Veteran movie actor, Dele Odule, has called for a concerted effort of major stakeholders to ensure that stage play does not go into extinction in Nigeria’s entertainment industry.
He said this in Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State while speaking with newsmen during the maiden edition of his annual stage performance tagged ‘Naija Dramatainment Exra,’ organised in collaboration with the WosAm Arena.
The event featured a stage play ‘Folumo,’ a socio-political satire of the Nigerian state, written by Odule and directed by Yomi Duro-Ladipo. The stage play attracted Nollywood stars like Lateef Adedimeji, Peju Ogunmola, Ibrahim Chatta, 85-year-old Ayo Ogunsina (Papalolo), Tubosun Odunsi, among others.
A magic performance by Zeeto and Nike, children of the late Professor Peller, was one of the high points of the event.
Odule explained that the event was part of his commitment to resuscitate stage performance which is fast going into extinction.
The Ijebu-born actor noted that people are still interested in watching stage performances.
He said “‘Naija Dramatainment Exra is an experiment beginning with Southwest first before we start taking it around the nation and it’s not limited to our own tribe. You can see performers from Akwa-Ibom State. We will extend it to the Hausas too. What I am trying to do is to make sure that we never lose stage performance. As people go to cinemas, people are still interested in watching stage performances
“If someone like me cannot do it, that will be too bad because I started as a stage performer, I started drama as a stage actor 45 years ago. So, I want to make sure it survives. I don’t want to see the extinction of stage performances. That is why I brought up the idea. This is just the tip of the iceberg; we are going to do more next year.”
Odule said the new generation of actors did not start as stage performers, but there is a need to encourage them to embrace stage performance.
Former Deputy Minority Whip in the House of Representatives, Adesegun Adekoya commended the initiative and expressed hope that President Bola Tinubu’s government would invest in the entertainment industry.
“I feel very strongly that the present administration led by Bola Ahmed Tinubu will appreciate and invest heavily in the entertainment industry.
“And on the legislation, we have more than enough laws, resolutions and bills to encourage this. It’s only the implementation that we should be talking about,” Adekoya said.
The Managing Director of Parallex Bank, Olufemi Bakre, said the bank partnered with the organisers of the event because of its commitment and support for Nigeria’s creative industry.
Bakre also expressed the bank’s readiness to always support the creative industry due to “its enormous potentials and opportunities.”
