Film Rats Club

    Become a Member
    Submit Archives
      Menu
      Become a Member
      Submit an Archive
      Edit Template

      Theatre

      Article, Theatre

      Meejay’s Come Alive Shines in Dance, Struggles with Depth

      /

      By Chinedu J. Orjiudeh On May 18, 2025, the Wole Soyinka Theatre brimmed with anticipation for Come Alive, a dance drama staged by the Meejay Dance Company. This marked the directorial debut of Grace Okokhune, a graduate of the University of Ibadan’s Theatre Arts department. With a stellar cast including Elijah Adebayo, Progress Adetula, Ifeoma Ezenandu, Oluwatobi Solomon Williams, Ayoola Ayomide, Mcwealth Olufemi, and others, expectations were high, as is often the case with Meejay’s productions. The play opens with Mr. P. (played by Adebayo), the head instructor at the fictional DDS Dance Academy, introducing the performance. This segues into a prologue dance led by Lara (Ezenandu), dressed in white and surrounded by dancers in black. The symbolism is striking—Lara contends with an overwhelming darkness. However, the choreography suggests resistance rather than defeat. Grace Okokhune appears briefly to welcome the audience. Then, the dance drama begins in full swing with synchronized, energetic routines that portray rebellion, passion, and the tenacity needed to pursue one’s dreams. As the performance crescendos, Lara is tossed into the air and crashes down. The lights go out. An ambulance siren wails. A gripping twist: Lara has suffered a career-threatening accident. The story resumes with Lara being wheeled in by her distraught mother, devastated by the news that Lara may never dance again. Lara’s world begins to crumble—she distances herself from friends and ends her relationship with Remmy (Williams), while refusing to accept her mother’s defeatist outlook. In a powerful moment, Lara rolls herself into a red-lit stage area, symbolizing danger and pain, and performs a sorrowful dance. As she collapses in agony, the stage is meant to go black. However, due to poorly managed renovations and inadequate curtains, the darkness isn’t complete. The audience sees Lara rise and exit, shattering the illusion and drawing audible dissatisfaction. It’s a technical misstep that momentarily pulls the audience out of the story. Yet, the narrative regains its grip. Lara, longing to dance again, observes her peers from afar. Abby (Mcwealth Olufemi), a brusque friend, urges her to audition for the academy. Her tone, however, feels more like a motivational cliché than genuine concern. While Abby’s push serves to move the plot forward, her performance lacks nuance, reducing her to a plot device rather than a fully formed character. Lara auditions despite her limp. The audience cheers—hope is rekindled. In a comic interlude at a bar, we meet Mama Beer (Grace Ovu) and a group of Remmy’s friends. There’s laughter and camaraderie, and we learn Remmy has also auditioned. Comic relief gives way to surprise when Lara and Remmy reunite at the academy. At DDS, instructors Mr. P. and Mr. Q. (Adetula) hold an orientation. Students are introduced to improvisational techniques, leading to an experimental performance by Remmy and Lara, sparking chemistry and hinting at a developing relationship. Soon, a new conflict emerges. The academy is selecting a dance captain. Lara performs beautifully—until her injured leg gives way. A rival student, Sandra (Afiolorun Toyosi), mocks her fall. Sandra’s desire to be a top performer sets up a clear antagonism. But something is amiss. The play begins to lose its emotional foundation. Lara does make the decision to audition into the dance academy, despite her limp. This excites the audience because of the potential obstacles and emotional struggle. In a beer parlor scene arranged to deliver a comic relief, we are entertained with an infectious performance from the bar attendant, Mama beer played by Grace Ovu, we discover through the sober Remmy’s interaction with his friends, Shadow (Ogunoshun Sunday Samuel), Blaze (Binuyo Olasubomi) and Bayo (Ayoola Ayomide) that he also auditioned for the same admission and is uncertain about the results. The comic relief is delivered when the troupe finds his name as the last on the list.  Lara is surprised to see him there on the resumption day; her concern is a slight hint of a brewing relationship between both characters, even though their interactions remained at loggerheads. Mr P takes the stage with his assistant, Mr Q, played by Progress Adetula. The orientation that follows establishes the academic setting, with lectures about a dance improvisation technique that sees Remy and Lara perform the experiment (yes, at this point it becomes obvious their relationship is a part of the plot), the audience’s reactions to their unrequited affection build momentum. After the commendation from the instructors, the students are informed of the next goal: the academy will test the students for the position of a captain. The best performer wins. This introduces the next milestone that Lara needs to attain.  At first, they are all to perform the audition routine together, to seal their slots in the academy. The group’s synergy is exploited at this point, drawing the audience closer to the beautiful artistry of dance choreography. Lara seems perfectly fine until the end of the dance, her limbs shift, forcing her to the floor, she picks herself up quickly, but not without the scorn from a new arch enemy, Sandra, played by Afiolorun Toyosi who mimics Lara’s fall mockingly, setting up a potential conflict between both characters. Sandra wants the other students to accept her as the best amongst them and taunts herself as one. The second act continues with a total shift into this conflict between the taunting self proclaimed best student and the talented Lara. There is barely any progression of the initial story, Lara’s leg poses no problem anymore, and the new story is all about who will take the Captain’s position as best performer amongst the students.  Where does that leave the already emotionally invested audience? We know initially that the audience is emotionally invested in the travails that Lara’s disability poses, without that disability and her struggles as the vintage plot line of the story, we are left with the crumb of a contest between two students for a position. The conflict thrives on hurtful words, taunts, and nothing else. Aside from Mr P’s concern for Lara’s previous injury, there is no more

