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On Friday, July 23,
at CMS Grammar school, Bariga, Footprint group organised the third
edition of its show titled ‘moonlight’. The event, which took place at
the school’s multipurpose hall, had a number of Nigerian artists, and
dance and musical groups in performance.

The show was
anchored by founder of the Footprint group, Fabunmi Koffivi, who moved
the audience with his comedy acts as he introduced the guest artists
that were present at the event such as 2phat, Da Preacher man, Double
P; performing groups such as Crown Troupe of Africa, Theatre Centric
group, Superior Heritage group; and comedians Owen G and Koffi.

According to
Koffivi, Footprint is an “artistic group, which majors in dance, drama
and music, with the aim to bring secondary school students close to the
literary world.” In doing this, he said, “We try to bring young people
together and teach them things about contemporary African dance, music,
and drama. We also decided to treat secondary school texts in order to
enable (students) understand, not just to read and pass alone but to
understand the importance of literature.”

As part of the
show, a play by J.C. Degraft titled ‘Sons and Daughters’, was staged.
The play centres on an illiterate father (James Ofosu), whose singular
belief is that his children can only be successful if they pursue
professions such as law, medicine or engineering. Lawyer Bonu, a close
friend of the family, encourages Ofosu to force his daughter (Manaan)
to come and work with him.

Perhaps the most
notable performance of the play was that of the major character Lovelyn
Inyang Fasunmi who played the role of Hannah, the uneducated mother who
nevertheless supports her children’s choice of career. Another
outstanding performance was that of Oluwayinka Oluwatosin, a student of
CMS grammar school, who in the role of Ofosu inspired laughter from
audience members.

The play however
recorded a few gaffes such as the improperly constructed set as well as
the need for some of the actors to come on stage with their scripts.
Koffivi who played Ofosu also mixed up his lines and struggled with his
performance till the end of the play.

Koffivi, the
founder and instructor of the group gave reasons for his seeming
unpreparedness at the end of the play. According to him, the love for
arts made him pick up the role of Ofosu when the actor who was to play
that role failed to show-up for the performance. “Any mistake that was
made on stage will make me improve on my weak part in his next
performance,” he remarked confidently.

During the
entertainment session, which was anchored by on-air-personality from
Wazobia FM, James Expensive, the audience was regaled with comedy and
musical acts.

Students from
Bishop Howell Memorial College, and CMS Grammar School were given the
opportunity to win gifts during the show. Desire Onyenucheya, one of
the lucky students expressed appreciation to the organisers of the
event, “I learnt a lot of things from today’s show – be yourself and
work hard to get what you want”.

Koffivi identified one of the major challenges he faced in
organising the event, as finance. He however expressed hope that in the
future the group might obtain more institutional support to enable it
stage better performances.