The intrigues of ‘Queen Moremi The Musical’
Over the festive holidays, Queen Moremi The Musical, threw the audience into frenzy of excitement and enthralling stage performances at Terra Kulture in Victoria Island, Lagos.
At every show time, the 400- seater capacity theatre thrills the discerning audience with an enthralling stage performance of the legendary Queen Moremi Ajasore’s story. The musical is a fusion of drama and ‘ batta’ genre of dance on stage to showcase the rich Yoruba cultural heritage.
At the first show of the stage play, the stellar cast offered a superlative performance amid a stunning setting that depicted the original location in the then ancient Ile-ife, Osun State. From the awesome rocks, fearful forest and cultural themes, the setting made the play more natural and authentic to the audience. As well, the make- up and costume worn by the cast revealed precision tailoring by the designers.
Queen Moremi is story of selfless sacrifice and leader- ship. She was a queen who over a thousand years ago offered everything she had to Ile-ife people by sacrificing her only son (Ila) to save her kingdom from destruction by the neigbhouring cities and towns.
Though a queen, Moremi was also a married woman and mother. She was a woman that believed that her kingdom deserved any great sacrifice to salvage it from their enemies.
The ancient Ile- Ife was subjected to captivity as the young men and women were taken away by their enemies and mothers were deeply troubled weeping at the king’s palace and sought an end to the menace.
Tension arising from insecurity threw great panic to the kingdom that even the Kabiesi was overwhelmed with the situation.
The Kabiesi consulted the Ifa-priest to enquire from the spirit a solution to the lingering threats. Four virgins were sacrificed based on the message of the Ifa-priest from the deity, but all to no avail.
As the insecurity in- creased, some warriors were sent on rescue mission of the land by the Ifa-priest. They were given very difficult conditions; to capture alive a tiger, elephant and leopard. But they returned home to king’s palace unsuccessful.
Challenged by unwarranted deaths of young people of Ife, Moremi decided to confront the reality in order to put an end to the menace. She asked her husband for permission to fight to rescue Ife Kingdom; a mission the men were scared of. She was required to go to land of the spirits to find out the conditions for restoring peace to the kingdom.
However, it was more exciting seeing the performance than hearing the story.
Queen Moremi the Musical stage play hopes to reopen again to the public across the year at Terra Kulture.