use by members of the public,” he further
advised.

He urged government
to ensure professionalism in the appointment of ministers and
commissioners of culture, if results are to be achieved.

The veteran actor also called on federal government to raise a
committee for the release, disbursement and use of the S200m US dollars
promised to the Actors Guild of Nigeria by President Goodluck Jonathan.