PLAYTHORA THEATRE COMPANY/THEATRE-EL

Drama and theatrical arts have experienced its own fair share of neglect from audiences and government within the Nigerian State. However, in past decade there has been an interesting shift of audience attention to live theatrical and dramatic performance, as more middle class Nigerians prefer entertainment with an intellectual bent and capable of   gratifying their special need for outstanding creative expressions   . Although this new affinity for live theatre among audience may seem to have been getting more traffic in Lagos, the last five years have been a jinx breaker, as more regional based independent theatre producers are rising up to the challenge of meeting audience expectations . In the last two years Tholakele Productions have staged well over ten performances, and this year, it is set to launch its parlor theatre which will be run by Theatre-El exclusively. Theatre-El will stage live dramatic and non-dramatic entertainment at The Parlor , in Tholakele Productions

    Maria . There’s something about the name Maria that transports me into the nostalgic realm of exhuming buried images from my brain yard. The feeling is exhausting. The walking of miles in memory lanes paved with uncommon antecedents. I’m walking in my own shoes and I know exactly where it pinches. I first met Maria when I was six years old. It was when a huge black ugly vehicle parked outside my neighbor’s house, a team of determined policemen dragging a handcuffed Tijani’s father into the huge black vehicle. Tijani’s mother was weeping as my mum and wives of other neighbors tried to console her. Tijani was crying too. I was amazed, not by the scene before me, but by the huge black vehicle whose doors were like that of a cage. The vehicle had no windows. It was nothing like my school bus or the vehicles my eyes were accustomed to. The huge black vehicle was artless. My childish state of amazement soon morphed into confusion when one adult called the huge black vehicl