GOVERNMENT SHOULD APPOINT ART PRACTITONERS TO RUN THE NATIONAL THEATRE AND SEE IF THEY WON’T MAKE MONEY

GOVERNMENT SHOULD APPOINT ART PRACTITIONERS TO RUN THE NATIONAL THEATRE AND SEE IF THEY WON’T MAKE MONEY

  ENTERTAINMENT PARROT INTERVIEW WITH MRS EDITH  AMATOTSERO (Swanta’s Grandmother in Opa Williams Play “Just the two of us”

E.P :  Can you introduce yourself ?

Ans: I am Edith Amatotsero

 

E.P.  Tell us some production that you have taken part in?

Ans: I was in Memorial Hospital on NTA , Cradle, Equally Zeb Ejiro Ripples, Opa Williams “ Just the two of us” ( where I played grandma to Swanta). Jimmy Jay on mnet where I played Iya Francis.

E.P.  The passion for acting and your long association with the profession, what is your impression of it these days?

Ans: The way we joined then from secondary school due to the passion for it sometimes not because of the money. In does days, you work and don’t get paid sometimes but because of the passion for it we still continue with it, but these days, people just want the glamour and money in it , no passion at all. I was at an mnet audition this morning, the audition was to start at 8:am people were there for as early as 4:00am, some have to sleep over there , even people came from outside lagos. Some  just want to show themselves, but for some of us , the passion for acting is there, we are still there, we are not discouraged. The money is there, some are making it, some are not making it.  We are still there even on stage. In those days, they were paying nothing but nowadays, people have become millionaire. The people that make it just get there by chance. The stage production is strenuous but the movie production are less cumbersome but movie is fast money.

 

E.P : In stage production there is a revival now by people like you, what is your comment on this?

Ans: Stage production is interesting like I use to say, If am forgotten on stage am dead because stage is it. Am happy it is been revived in places like terra kulture muson centre and here we have D park theatre at the freedom park and in other places, we also have the Guerrilla theatre where you see people performing on the street.

E.P:  The government attitude towards the art industry, what is your reaction to it?

Ans: It is just that they don’t know if they know that they don’t have to dig the ground like the crude oil, and refine it. It is just there for us to have. It is equally sad that there would bring somebody that don’t have anything, to do with the arts into management of a sensitive and art oriented position like the national art theatre that is why they want to sell the national theatre because they don’t know it’s importance.  When you go to stage a play their, after paying, they required money or fees for space , they will expect you to bribe the engineer, buy your own fuel to power the light, no concession at all, we are the one bringing the end product and once it is getting near their agreed time, they will off the light. What the government should do is to appoint real practitioners to manage the national theatre and see if they won’t make money, how can they use an art theatre to host an A.G.M meetings or religious programs. Look at the superb administration of terra kulture , the whole place is fully booked for the whole year due to purposeful and art friendly management by Mrs. Bolanle Austen Peters and her team likewise the muson centre.

 

E.P.: How did you get involved in Opa Williams Production of “Just the two of us”?

Ans: I was invited by Opa Williams himself to take part in the program.

E.P.: (Cut in)  How is Swanta?

Ans: She is at the University of Lagos, she is in her final year.

E.P: What is your reaction to the Present crops of Artist in the Industry?

Ans: Some of them cannot interpret the script given them properly, we watch some films, the interpretation is not good and it is just blank. You know we have some people looking for glamorous girls, it is that glamour they want to show but they have forgotten the script.

E.P.: How lucrative is the profession?

Ans: It is very lucrative, we have a wide field, if it is not lucrative, my son won’t be there. I have a son who studied architecture but he is strong in theatre so if it is not lucrative, I won’t encourage him.

E.P: Thank you very much.

Ans: It’s my pleasure.

ART IS A GREAT WEAPON NOT FOR INCITING PEOPLE BUT FOR THE GREATEST SENSE OF PATRIOTISM

 ART IS A GREAT WEAPON NOT FOR INCITING PEOPLE BUT FOR THE GREATEST SENSE OF PATRIOTISM

TOYIN OSHINAIKE POPULARLY KNOWN AS BAKABULA


E.P : Many people are addicted to this face on television but to those who don’t know you , can you introduce yourself?
Ans: My name is Toyin Oshinaike, am a theater director, an actor and an experimental artist.

