Four writers selected for Lagos Theatre Festival 2016

As part of UK/Nigeria 2015–16, Lagos Theatre Festival 2016 will take place at several venues on Lagos Island and the mainland. This was revealed in a press statement made available to Newswatch Times by the British Council.

According to the statement, the Festival, 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 August, to support emerging playwrights, it sought submissions of scripts for the Festival, asking for plays that reflect the experiences of young people living in Lagos today.

“In addition, in September, 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 names of 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.”

Director Arts, British Council Nigeria, Ojoma Ochai, 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.”

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.