If you were at the National Theatre Iganmu, Lagos over the festive holiday to see Hertitude, an enthralling stage play, you will appreciate the stellar performance by the cast for the 10 days the play staged.
Likewise, you will applaud the creative ingenuity of the writer and director of the drama because of the odd path or rather, the unthinkable storyline being followed.
The play is a smooth simmering homage around three young Nigerian female professionals and sisters forced into an uncomfortable reunion by the death of their mother. They come to play and ever so gingerly navigate the contours of their maturing lives under the glare of social media, Lagos fakery and glitz with a nasty underbelly.
Hertitude is fun but serious. It offers a five- course meal of beauty, music, dance, technical pizzazz and real drama, while examining the past, challenging society’s view of the future, as well as, surprise and inspires the audience.
However, what makes Hertitude thick is the creative hand behind it. The bold new play by Kessavier Vanille Productions was written and directed by Kesiena C. Obue. She is one of the most engaging voices in contemporary Nigerian theater and film industry. She is truly a playwright on the rise judging by the many exciting plays she has written, directed or co-produced.
The intrigue is that Kesiena, who is the managing director of Kessavier Vanille Productions, is often behind the scene, while letting her works speak for her on every stage, production platform and screen they appear.
Having gained expertise in her career and passion, in 2009, she founded Kesservier Vanille Productions, an arts production company, which became the platform for her early artistic expressions and success.
For those who can easily recall the fantastic excitement they had watching Nigerian musicals staged across the country and abroad, Kesiena has been part of almost every successful musical play in Nigeria, though from behind the scene.
The playwright on the rise has written successful musicals such as Wakaa the Musical and Fela and the Kalakuta Queens, while The Bling Lagosians is her most recent film credit.
She has also written, directed and produced three short films and other works for independent feature and documentary film projects, with two full length plays including; “Ivie” and “Hey Brother”, which are under review for publication.
Her creative ingenuity has seen her succeed in other art genres. The creative writer has also published a book “Move A Brain Muscle and Make History”, and written commissioned works for Cable Television.
Kesiena is truly a synergy of talent, good training and a resonant, inclusive worldview. Her voice as a woman and a writer is essential and fully representative of contemporary Nigerian life. She is poised to tap these for societal growth and development, navigating the complex, global cross-cultural challenges of our 21st century, where Africa is set to play a defining role.
She is an interesting person to meet. While encountering her at the National Theatre Iganmu, Lagos, last December during one of the showing days of Hertitude, her amiable personality and simplicity baffle.
Speaking on the new play, she says, “Hertitude is a bold move with a punch, a thumb up for legacy, theatrical beauty and professional pride. I hope it excited you”.
Of course, the stage play excited the audience with its fivecourse meal of beauty, music, dance, technical pizzazz and real drama.
She also tries to initiate change or lead a campaign with her works. In Hertitude, she was querying the rationale for judging others, and asked the question, “Who made you are judge over others”?
“I wanted my play to be a mirror for the society. We are always free to judge or to condemn. What people are judging is not the same as what they do. I wanted my people to come and see that since you do not have the morals you claim to have, so do not judge me because I am doing something you do not do or you are doing something I am not doing. So, we all see it differently”, she explains.
Another intrigue about the playwright is that she is a microbiologist turned playwright. “I was a microbiologist, but I went back to school to do film and theatre. After I finished from the University of Ibadan, I was already producing film in Ibadan”.
On what inspired her to study Theatre Arts, she confesses that she was born with it. “I remember when I was growing up, I have always been writing. I would use my school notes to write stories and my mother would scream. I used to have stories in my head that I used to tell my sister. I have a thing for stories. But it was in the university that I knew I had to do that. I was not feeling myself in science anymore. I knew during my NYSC, that I was going back to school.
“Thankfully, my parents understood, they did not understand at first but later they did. My father right now is my major sponsor for Hertitude. He brought the bulk of the money. We did not leave any stone unturned. The quality, the costumes, I am a perfectionist sort of. So, when I do a production, I touch everything. I collaborated with the National Theatre, Z-mirage and Moto media”, she explains.
She is grateful that she is not the only female theatre director and producer. She appreciates other fantastic directors such as Ikimi Douglas, Ifeoma Fafunwa, and most importantly, Bolanle Austen- Peters, CEO, Bolanle Asuten-peters Productions (BAP), who saw her as a director and writer, and gave her the first break in the industry.
“I worked for Bolanle AustenPeters. When I started working for Terra Culture, I did not start as her executive assistant. I started as a writer before I became her executive assistant. I think she trusted me a lot, that is why we have a very good relationship”, she says.
With her successful output in the past years, fans and theatre lovers and even sponsors are expecting more enthralling plays and stories from her. In that regard, she is working on a feature film that will be produced and directed by her, among other undisclosed theatre projects this year. “We are looking at March/ April this year to release it. We are also looking at bringing back Hertitude once again on stage just in time for the Easter celebrations”, she concludes.
