Nigeria Content Online

A new playtext by
Isiaka Aliagan, ‘Olubu’, was the focus of attention at the fourth
edition of the Play Reading Party, held in Abuja on April 14. The
playwright was in attendance for the event, a monthly staged reading
and interactive session organised by the Arojah Royal Theatre. The
session began with the rendition of two Korean poems ‘Birds, Birds’ and
‘Performance’, read by popular Nollywood actor, Francis Duru, who read
the poems in English while the Director of the Korean Centre, Suh Jeong
Sun, rendered them in the Korean language. The audience, made up of
theatre enthusiasts and critics, then watched as artists from Arojah
Royal Theatre took to the stage to perform excerpts of the tragedy,
which revolves around the travails of a young man whose attempt to live
a normal life like everyone else is made impossible by the paternity
problem hanging over him.

What happens

In Aliagan’s play,
Obotun is raped by a madman, Jaba. She conceives and gives birth to
Olubu. Her husband Tade, who is aware of his own sterility, decides to
keep the newborn’s paternity a secret between himself and Obotun.
However, at the point of death, Tade confides in his brother, Toba,
who, soon after the demise of his brother, begins to humiliate mother
and son until it becomes common knowledge within the community. Olubu’s
paternity is questioned. They challenge him to prove that he is truly
the son of Tade. He and his mother are eventually banished from the
village and out of humiliation, decide to commit suicide.

Conscience of society

Former general
secretary of the Association of Nigerian Authors, Denja Abdullahi, gave
a glowing introduction of the playwright and his writing career. “I
have known the playwright for a long time now. He is a brother and a
friend. He is a seasoned journalist, publisher and as you can see, a
writer. One of his published works, ‘Oba Mama’, the story of an emir
born into war but who advocates peace, is a must read.”

In the interactive
session, Aliagan, in response to the question about what inspired the
play, explained, “My play is a work of fiction and so [it has] nothing
to do with my personal beliefs. The story was inspired by real people
and places but is entirely a work of fiction.”

Then came a barrage
of questions from the audience on different aspects of the play. While
observing “the literary people are the conscience of the society,”
Aliagan maintained that he only decided to write on a tradition that
existed where he grew up. He, however, avoided a query from the
audience as to why, as depicted in the play, he created such a cruel
society that humiliates and persecutes a young man because of the
circumstances of his birth.

Why Olubu and Obotun died

In the same vein,
many in the audience also wondered why the playwright had to
orchestrate the deaths of the protagonist, Olubu and his mother Obotun.
Aliagan revealed that “the first edition of the play did not end in
tragedy. It was the first cast that staged the play at the University
of Ilorin then that suggested that the protagonists should die in order
not to leave a loose end.”

Abubakar Jimoh, the
deputy director of the public relations unit of NAFDAC who represented
the director general of the agency, Paul Ohi as the special guest of
honour, commended the play reading initiative. “We are always so busy
with our works that we don’t know that very interesting and educative
activities like this take place regularly. I am impressed by this
event,” he said, promising that NAFDAC will consider supporting the
initiative.

The next edition of
the play reading party is scheduled to hold on May 19 and will feature
the late Esiaba Irobi’s play, ‘Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh’. The May
reading is a special edition intended to mark the one year passage of
the playwright who died May last year.

Jerry Adesewo is artistic director of the Arojah Royal Theatre.