Nigeria Content Online

Sefi Atta’s play ‘The Cost of Living’ parodies Niger Delta “I’m not poor! I’m broke or should I say the cost of living is too high.” This was the frustrated cry of Pius, a role played by Toyin Oshinaike in Sefi Atta’s play ‘The cost of living’. It was staged on Sunday, March 6 at Terra Kulture, Victoria Island, Lagos; and will be performed at the venue till the end of this month.

Crucial issues pertaining to the Niger Delta region are emphasised in the play. Some of these include: the prevalence of kidnapping, unemployment and inadequate provision of social amenities. The mismanagement of crude oil and the preference of foreigners over indigenes by oil companies, are also among issues explored.

In the one-act play with only two characters, Atta parodies the economic crisis in the Niger Delta. It was written late last year, at a time when the fate of the Delta was subject to much debate in the public arena.

The characters

The play is is directed by Nick Monu; and opens to a struggle between the two men depicted. One of the men is a blindfolded man and the other is the captor, Pius, who holds a gun to his head. It is strange that the blindfolded doesn’t beg for his life but is defiant. He attempts to hold the nuzzle of the gun to his forehead and asks to be shot. This creates suspense in the play as the audience is left wondering why.

Pius

Toyin Oshinaike plays the role of Pius, a young Nigerian graduate in Port Harcourt. He is the abductor who holds an employee of an Oil company hostage. His reaction to his prisoner’s defiance is at first surprise, but he quickly puts on the facade of a mean captor. However, he is disturbed by his prisoner’s fatalism. “Do you want to die?” he asks.

He immediately creates the impression that he is tough and mean but all he actually wants from his prisoner is money. He makes it clear that his prisoner will be of no use to him dead. It becomes obvious during the course of the play that he isn’t actually mean but is pushed to this act by economic desperation. “I can’t even pay back my family, let alone support them,” he says.

Pius represents many young Nigerian graduates who remain unemployed. He feels cheated by the fact that all the available jobs in the oil companies are given to foreigners.

Although he has a degree in Engineering, he remains unemployed while the foreigners are readily offered jobs. The unfairness of the situation frustrates him.”If I can’t find work here, I can’t find anywhere else,” he laments.

Pius and his partner, whom we never see ,are called “a couple of amateurs” by his hostage. It is clear that it is his first time of being an abductor.

Mike Broussard

The role of Mike Broussard is played by Frank Adekunle Macaulay. He is the abducted who hails from New Orleans, Louisiana. He is also frustrated with life, which is indeed surprising to Pius. However, Broussard’s job isn’t actually as high paying as Pius believes.

“That’s more than you’ll pay me if I worked for a year!” he shouts To his employer on the phone, shocked at the huge ransom demanded for him. But he is more shocked that his employers are willing to pay that much. This infuriates him and he maintains that the money shouldn’t be paid.

Mike’s interaction with Pius leads him to certain revelations about Nigerians that he never knew. One of these is the discovery that Pius is a graduate; this surprises him.

He is a major cause of the turn of events in the play and later facilitates the payment of his ransom.

Set, costume and lightning

The set design by Simone Monu was fitting. The stage was bare, save for a lone mattress and chair which well portrayed an impoverished room where someone could be held captive. There was no need for the props on stage to change since all events of the one act take place in a single room. The lightning was also well deployed from the very beginning where Broussard is brought into the room blindfolded.

The Delta story

‘The Cost of Living’ is a familiar old story about the Delta but is told from two different perspectives, that of the Nigerian and the foreigner. Pius represents the Nigerian perspective while Broussard represents the other. It is difficult to tell who the victim really is as events take a different turn towards the end of the play. You imagine that the victim is Broussard with the blindfolds on his eyes and the gun pointed at him. Later, you begin to wonder if it isn’t Pius that is victimised by the foreigners who take the available jobs and leave him jobless.

Much is revealed about the in the dialogue between both men, which is the most appealing feature of the play. They see life differently but are both frustrated. The Nigerian is frustrated with the economic situation of the country. He complains about the inadequate supply of basic infrastructures thus, “When we have light, it’s a miracle.” The play also draws the attention of the audience to the Nigerian culture. Examples of this are the mention of ‘respect’ and ‘dowry’ by Pius.

There is also the suggestion that Nigerians strive to survive the hardship they face by his words to Mike: “Over here, you don’t die until you are dead.” It is however a short play that ends almost abruptly, just when you’re looking forward to another action taking place.