E.P: (cut in) But your incursion into writing surprised me having known you as an actor and good role interpreter.
Ans: Yes, the major thing I have done is “what is this all about” which is a Nigerian street version of “Woza Albert” written under the siege of apartheid in south Africa several years ago and it contributed to the fight for   freedom in south Africa. It is classic, the theme of the play is about a saviour coming through a disgruntled  people just like our situation in Nigeria   now, in our nation, we are not happy financially, socially educationally, and economically which is why the play was adapted and people say I have written the play (general laughter).

E.P: Your involvements in writing many people don’t know about that but with your involvement in acting which production bring you to the limelight.
Ans: To answer your question subsequently, I will say the first professional production we had in 1990 with Chuck Mike that was on a professional level. It was “Crucible” in 1990 although I was still working in the bank. “Crucible” which made me to leave the bank I was working with then because I believe theater has reached a professional level and self substance, so my first production was Crucible by Chuck Mike but my big blow was in 1994 during the 60th birthday of Prof. Wole Soyinka which became the first Wole Soyinka Festival Where I played Elesin Oba in “Death and the Kings Horse Man”. It Was directed by Jide Ogungbade , Co-directed by Ben Tomoloju,  Jahman Anikulapo was in the production and you know what he ( Jahman) can do in such plays of course, he was still working in the Guardian Newspaper that was the beginning.

E.P:  Give us a summary of some plays that you have taking part in.
Ans:  I think the notable once are, first was “SANGO” where I played Oluode. Oluode was a General to Sango, others have been FOOTPRINTS, WAITING DAY’S etc. am talking about the notable ones I had done. If there is any eighty percent production, I think I have been part of seventy percent.

E.P:  What is your position on government attitude to the arts?
Ans: My position is highly revolutionary, doing play series that has to do with ills of the society. But I have become more matured and discovered even the arts has a role to play not only the government but also what is the role of the arts. The arts has a significant role to play because if the society goes down, non of us will survive if we want to be stars, to be known, but if what happens in Syria happens in Nigeria. They won’t be able to survive it. If I am in Syria, I won’t say I have a production next month, we Nigerian artist, it is our honour, our place just like the doctors, engineers knows how to do their work if giving the opportunity. What is our own work?  Is it to be role models and stars that should be worship? My brother (to entertainment parrot) there are no role models in Nigeria, I can count them on my fingers what we have is character models not role models with the way it is. I don’t say we should be doing things to incite people. Art is a great weapon not for inciting people but for the greatest sense of patriotism, we should make law abiding citizenry, our focus through our films. We don’t have role models in our films what we have is Rich house, cars,  father love children, father protecting children, then something happen and there is juju which they can’t explain how it comes about. We want rich patriotic films laden with a lot of comedy. Like they do in American Films and all other developed film industry in the world.  

E.P:  What is your reaction to the decline in stage production? 
Ans: There is a death not even a decline but like in all desert there is still some  growth an oasis because so many people grow up to know that there is a growth in stage production.  I start to catch a piece of theatre then as a theater rat at the national theatre.  When I said, I started as a theatre art what I mean is that I don’t have money to pay to watch films at the national theatre and would sit on the floor to watch films in halls packed with five thousand people, there was a whole lots of traffics up to the national stadium there was light in Nigeria I grew up, where there was light in Nigeria we were so happy because we bad boys cannot do bad things around Nigeria was great
Good schools were the public schools come and look my face and read my mouth, only Olodo’s attend private schools then, the private schools grew on Olodoism, but everything is the reverse now, so I saw theatre during it greatest movement and also saw through during its decline and dearth what we are seeing now is the culture been revived and lots of people are getting involved in this and am happy about the rebirth.

E.P: Any new production by you at the movement?
Ans: I will talk about my baby, the baby at hand now is the park theatre, this is freedom park like in most developed countries in Africa like Rwanda, south Africa e.t.c. where the park theatre takes place, so we perform at the park theatre and at the freedom park not only because of that we have our offices here oxygen concept and one six productions which is a platform for us and our companies production. which will result in a theatre festival, we have been in existence for the past eight (8) months which is   resident here at the freedom park and through it we have lasted over 10,000 people here with over 49 productions, so it is a baby that we are thinking of what is next for the 2018 semester what we have is a whole lot of motherhood that has lots of babies inside.

