There are two highest levels of theatre – being a playwright and knowing how to direct a play. Emmanuel Adejumo has mastered both. As a dancer, singer, script writer and now stage director, he has brought beauty to stage plays. At the just concluded Ekiti International Theatre Festival in Ado-Ekiti, he was in charge of workshops on stage/theatre directing for two days. He speaks to Edozie Udeze on how the event was handled by him and others.
Ekiti International Theatre Festival ended a few weeks ago in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital. The festival offered the state government the opportunity to gather artistes from far and near to grace the occasion and to display their artistic talents. For the days it lasted the festival ignited the state with flurry of activities which encouraged many dancers, actors, stage directors and playwrights to showcase their talents. Among the artists that participiated is Emmanuel Adejumo. Adejumo is the acting head of dance of the National Troupe of Nigeria.
At the occasion, Adejumo whose stage name is Boisala handled various workshops on how to direct plays on stage. For two days, he handled artistes from different locations on how to make a play stick on stage. Not only that the turnout was high, it was a big deal for him. He is also a dancer himself. He sings, he acts, he scripts, he also instructs. This was why the sessions he handled dwelt exclusively on how to turn any script, any play, at all, into a delight on stage. Being one of the sons of the legendary Moses Adejumo, alias Babasala, it is usually easier for the young Adejumo to fit into any stage or theatre role assigned to him.
Adejumo spoke to The Nation on how the workshop was handled and made a huge success. He said, “In the first place, the festival was the first of its kind in Nigeria. The turnout was massive, huge crowds of people, artists, were in attendance. However, my own job there was to teach in a workshop. Indeed, I was one of the facilitators for the workshops there. The title of the workshop was: Theatre director, theatre directing and so my role was to handle theatre and play directing. They are all in one and the workshop was to look into all areas of making a play good on stage. I handled all elements involved in ensuring that a play is properly directed. Theatre and play directing also enabled participants to understand the core values of making all speak to the audiences while on stage.
“The role of the actors and all that were properly and clearly spelt our at the workshop. It is clear that the stage director holds the ace. He helps to make a play good or bad through the ways he handles a play on stage. It is also clear that the role he assigns to each actor, according to the actor’s capability goes a long way to help the play come out fine or even become boring”.
Adejumo deployed all the experiences he has gathered over the years as an all round artiste to bear on the workshop. He said again; “So, the event was massive. It featured over twenty stage plays based on different aspects of the theatre. Artistes spared no moment to outshine one another. You needed to be there to see theatre, stage plays at their best. The plays chronicled Nigerian stories. Artistes came well prepared to lift Nigerian theatre values to the highest level. The moments were fantastically exciting. These offered me the opportunity to demonstrate the teachings more effectively.
“Participants at the workshop came from tertiary institutions, from different private theatre groups and troupes. The excitement everywhere was infectious. About 16 local government areas in the stage presented plays. The plays took care of issues that bother the people – socio-cultural and economic issues. We had Professor Ahmed Yerima who presented one of his plays titled the Saduana. Others also presented plays, some of which hinged on historical facts and figures in Nigeria”.
“In any case, the plays, the shows generally was organized by the Duke of Somolu, Joseph Edgar. He did it in partnership with the Ekiti State government. Ekiti State Ministry of Culture, Art and Tourism was in the forefront of it all. It was therefore good for me to use that huge outing to explore the workshop and to also let fellow artistes enjoy the lures and the beauties of being a good stage director of plays.
“The attendance was indeed impressive. There were two stages of workshops. The first was on theatre and its sponsors, and marketing. It was done by Edgar himself. The second titled theatre directing was done by myself. People came from all corners of the state to attend both workshops. They were enthusiastic and more eager to learn more. The workshop lasted three hours for every session. It was three hours daily for two days. There were also moments to ask questions and we discovered that the participants were really in high spirits. Many of them had longed to hear and learn about the very elements that help to be a good stage director. Most plays are only good in print. But it is when a well trained director handles it well, that it becomes appealing to the audience”.
The ingredients of being a good theatre director lies in the fact that the persons hsd to understand what makes a play unique. There are situations where a play is only good to hear and not good to watch on stage. It is the role of a seasoned director to bring in all other elements of theatre into it to make it appealing to the people. Here it is called the director’s free license. As long as the play does not sideline the context within which the play is situated, it is good to allow all those exciting elements like songs, dances, and chants where necessary to enhance its beauty thereby making the audience enjoy it.
In this way, you bring in all the necessary techniques, features, props, blocking, costumes, make-up elements and more to spice the play. A play most times is meant to entertain, teach, explore, and even indoctrinate. Adejumo in his usual characteristic way, dwelt on these. He used the opportunity to draw the participants into the deeper areas of mastering these techniques. As a free license, a director can redirect a play to suit its immediate audience without exactly removing or adding to the ideas or concepts embedded in the script. There have been plays where the director had been able to make the playwright see reason why some portions were not necessary.
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Even the late professor Ola Rotimi was known to have, in some cases, removed some ‘distractions’ from some of his plays while directing them for the stage. As a playwright you may not see those distractions while writing. You can also realize that some few things that are not important that you however added to the original text may be out of context after all. At the end of it all, some of the participants were allowed to demonstrate what they learnt. According to Adejumo it was amazing to see how much they really learnt and were ready to put into practice. “Once you know the stage geography and how to move the artistes on stage, most of the elements are already in your kitty. Just study the script very well, master the artistes, then you are good to go”, he said.
