Open Doors Series celebrates Nigeria at 60 with stage performance, painting competition

As part of its celebration of the 60 years independence anniversary of Nigeria, which it tagged, ‘The future is now’, Open Doors Series is presenting Brittle-ing Diamond, an enthralling play.

Written by Ahmed Yerima, produced by Ayobamidele Aladekomo, directed by Niji Akanni and performed by the Segun Adefila-led Crown Troupe of Africa, the play Brittle-ing Diamond puts a mirror in the face of Nigeria as it clocks its 60th year after independence.

It reflects the sacrifice of the military in Nigeria’s political trajectory, spotlighting its role in helping to sustain and consolidate democracy. It was the military that rescued the First Republic from its descent into chaos. But for its intervention at that critical period in history, the entity called Nigeria would have disintegrated – barely five years into its attainment of self-governance from the colonial powers. The Nigerian Army, like the nation it helped to rescue, has had its own plethora of challenges; much of which arose from the nature and structure of the country and the idiosyncrasies of its military personnel. However, the military redeemed itself by returning the country to democracy thereby reinstalling our hard-earned independence. And by its continuous sacrifices in the theatre of war, the military has helped to sustain and consolidate democratic governance in the last two decades.

The play is a re-work of Mirror Cracks by Ahmed Yerima, a professor, playwright and theatre director. However, the play has been refocused to examine the impact and relationship of the Nigerian military with the Nigerian populace. It also takes a critical look at silent issues in the military such as post-traumatic stress disorder. The re-work of the play is done specifically for the 60th celebration of the Nigerian nation; the themes were selected in a series of workshops, which involved Ayobamidele Aladekomo, the producer and Teju Kareem, the executive producer.

Moreover, one of the purposes of the production of the play is to also activate a mentorship programme even in the arts, by combining veteran and young actors, experienced and new producers, experienced digital operators and budding ones alike to create a production that will be solely on zoom and enjoyable to the audience in the comfort of their homes.

As well, the play is intended to highlight the overall virtual theatre experience to tell the story of all heroes that have sacrificed their lives to the military and most importantly their civilian families.

Also, as part of the activities under its ‘Future is now’ programme for the celebration of the 60 years independence anniversary milestone, Open Door Series is organising a virtual art exhibition. “My New Nigeria on a Canvas of Unity” will be unveiled on October 1, 2020. The virtual exhibition will open for a period of 90 days to promote storytelling among the participants, Art for Peace Initiative Community and startups”, the organisers said.

The project is geared to spark youth creativity through exploration and exposure of their talents and skills towards building an egalitarian nation where unity, peace and justice will reign. The project is expected to produce a 15ft by 10ft “The New Nigeria on Canvas” painting by 60 finalists from the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. Produced by Foluke Michael, and coordinated by Olusegun Al-maroof, a thorough shortlisting process has gone into the selection of the 60 artists and team leads out of the various applications submitted.

Meanwhile, six team leads have emerged from the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria and they are currently working to select nine other painters from each zone.

The team leads are: Abdullahi Garba, from Jigawa for North West zone; Usman Usman, from Gombe for the North East zone; John Ali, from Nasarawa, for the North Central; Akan Edem David from Uyo, for the South South zone; Ifedilichukwu Chibuike, from Enugu city, for the South East zone and Ashaka Victory, from Badagry/ Lagos, for the South west zone.

The project, according to Open Door Series, will promote youth inclusiveness in national discourse, youth empowerment, entrepreneurship and art for peace initiative. The 60 participants will be trained and empowered for skill and entrepreneurship development in readiness to build the future now.