Oluronbi,
a musical.
It took me this long to
grasp my thoughts on the
outing.
And the reason is, shame
to say, I wanted it to be
good. I focused all my energy
on the two points that fascinated
me. Yinka Davies,
whom I’ve longed for years
now to see on stage, and
the crisp
close
of the play which
was the most ingenious thing,
I did not expect it.
Oh, and a third: Oluronbi’s
child on stage wearing only
beads and a loinscloth.
Well, a wrapper tied about
her hips really
- I thought that was brave,
prude-moi!
Personally,
I felt a greater
depth could've been written
into the Idiroko’s character
or deity-ness.
Make her trifling or vindictive
if you must. After all,
is it not natural,
especially for such a generation,
that
a child
is a gift of the
gods?
Is it not natural
for them to die
sometime?
And is Idiroko not
the god of fertility?
And of course Idiroko’s
man presented as the ageless
town crier,
a wasted twist.
Where
is the lesson?
Ask the gods. They are approachable.
Don’t, they are backstabbing
and trifling and deceptive.
In the absence of a timeline,
(and this could've been
written into a line or two
of verse) it is hard to
determine if the playwright
means to favour Oluronbi's
wisdom in seeking the gift
of the fertility goddess
or begin writing out the
gods from the affairs of
men as the was done with
Olympus.
And for all this, I have
not touched the technical
aspects of the play. And
this is because I haven't
the skill to. Lights, sound,
props and the draw of a
star-studded cast.
It must be said that Nigerian
theatre still has a way
to go in terms of discipline,
dedication and flow even
in the face of the heady
challenges facing young
artists
Teris.
October
25, 2009
|
Bracelet&Braai
| Reviews
