4 playwrights’ works selected for 2016 Lagos Theatre Festival

The Lagos Theatre Festival has selected the works of four playwrights including; Bode Asiyanbi, Atinuke Aweda, Paul Ugbede and Olubunmi Familoni, to be performed as part of the activities lined up for the UK/Nigeria 2015–16 programme, which the festival is a part of.

Their manuscripts will now be transformed into productions to be performed on stage during Lagos Theatre Festival in 2016 from 23–28 February.

It would be recalled that in August, to support emerging playwrights, the Lagos Theatre Festival called for submissions of scripts for the Festival, asking for plays that reflect the experiences of young people living in Lagos today.

The Lagos Theatre Festival 2016 will hold at several venues on Lagos Island and the mainland with a curated programme running alongside a fringe strand of affiliated performances allowing a greater than ever number of artists and audiences to take part.

In September, this year, renowned British practitioners Angela Davis, David Evans, Martin Hunt and Auriel Martin delivered a series of workshops in Lagos around production design, stage management, front of house and fringe participation.

All were geared towards capacity building for the Lagos Theatre Festival 2016. At the same time creative writing workshops led by Dr Tunde Awosanmi, Ita Hozaife, Wole Oguntokun, Tunji Sotimirin , Wana Udobang and Ahmed Yerima worked to develop the shortlisted plays.

“We are now happy to announce the selected writers whose plays will be performed as part of Lagos Theatre Festival: Bode Asiyanbi, Atinuke Aweda, Paul Ugbede and Olubunmi Familoni. They will have their manuscripts transformed into productions to be performed on stage during Lagos Theatre Festival in 2016 from 23–28 February,” Ojoma Ochai, Director Arts, British Council Nigeria said.

“We are thrilled to be able to create opportunities for young, talented playwrights in Nigeria. They should all feel really proud that their work was outstanding amongst the competition. I can’t wait to see how they are brought to life as part of Lagos Theatre Festival 2016,” he added.

UK/Nigeria 2015–16 is a major season of arts in Nigeria aimed at building new audiences, creating new collaborations and strengthening relationships between the UK and Nigeria.