E.P. For those that may want to watch your production at the park theatre here at the freedom park in Lagos Island when is the time for the next edition?
Ans: This month of November we are starting on November 19, the time is 7:00 pm-8:00pm (1 hour) for our performances.
Saturdays and Sundays.


E.P:  What is your connection with oxygen concept?
Ans: About four years ago oxygen concept and two six production we had what we call an accidental collaboration until the British council now came up with their own festival and said they would give access to those who have collaborated, that enhance our collaboration and we have our offices here, it is called oxygen concept been the frontal image of our collaboration and that is what has given birth to the park theatre.

Music is a unversal Language

Music is a unversal Language by po-Boy

AFROFUNK BAND THE PO-BOY WERE IN NIGERIA AND REBUBLIC  OF BENIN DURING THE FELABRATION FESTIVITIES DURING WHICH THE PARIS, FRANCE BASED  BAND MEMBERS WERE INTERVIEWED  BY ENTERTAINMENT PARROT FIRST THE BAND  LEADER MR MATHIEU INSA FOLLOWED BY MISS SWALA EMATI SMITH AND MISS MARY MAY  (BOTH VOCALIST )

E.P. what is your name and the name of your band?

The name of our band is PO-Boy and My Name is Mattieu Insa I am the band leader the name of the band comes from New Orleans in Louisiana  U.S.A because I lived there for some time. The PO-Boy band is based in Paris France. We play a lot of musical forms influenced by Blues, Afro American music like the pop music that comes from black America  by origin that is the first discovery of my life,  the second influence is afro beat the African music i discovered this new music like the brass band then I met Femi Kuti.  It moves me a lot when I met Seun Kuti at Kalakuta, am like “oh am not doing the right music so I said I need to import a lot of Afro beat influence into my music” that is why the name of the band is PO-Boy.

 

E.P. How many are you in the band?

We are five in the band three males and two female vocalists Swala and Mary May.  I play the main guitar and there is a bass guitarist. We are based in paris  although we are from different places of the world, we have two Congolese singers, the bassist Mauritania Arab.

E.P. what is your impression of FELA ANIKULAPO KUTI and his music?

When we were invited to celebrate him I was moved,  I was invited to Nigeria last year  for the celebrations, When I was a child, I use to listen to Femi Kuti then I discovered Seun Kuti and afro beat you know in Paris there are a lot of guys like Tony Allen who play Afro beat.  So last year I met a lot of people in the Afro Beat family.

Also in my band there is girl that plays Afro beat Swala Emati Smith has an Afro beat band. She is a singer in our band, you see the band PO-Boy. We are three white and two black, It is like unity, there is no barrier in music. Music is like a universal language, where ever you come from music is like a religion.

We use music to celebrate life but we also use it to preach love and unity, like Fela said “music is a weapon”.

E.P. for those that would like to listen to your music how can they get  your music?

They can get it through our official websites

PO- boy .FR

Face book: PO- Boy band

Instagram: PO- Boy band

Also our new album would be released in January 18, 2018.

 E.P. your message to your fans?

Our message is that whatever you put in music is like cooking.  Whatever you are cooking, it has to be genuine, we communicate our passion in the world beat through our music.

Swala Emati Smith and Mary May

E.P. Can we know you?

Well,  am Swala Emati Smith.  Am a member of PO- Boy Band, am from Paris

E.P. I understand you have been to Benin Republic as well.

Yes, we are on an African tour and would be back in Paris our base in  few days. We played in Benin Republic before coming here.

E.P. How many days have you been in Nigeria?

Although this is the first time we have been in Nigeria, we have been here for a couple of days.  We played at the shrine and we are playing tonight here at the freedom park in Lagos Island.

E.P. What can the two of you say about the language barriers since you have conquered that with your perfect spoken English.

Mary May; Yes I learnt English to be Able to communicate with my fans through music.  I learnt it because there are many countries speaking English so apart from my French, I speak English to communicate effectively also to be able to write music.

