For the residents of Jos, especially theatre lovers, it was excitement galore, as the Jos Repertory Theatre held the 9th edition of its annual Jos Festival of Theatre in Jos, Plateau State, from March 10 to March 14, 2015.
The festival, which featured five plays alongside a pre-festival play a few days to the opening of the festival, was held under the theme; ‘Telling Untold Stories: Making a difference through the arts.’
The festival included arts management workshops which focused on proposal writing alongside directing and acting classes, and facilitated by theatre professionals based in Jos.
The featured plays included Barclays Ayakoroma’s Castles in the Air, Adinoyi Ojo Onukaba’s Body Parts, Sefi Atta’s ‘Last Stand’, Jacinto Benaventure’s ‘The Bonds of Interest and August Wilson’s King Hedley II’.
‘Castles in the Air’ exposes traditional prejudices on mixed marriages between diverse ethnic groups in Nigeria. Aminu and Stella are promised the sum of N10m if they get married within a year and give birth to a son. The race is on but is the two of them ready to join the race? Body Parts is the story of a group of young men who out of being unemployed create jobs for themselves by hawking their vital organs to the highest bidder.
There is a strong demand for kidneys and they have very healthy ones to sell. But there is a snag as they sell to someone who has a history with their family dating back thirty years. Last Stand, premiered at the Terra Kulture, Lagos last November and it is the story of a family torn apart by the will of their dying patriarch, a retired military General.
Who does he leave his estate to?
The designated heir is not interested in the wealth and that leaves the estate open to a fight between two wives, a dead wife and their children. The Bonds of Interest is the story of two young men who live their lives duping people. They extend this by getting a lot of services on credit. They then plan the ultimate scheme – one of them is to marry the daughter of the wealthiest man in the city in the hope that when he dies they will inherit his wealth, pay off their debts and live happily as respected men of the society.
The plan backfires as the one pretending to fall in love actually falls in love. Being chased by the law and their creditors, they decide to split up but these further compounds their woes as the daughter in question decides not to let go. King Hedley II depicts life in Pittsburgh in 1985. King Hedley II is out of jail. He comes back home, gets married and tries to live making his own rules.
He lives with his mother and his wife whom he would very much love to see get pregnant. She eventually gets pregnant but decides to have an abortion as she would not want to have a child who would not know his father. His mother’s lover of thirty years appears and decides to formally marry his mother but before this happens, he asks her to tell King Hedley II who his real father is.
Unfortunately, he had killed his father during a row over some gambling debts. On the day, they decide to get their marriage license; all the secrets which she had taught she will take to her grave comes tumbling out with disastrous consequences.
The festival was supported by the US Mission, Nigeria, Grand Cereals Limited and a host of corporate bodies and individuals.
