It was a day full of reminiscences and
power-packed emotions as soloist and monodrama exponent, Greg Mbajiorgu, took
time off the annual conference of the Society of Nigerian Theatre Artist (SONTA) in University of Calabar to
re-visit the premises of the State Secretariat of The National Youth Service
Corp(NYSC) where he conceived, wrote and premiered his enigmatic solo artist
play The Prime Minister’s Son 21 years ago.
Greg Mbajiorgu was accompanied on the
historic re-visit by foremost theatre scholar, Professor Kalu Uka, who
incidentally was part of the premiere of the play in 1991 as artistic
/technical adviser alongside the late pioneer Nigerian playwright, James Ene Henshaw.
Also on the visiting entourage were Sola Balogun,arts editor of The Sun
Newspapers, Obi Okoli, popular Nollywood actor and Denja Abdullahi, poet,
playwright and National Vice President of the Association of Nigerian
Author(ANA).
The visiting team found themselves in the
warm embrace of the management staff of the NYSC Cross River State secretariat
and serving corp members, led by the State Director Engr. Ibangha. Greg
Mbajiorgu, now a senior lecturer in the department of Theatre and Film Studies,
University of Nigeria, Nsukka, set the tone for the visit when he reminiscence
on how the then State Director of the scheme in 1991, one Mr Ajayi, encouraged him to follow his passion and
approved his desire to adopt the one man theatre show as his primary assignment
and community development activity. According to Greg Mbajiorgu, in spite of
opposition from certain quarters, the then NYSC State Director, gave him an
office space and an accommodation within the secretariat complex as a corp
resident dramatist, from where he unleashed his talent as a solo drama artist
culminating in the conception, writing and performance of the mono actor drama The
Prime Minister’s Son; which was taken round schools and communities in
Cross River State. Speaking to a roomful of entranced corp members of the drama
and dance community development group and management staff of the NYSC State
Secretariat, Greg, in an emotional laden
voice, declared that the NYSC scheme defined his career and served as launch
pad for his later endeavour as a theatre enterprenuer. According to him ,he had
it so good as a travelling solo theatre artist as a Corp member that while his
colleagues visited banks to make cash withdrawals, he regularly went there to
make deposits and later bought a car from proceeds of his performances and was financially
disposed to buy a cow for his colleagues to party with. At the end of his
inspiring speech to the corp members and an appreciative NYSC staff, Greg was
on the verge of tears and Prof Kalu Uka, had to step in to convert as he said
“Greg’s tears to joy” with a powerfully rendered praise song and an inspiring
speech that bordered on showing gratitude and aiming for excellence. Engr
Ibangha, the NYSC State Director responded to the speeches by thanking Greg
Mbajiorgu for appreciating the contributions of the scheme to his successful
career as an artist while noting that stories such as that of his highlight the
relevance of the scheme to youth development. He called on the Corp members
present to take a cue from the import of the visit to discover their talents
and pursue their dreams.
The visit ended with the presentation of
copies of the 20th anniversary edition of the monodrama The Prime
Minister’s Son by Greg Mbajiorgu to the State NYSC and the performance of a
drama sketch entitled “Conundrum” by the State’s NYSC drama troupe within the
same quadrangle where The Prime Minister’s Son was premiered 21
years back.
The Calabar visit thus marked the beginning
of a series of events already scheduled to commemorate the 20th
anniversary of the play The Prime Minister’s Son across Nigeria. The
anniversary activities are conceived to highlight the past contributions of
soloists such as the late Funso Alabi and others to the theatrical form which
is in need of re-invention in Nigeria. The next stop will be in Abuja on the 27th
of September 2012 at the Korean Cultural Centre, by 4pm prompt, where a play reading, performance and critical interactive session have been scheduled for The Prime
Minister’s Son under the auspices of the Arojah Royal Theatre.
By Denja Abdullahi
No comments:
Post a Comment