Abuja: ‘Made in Nigeria’ for stage
Abuja is set to witness another episode of the poetry performance, ‘Made in Nigeria,’ spearheaded by renowned poet, Dike Chukwumerije.
The event which is billed to hold at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel next weekend is the fifth edition following previous outings in the Abuja and Lagos.
At a press briefing, Chukwumerije explained that ‘Made in Nigeria’ presents poetry in a different but more appealing light, fussing spoken word, drama, music and humour in a stage performance.
He said the poetry-for-theatre production with a cast of about 15 actors, is made up of 20 theatrical poetry seamlessly linked by dance, drama and music, chronicling Nigeria’s 102-year history from 1914, in a two-hour production.
He said: “We are not able to tell every single detail of Nigeria’s history but key events which mark our story as a nation are portrayed in the piece which we have linked thematically.”
The lawyer cum poet who also started the Night of Spoken Words (NSW) in 2013 said: “People have stereotypical views of poetry. We’re doing a form of poetry called performance poetry. It is very contemporary and accessible and easy to relate with. It is a type of poetry that anybody whether they like books, poems or not, can relate to. We are doing it because we’re trying to bring a bit of intellectualism and entertainment into poetry and this involves the collaboration of many art forms.”
On the Hilton’s support for the event, the hotel’s Public Relation’s Manager, Mr. Shola Adeyemo said: “We have been staunch supporters of the arts for over 10 years and we marked the anniversary of consistently supporting the Abuja Literary Society (ALS) in 2016.
“Supporting ‘Made in Nigeria’ reinforces our belief that literary arts are veritable tools for impacting positively on the communities where we live, work and travel to.
“We believe strongly that the event offers a platform to create opportunities for talented youths in communities.”