By Oladapo Udom
Lagos, Feb. 9, 2018 (NAN) Israel Eboh, the President, National Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners (NANTAP), on Friday identified lack of an enabling environment as the biggest challenge facing theatre development in the country.
Eboh told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that building more theatres across the nation would improve their quality and create an enabling environment for the sector to thrive.
The NANTAP president commended the Federal Government as well as the Lagos State Government on their efforts at creating an enabling environment and providing funds for the growth of theatre.
“The problem of theatre is not the lack of content or creativity, but the lack of funding and an enabling environment.
“When you really want to grow an industry, it is the infrastructural development that is critical and key.
“For example, NANTAP desires theatres to be put in place because that is where we practise our trade,’’ he said.
Eboh noted that the nation’s cultural policy said that there should be cottage theatres in every local government area in the country.
“Building cottage theatre in every local government area will open up the industry and create sustainability for shows.
“The more shows that are happening, the more jobs will be created for the teeming creative Nigerian youths,’’ he said.
The NANTAP president said that the association was working on building a framework that would sustain the sector and make it more robust.
Eboh said that the association was planning to organise several capacity building workshops in the second quarter of the year to improve the quality of young thespians in the profession.
“We will like to restore the glorious old days of theatre when live theatre was active and vibrant,’’ the NANTAP president said. (
