Technical directing, otherwise known as stage designing, is no doubt the most difficult segment of the theatre. But one professional artiste who has chosen to venture into this tough terrain to give Nigerian theatre its proper definition is Hilary Elemi. Elemi heads the technical directorate of the National Troupe of Nigeria and he has designed most of the best stage designs ever in the history of live theatre in Nigeria. He shares his experiences and how this aspect gives true life and meaning to theatre with Edozie Udeze. Excerpts
Technical directing or stage designing is one of the most difficult aspects of the theatre. It is one area where a few artistes want to dwell and excel in, due to its delicate and somewhat unsung nature. But one man who has stuck out his neck in this area of the theatre from the beginning of his career is Hilary Elemi. Elemi is the technical director of the National Troupe of Nigeria, a position which makes him one of the most revered professionals in the land.
“Yes, from the beginning, I decided I had the desire to be a technical director to give meaning to Nigerian theatre productions. Previously, I had graduated from the University of Calabar as a theatre director. But to me, a lot were missing from most of the productions I saw and I needed to add more value to our productions. You know, the technical arm of the theatre is the thing that makes the production captivating to the audience. It is indeed the visual arm of the theatre.” This was one of the primary reasons Elemi felt duty-bound to be part of this phenomenon.
He gave his reasons further; “You see, people come to the theatre to see production. But what gives that production its total effect is the set and stage designs. This is what makes theatre very attractive and somewhat outstanding. People then want to see and comprehend the magic of theatre. What is the totality of a play if it does not have the picture of what the playwright had in mind while writing the play?” he asked.
Every aspect of live theatre is defined holistically when a stage design conforms with the visual to embellish the pattern it presents. Elemi who has risen to the position of a deputy director and now heads the technical department of the Troupe opines that what holds most European theatre platform is their mode of stage designs. “This is why a play can run for one month with thespians coming to view different aspects of the designs. What they see, they want to understand it clearly in order to situate the story and the play. When people first used the word, the magic in theatre, I did not understand it. But it is the secret behind the beauty of a play, aesthetic beauty so to say.”
Over the years, in the reasoning of Elemi, Nigerian stage plays have been escaping from this wonderful scenario, thus depriving the audience the opportunity of seeing theatre in its complete epitome. “This was the situation, mainly due to lack of finance to build befitting stages for our various plays,” he says. “Yet, it is this beauty, this visual that captivates the audience and holds them spellbound. Stage design embraces the production, it enhances it, it projects it and then sends the right signals to the audience. So, the design should be able to explain aspects which the play itself was unable to explain,” he posits.
For every stage play to bring out the message to the fore, a good technical director or stage designer has to make appropriate and maximum input. Elemi defines it thus: “A good technical design would explain not only the mood of the play, but also people’s appreciation of what goes on. A traditional production, for instance, if properly handled will explain that this play took place in a palace. Or that the scene took place at an airport or at the sea. Sequences like that often help to unravel a play and bring it nearer home to the audience.”
As a stage designer, it is proper to work in synergy with a playwright to be able to interpret some of the scenes in the play. Often, a playwright may have some definite scenes in his mind while the stage designer prefers the opposite. ‘Oh, this is where the synergy readily comes into play,” he says. “It is at its stage that the playwright has to be consulted because in the first place, it is his play. For a designer to design, he must first of all know the intent of the playwright. It is part of your training as a designer to know all this. You need to understand what the playwright is saying and how he is saying it and even why he has to say it and so on. For instance, a stage designer ought to go into research to get the background of the production. This will help him to know the kind of characters that have been projected.”
Owing to the singular aesthetic nature of set and stage design, it is often imperative to invent ancient objects of value to adorn the stage. “This is why you may sometimes see artefacts and objects of historical values on stage. They indeed help to embellish and enhance a play on stage,” Elemi decided. He goes on to say: “As a director of a play, you need to be in conformity with not only the playwright but also the stage director. Together, three of you will give the play the desired effect and beauty.”
For a professional stage designer to function well and for him to situate a play within its proper context, he has to first of all discover the number of actors a director needs to function on stage. Once this is done, it becomes easier to introduce the sets, the designs and other essential ingredients necessary to make the stage outstanding. “Yes, the theatre designer is an architect as a matter of fact. He has to study the space on the stage and the number of characters to feature on it.”
Now, based on that, he can begin to work on the sets, the designs, even the volume of light and how it fluctuates and how it dims and all that have to be taken into cognizance. You have to then map out the appropriate space on stage. In fact, a space can be properly utilized for maximum effect,” he explains.
When, for instance, you have an elevated platform on stage, that goes to show that the characters on that platform are of noble character. They have a nobility that is different from the rest. This aspect has to do with traditional plays more. In most of his works which involved plays written by some of Nigeria’s well-known playwrights like Femi Osofisan, Bayo Oduneye, Ahmed Yerima, Elechi Amadi and some others, Elemi has been careful to showcase stages that infused class and beauty. Although he has on different occasions encountered playwrights who did not quite agree with his concept of their works on stage, Elemi in most instances was able to wriggle free. “One of such encounters was with Bayo Oduneye, a former director of the National Troupe of Nigeria. Oduneye is one of the foremost directors in the country and I once had a disagreement with him over a stage design. In that instance, he had his own vision which was in contrast to mine. But what it shows is that the vision of a stage designer cannot go beyond that of a director. No, it shouldn’t be so. At times the point of disagreement is when one of them brings in what is not possible.
Over the years, this aspect of discordant tunes pertaining to the stage has tended to distort the otherwise free flow of stage theatre. However, some have been able to manage it well enough to keep theatre on its proper footing. Even so, the costuming business aspect of the theatre is seen to be a compartment of the stage design. Most often however, these two work in disharmony to the detriment of a total live theatre. Nevertheless, Elemi explains it this way: “Of course, both should work hand-in-hand to have the desired result. The designer designs the set, he designs the light and then the colours of the costumes have their own interpretation.”
As a matter of fact, both the costumier and the stage designer belong to the same genre. They both have to create scenes to enhance the stage. In African plays, we have a lot of cinematic views. Most of African plays are explicit, dwelling on people’s aspect s of life. This is why most of the scripts we have, have lots of such built into them. Often, all these scenes have problems struggling to have space in one stage. “Theatre designing for African theatre that incorporates so many themes in the same script, you have what we call simultaneous stage designs. You can then design at the front and at the centre to be able to define every bit of it. You call it circular setting. When the first scene is over, you can then turn the stage. You can also collapse the set. Thereafter, you can then rebuild the first one so that each brings into focus the effect you wish to create.”
When these actions move from stage to stage, from one location to the other, and you have this simultaneous effect, the actions readily explain the depth or profundity of the play. At the same time, it gives the audience more to chew, more to think about in terms of the message inherent in the play. The make-up artiste also comes in here because he brings some reality on stage. The young boy of 19 years can be made up to be 90 years old. Although it is usually difficult to have a reverse role, the make-up artiste is the most professional in this art of make belief. So, all he does is to bring the character of the artiste closer to reality.
In all, all these give the desired definition to the technical sequences of theatre. It is as challenging as even conceptualizing a play, yet without the stage design a play is as good as dead. This is why the likes of Elemi remain relevant.
