Seventy six Nollywood actors and veterans of the stage will walk the red carpet in honour of Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, who clocks 76 today. The event will take place at the MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos, by 6pm.
Some of the artists lined up for the event are Dejumo Lewis, Kola Oyewo, Felix Okolo,
Peter Badejo, Ayo Lijadu, Tunde Kelani, Joke Silva, Tunde Kuboye and Ben Tomoloju.
Parade of talents
They will be joined in the parade which will be televised live on selected TV stations by Richard Mofe Damijo, Olu Jacobs, Tade Ogidan, Sola Fosudo, Biodun Duro Ladipo,
Nobert Young, Yemi Sodimu, Rachael Oniga, Bimbo Akintola, Ayo Adesanya, Hafiz Oyetoro, Uzor Maxim Uzoatu, Duro Oni and others.
‘Preemptive’ a play written by United States of America-based Niyi Coker and directed by Segun Ojewuyi will thereafter be staged at the same venue.
The play which has already toured Barbados and the United Kingdom will also be staged on Wednesday before the accompanying play, ‘Seven’, written by Rachael Hastings and also directed by Mr Ojewuyi, will show at the National Theatre, Iganmu, on Thursday. The two plays will subsequently tour cities including Asaba, Calabar and Abuja.
Speaking on preparations for today’s event at a meeting with journalists yesterday, the cast and crew of ‘Preemptive’ who are also featuring in ‘Seven’, affirmed their readiness to ‘edu-tain’ Nigerians with the plays.
Cortez Johnson, one of the actors described his involvement in the play, which among others examines terrorism and official reaction to it, racism and conflicts, “as a mind blowing experience, really inspirational”. Another actor, Christopher Collins said, “I felt very honoured to be part of this project.” The playwright, Mr Coker, said he hopes the play will make Nigerians “Go back and examine those phobia; what moves you from point A to B. What is it inside you that makes you want to kill the other person?” Born on July 13, 1934 in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Wole Soyinka was educated at Saint Peter’s Primary School, Ake, Abeokuta; Government College, Ibadan; the University College,
Ibadan; and the University of Leeds where he began to establish himself as a talented playwright. Some of Soyinka’s plays include ‘Trials of Brother Jero’, ‘Jero’s Metamorphosis’, ‘The Swamp Dwellers’, ‘The Lion and the Jewel’ and ‘Death and the King’s Horseman’ amongst others.
He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986 and has over the years, become one of the leading members of the human rights and pro-democracy movements in Nigeria.
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