The thumping of feet on the floors of the wooden stage, the glass shattering melodious voices, the vibrant colours of costumes, the tears, the laughter, the screams and the thunderous applause from the receptive audience showed how appreciated the African culture is, even outside the continent.
Last week, MTN foundation, under its arts and culture initiative sponsored Saro the Nigerian stage play which showcases our rich culture to run for six days in London’s Shaw Theater. It was no surprise that the play which had done tremendously well both in Lagos and Abuja, Nigeria was also well received in London with packed shows on several days.
‘Saro’ is a Broadway style theatre production that tells a detailed story of four young men, who left the comfort of their small village of Kutuwenji, to venture into the uncertainty of life in the cosmopolitan city of Lagos with the hope to become rich and successful with their musical talent.
The story which captures the real essence of life and struggle in Lagos got my attention right from the beginning with a romantic scene showing Olaitan, one of the four boys who had to leave his heartthrob, Oghenerume in the village to find greener pastures with his friends in Lagos. Although Olaitan wished he could stay with Rume, she convinced him to go and find success so that he could come back to prove to her father that he was capable of marrying his daughter. The beautiful love song rendered by the duo gave me goose bumps all over my body and surely kept the eyes of the audience glued to the stage.
Like we all know, Lagos is a tough city to live, and the boys, Olaitan, Obaro, Azeez and Efe definitely encountered a lot of struggles including being arrested by the police. Fortunately for them, they were rescued by Don Ceeto, played perfectly by Bimbo Manuel, who got everybody laughing and clapping whenever he said his popular line “you dig?.”
Saro’s 70 member cast and crew provided a thrilling spectacle, giving life to the musical with well-choreographed dance steps and songs which incorporated a mesmerizing fusion of African and Western sounds such as Afro-beat, Highlife, Juju, Apala, hip-hop and jazz. The crowd went agog when one of the musical talents came out singing a remixed version of small doctor’s popular anthem “penalty”. The show also had an interesting enactment of music legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti on stage.
Jane, the conservative assistant to Don Ceeto was also one of my favourite characters. Acted brilliantly by Ade Laoye, Jane totally flipped the script when she showcased her powerful vocals whilst singing in the church choir, the revelation of her hidden talent informed Don Ceeto’s decision to add her to the musical group with the boys. There was also a twist to the story when Jane, the ‘Christian’ sister, so to say, started to fall in love with Azeez.
The show which had Kunle Afolayan, veteran actor, director and producer on it for the first time, acting brilliantly as Rume’s father, closed to a standing ovation and delighted calls for an encore.
I spoke to Bolanle Austin Peters, Producer and Director of Saro after the first showing in London, and she explained that it has become necessary to export Nigeria’s wealth in arts and culture.
“We often complain that people don’t understand us and people don’t know about our culture but we do nothing about it. People can only learn about you if you export your culture through music, stage and movies and that is essentially what we are doing now with Saro.”
She says that; “With the diversification of Nigeria’s economy, the creative industry has taken centre stage as a focus area for revenue generation. The sector has begun to attract more investors, thereby giving visibility and access to the Nigerian market.”
Kunle Afolayan says theater is a revenue generating sector and there has been a conscious effort to uphold the Nigerian culture with stage plays and films.
“We have been working on indigenous plays to uphold our culture and the reception has been fantastic. Kakaadu and Wakaa were also very well received both home and abroad and that shows how rich and appreciated our culture is.”
On why MTN decided to sponsor Saro in London, Reginald Chukwuemeka Okeya, Director, MTN foundation said; “MTN as a cooperate body is involved in a lot of corporate social responsibility (CSR)projects and this is one of such projects that MTN is supporting. We have done it in South Africa and we are doing similar thing in London.
The motive behind what the foundation is doing is to promote African culture, especially the Nigerian culture. As you know, MTN foundation supported wakaa last year which gave us huge leverage and made MTN more popular both within Nigeria and outside,” Okeya said.
I also spoke with Aishatu Sadauki, Director, MTN foundation, who says; “arts, culture and music are not areas where people get into. Even the government doesn’t put much interest in those areas, so we are trying to promote that area so that people can understand that there is a lot of talent in that.
“We are hoping that because we are supporting this course for the youth, government will all so get interested and put more money into that area to promote arts. This is just the beginning, there are many other areas that we can focus on, but MTN foundation is a drop in the ocean of other companies that could go into CSR,” Sadauki said.
All in all, watching Saro the musical stage play in London was a fantastic experience, even though I had previously watched the show in Lagos during the Easter holiday, it just felt new. Newer elements and songs were added to the script, there were new character replacements and the atmosphere was just more intriguing as it fascinated me how much Diaspora Nigerians have such a strong connection to culture and current affairs of the country.
Jumoke Akiyode Lawanson
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