      Theatre

      “PAWPAW PALAVA” IBADAN THESPIANS MUST BE BOLD

      /

      The play PawPaw Palava was performed at the New Culture Studio on the 23rd of December 2023. The play is directed by Olawumi Ayodele & Emmanuel Orisumibare.  I get uneasy anytime I’m about to see a stage play. I always hope nothing embarrassing happens. As an actor myself, I tend to put myself in the performer’s place. So, I took a look around the audience and saw that many were having more fun with their phones than with the performance. I observed this some minutes into the play and I started to sweat.  I attended the play with my friend and colleague Moses Ipadeola. We had both experienced directing several plays as students in our theatre days at the University of Ibadan, and this would be our first time after many years seeing a play together. At the entrance, our tickets were checked by a lady who I soon realized was a guy when he spoke. His thick pretty voice shocked me a bit, I must confess. He picked out a stick-sweet,  a Yale Wafer Choc biscuit tucked inside a small red cup, and a bottle of water to go.  I sat down to watch this play, sweating inside. Within minutes, it became clear that I was not enjoying myself. The play felt familiar and reminded me of Ola Rotimi’s “Grip Am” where God sends an angel to grant one wish to Ise, a troubled farmer and husband. But Ise’s only wish is that if anyone or anything climbs his orange tree and he says “Grip Am” the tree will grab the climber and not release its grip until he tells the tree to let go. Like “Grip Am” where the tree is the object of conflict, the Pawpaw tree in Ibironke Shalom’s “PawPaw Palava” is at the center of the play’s conflict. Two neighbours Papa Johnny (Atilola Omotehinse) and Papa Ejima (Elijah Adebayo) lay claim to the ownership of the tree’s fruit. The tree has its root in Papa Ejima’s side of the house and its stem pushes ripe pawpaw fruit into Papa Johnny’s compound.  As they quarreled from one end of the stage to the other, dialogue veered into talks about dogs, humanity, infidelity, gardening, and a reference to Papa Johnny as “a man who keeps a fertile garden which is every woman’s dream”- quoting a female character (Temitope Agoro).  You see, I knew all the actors – they are all acquaintances and colleagues. I’ve seen them in many plays and seen the wonders they perform on stage. But here I was, sweating, typing the thoughts of this review on my phone, half-listening. Had I given up on the play? Should I give it a chance…people were laughing now, but the reception faded as fast as it came, like a tired whistle.  The turnout slowly rose and I caught an actor, while performing his lines, stealing glances at the faces trickling in. He was distracted. He started struggling with his delivery, and when that struggle starts, an actor tries harder and harder to find some footing. Desperately, he seeks help from his co-actors. If that help doesn’t come, a new problem emerges –  the lines become repetitive and the tempo & rhythm of the play is butchered. I watched the actors struggle among themselves, wondering who would save the play. I wondered if one actor contemplated leaving the stage, to perhaps run backstage to peep the script. That would be fun, I guess.  Gradually, as the play progressed, the actors’ movements shifted into the audience. This movement always works because the audience feels attacked, and uncomfortable, so they usually drop their phones and pay attention, asking themselves why the actors are intruding. The newly manufactured intimacy helped sustain some tempo but, again, it didn’t last. Emmanuel “Emmylyskillz” Orisumibare, the creator of Stage Alive, has written, produced, and directed over 10 plays. He is a passionate theater practitioner and has contributed immensely to the growth of theatre in Ibadan. He has introduced the theatre to new audiences and new audiences to theatre. Performing in the historic New Culture Theatre requires actors with enough presence to bend the audience to their will, to make them evoke large emotions, keep them away from their phones, away from their trouble, and help them escape into the drama they have come to experience. Any director bringing their play here must know this.  The play ended while I was munching my Yale Waferchoc biscuit. The audience clapped to encourage the actors but it was clear they wanted more. They stayed polite and kind but clearly, it wasn’t worth the end of the year/ Christmas experience. They will have to find the release somewhere else.  It’s been a while since I saw or wrote about a play. But one thing is sure, theatre in Ibadan is going to be explosive soon, and playmakers must be bold and ready. 

      Scroll to Top