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You can trust fans
of Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti never to miss a chance to
celebrate the late music icon. The British Council Nigeria, National
Theatre (London) and British Deputy High Commission, Lagos, provided
them such an opportunity on Sunday, February 6 when they organised a
screening of ‘Fela!’ at the New Africa Shrine, Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos.

The production was
recorded last year at the Olivier (National Theatre) in London and had
been broadcasted by the BBC earlier this year. The screening at the
Shrine gave those who had missed the telecast an opportunity to see the
interesting show. And people seized the moment fully. The Shrine was
already bustling minutes to the 4pm commencement time of the viewing
and though there were empty seats initially, they were all later taken
by the multitude of Nigerian and foreign Afrobeat aficionados.

Welcome to the Shrine

Country director
of the British Council, David Higgs and daughter of the late musician,
Yeni, gave speeches before the show got underway. Giving a sort of
background to the event, Higgs disclosed that the National Theatre
likes to share its productions with audiences around the world. He
thanked Fela’s children and the management of the Shrine for hosting
the screening.

Yeni apologised
for Femi’s absence and seized the opportunity to allay the fears of
those who dread coming to the Shrine, especially first timers. “You can
see that we don’t eat people here. Go spread the news today, that we
don’t eat people here,” she said. Fela’s oldest child disclosed that
she was shocked months back when the British Council called to discuss
the hosting of the screening. Yeni also pre-empted critics by noting,
“Any criticism you have, remember this is an appreciation of a son of a
soil.”

Some innovations

The production,
directed and choreographed by Bill T. Jones wasn’t a bad affair though
the producers took some liberties in enacting Fela’s story on stage.
The men in Fela’s Egypt 80 Band never danced as vigorously as did the
male dancers in the National Theatre’s ‘Fela!’, neither was ‘Trouble
Sleep’ a duet by Fela and a female singer. Obviously, wishing to
respect the mood of Nigerians on MKO Abiola, the winner of the June 12,
1993 presidential elections, his name was deleted from ‘International
Thief Thief’. The producer’s decision to dramatise scenes in ‘Sorrows,
Tears and Blood’ was also a nice touch and the involvement of the
audience in the production was a master stroke.

It could also be
argued that the producers appropriated extensively from Carlos Moore’s
‘Fela: This Bitch of a Life’ in the parts involving his mother,
Funmilayo and the travails of his wives during the 1977 raid on
Kalakuta Republic.

Interestingly,
some of the scenes applauded by the audience during the live show were
also appreciated by those who saw the screening with both applauses
merging into one.

However, the
decision of the Shrine’s management to show the Chelsea versus
Liverpool match and later, the Real Madrid versus Real Sociedad at the
back while the screening was on wasn’t a very wise move. They only
succeeded in dividing the house. Nonetheless, it wasn’t a bad outing,
as some commentators noted.

Very fulfilling

“I think it’s
very fulfilling for us here. One must always be grateful when the
opportunity arises has it as today to showcase what has become an
international phenomenon at the New Africa Shrine. The only thing that
can top this for us is if the actual [musical] comes to the African
Shrine in March which we are looking forward to quite avidly,” said
Femi Odebunmi, one of those who viewed the production.

Fela’s son, Seun, said of the screening, “I feel it is essential to
make people have a taste of what the play is about and I’m sure with
time, the play itself would come here. This is just for people to
understand. I just pray that the right move be made to help people
understand what is going on out there about Fela.” For Higgs, screening
‘Fela’ at the Shrine was appropriate because, “the play is set in the
Shrine, so it’s the Shrine in the Shrine.” He added that beyond that,
“it’s an appreciation of Fela Kuti’s music. I mean his life in his
hometown but from elsewhere. I think that shows that Fela Kuti’s
influence was well beyond his own country.”