i always enjoy watching theater in lagos because nigerians have a natural flair for drama. in honor of wole soyinka's 77th birthday, renegade theater presents the fifth annual season of wole soyinka at terra kulture. i braved a torrential downpour to see the strong breed a couple of sundays ago, and next sunday the troupe will be performing camwood on the leaves. the cast did not disappoint--altho, for some reason, i found the helpless, scapegoated characters of ifada and the schoolgirl more compelling than the main ones. maybe that has something to do with my psychology.
festival director/producer wole oguntokun announced that he will be participating in the world shakespeare festival in london next year, an event leading up to the 2012 olympics featuring 38 plays in 38 languages. he plans to adapt the winter's tale into a yoruba drama complete with sango and ogun.
it's great to see wole recognized on a global stage, both for his own sake and for nigeria. he's an immensely talented individual. the show sounds like a can't miss--of course, you would have to speak yoruba to enjoy it! --AL.
