Wednesday, July 18, 2007



A Season of Soyinka- Cast Members of Death and the King's Horseman run through their lines before the performance of the drama at Terra Kulture- Sunday July 15. The play was directed by Segun Adefila.
Next Sunday will be Camwood on the Leaves (July 22), directed by Lekan Balogun and then The Jero Plays (The Trials of Brother Jero/Jero's Metamorphosis) as directed by laspapi on Sunday the 29th of July.

11 comments:

Frances Uku said...

ehen, that's more like it papi - i have been begging you since for gist about the actors, plus including insider scoop on the casting & rehearsal process.

so now - for the shows you directed, did you hold open auditions or work mostly with actors whose work you already knew? make i take know how things dey work for gidi...

Mamarita said...

I love Death and the King's Horsemen, the guy that played Eleshin was one crazy dude. He was theatrically inclined to a fault, but you could mistake him for a loon, he wasn't Nigerian but when he did the "NOT-I BIRD" I felt it......

KONGI ROCKS

...toyintomato said...

ahhh, loved brother jero, i acted in the play durin my secondary school days, i was perfect as the amope.
utterly hopeless on stage, my first and last acting experience..lol

laspapi said...

Sometimes, frances, I forget I'm primarily an Arts blog.
What we held for all the shows was an open audition with all the directors present. It held at Terra and brought all types of actors.
Still, as most directors do, there were people each one had in his mind for certain roles. They were all probably looking to fill up only 20% of the roles. Except me. I was looking to fill up 80%. I took in a lot of new people so the regulars wouldn't get complacent.

I decided not to use 2 of the directors at the auditions- (Producer's reasons) Which is how Lekan Balogun and Tunji Sotimirin joined us.
I've been called brave because of the magnitude of this project. I think I'm just fool-hardy at times. It's worked well, though. Makes you know God is on your side.... Now to try to translate all these tactics into money to pay production bills.
Having steady shows has been very difficult in Nigeria until now. You rehearsed for months, presented the play once and that was it. But about 3 days ago, everything altered...

Get ready to help bring Harvard trained thespians here...

@ mamarita- there was a peculiarity with this "Death". There were two Eleshins, two Iyalodes, two Olohun Iyos...all on set at the same time. Splitting lines and acting like they were one voice. It was amazing, a different concept by the director, Segun.

And yes, Kongi rocks!

@ Toyin- you could play amope during rehearsals and couldn't swing it on stage? Ah, toyin, sorry. You're a failed actor? :P
Ok, whe you come home, I'll give you a 'waka pass' role where you won't get stage fright. You'll just stroll past and shout "No!".

(That was my first part in a play back in University. Even with that, I still had palpitations of the heart).

Jumi said...

laspapi, talking of stage fright, even to just waka pass for stage fit bring fright o :) Don't scare Toyin anymore than she already is. Make her swing/drop from the ceiling/chandelier in one of your plays, cover her eyes so she doesn't have to see the audience, then have her pulled back in five seconds flat! Even to shout "No!" is enough to frighten the living daylight out of me.

♥♫♪nyemoni♫♪♥ said...

Lol, Death and the kings' horseman was fab! I especially loved the kings security men...the guy who was the main guard was on point! LOL!

laspapi said...

@ jumi- I'll do a 2-man play starring you and toyin tomato. We'll call it "The Silence". All you guys have to do is stand and stare at the audience.
The scene ends when they start throwing tomatoes. ;P

@ nyemoni- His name is Wale and he's as crazy as a loon. Often, in their performances, his is my favourite part

Noni Moss said...

You must be ______ (fill in the blanks) in anticipation for your start. Good luck!

laspapi said...

I am, noni moss, thank you.

...toyintomato said...

haba! laspapi, i did not see the last comment until jumi told me...a scene on stage
whyyy! kilode! when did i offend you... that you want to publicly shame the crowned princess of Badagry..haha, the Original Lagosian, lagos island people are counterfeit...tsk tsk

anyway , anyone that throws tomato on me, i will fire them with water...hahaha

laspapi said...

@ toyin tomato- the princess of badagry and descendant of the Akrans must leave her royal bodyguards at the gate when she steps on the stage to audition and rehearse.
As for the stage shyness you and jumi share, leave it to me.