Swala Smith ;  I started learning English when I was in University because the world is a globalised world. Since my official language is French.

E.P. What genre of music do you play?

I play afro beat music also jazz, hip-hop. it is mix because I play totally different types of music.

E.P. what is your impression on Afro Beat Music?

I really love it because I was influenced by afro beat, I really discovered how to pay it and I play it, I didn’t know before I was more into reggae, but the discovery especially through Fela Kuti and others.

E.P. Has your band release any album?

Both Swala & Mary May; Yes our .EP. is already out and we are putting out another one in  January  2018.

E.P. What is your impression of Africa?

Swala Smith; Well you know we live in Paris but we have relatives in Africa, we are proud of that, we have our family- father, relatives you know

Mary May; You know we know Africa already but we don’t know Nigeria. It is not about Africa and its people, we are Africans from Congo Kinshasa, I don’t know why people don’t see us as Africans.

E.P. What would be your message to your fans?

 Swala Smith; As Fela said, “music is a weapon” we like to have more harmony, equity and love, for us it is fun to be here.

Mary May; Music is one of the things that unite humanity.

We are made of sensibilities and we respond to it.  I want to speak to souls through music. Music do travel far as I want to make this beautiful in our lives.  I want to live all my life fighting to make the world a better place.

Swala & Mary; Thank you

THE BIOGRAPHY OF FELA – KUTI

THE BIOGRAPHY OF FELA – KUTI

Fela was born Olufela Oludotun Ransome Kuti in Abeokuta, Ogun state on 15 October 1938, to a middle class family. His mother, Funmilayo Ransome Kuti was a famous front line activist in the anti- colonial movement and his father, reverend Israel Oludotun Ransome- Kuti, a protestant minister and a school principal, was the first president of the Nigerian union of teachers. 

His musical talents and radical nature manifested early, so it was no surprise that he went to London in 1958 to study music at the trinity college of music. While there he formed the band Koola Lobito’s, playing a style of music that was a fusion of Jazz with West African highlife. In 1963, Fela moved back to Nigeria, reformed Koola Lobito’s and trained as a radio producer for the Nigerian broadcasting corporation.

In 1969, Fela took the band to the united states, while there Fela discovered the black power movement through Sandra smith (now isodore) a partisan of the black panther party which would heavily influence his music and political views, indeed Fela experience a political awakening that later reflected in a total transformation of his world view his music and the place of Africa and the black man in history.

His early years and his mother political activism had exposed him to some degree to the fight for political independence from colonialism, and especially memorable for the young Fela was being introduced by his mother to the late Kwame Nkrumah.

 Nkrumah was the guiding light of Ghana’s independence and the leading advocate for pan- Africanism and the Organization of African Unity (O.A.U).

If this early exposure could be said to introduce Fela to the politics, his nine (9) month sojourn in Los Angeles completed his political education and gave birth to the musical phenomenon and political maverick of African music forever. In his own words “for the first time I heard things I had never heard before about Africa”. Fela told friends he learnt more about African in Los Angeles than he had learnt in Lagos and insisted that the whole atmosphere of black revolution changed me, my consciousness, my thinking, and my perception of things).

I was educated”

The first acclaimed on afro-beat song “which gave birth to the genre was my lady frustration part of a recording available today on the compilation named “the 69 los angeles sessions.

Fela and his band renamed Nigeria 70, returned to Nigeria. He the armed the Kalakuta republic a commune , a recording studio, and home for many connected to the band that he later declared independent from the Nigerian state.

Fela music became very popular among the Nigerian public and Africans general. Infact, he made the decision to sing in pidgin English so that his music could be enjoyed by individuals all over African where local languages spoken are very diverse and numerous. As popular as fela’s music had become in Nigeria and elsewhere. It was very unpopular with the ruling government and raids on Kalakuta Republic where frequent.

In 1977, Fela and the Africa ‘70’ released the hit album zombie, scathing attack on Nigerian soldiers using the zombie metaphor describe the method of the Nigerian military. The album was a smash with the people and infuriated the government, setting off a vicious attack against the Kalakuta republic, during which one thousand soldiers attacked the commune. Fela was severely beaten, and his elderly mother was thrown from a window, casting fatal injuries. The Kalakuta republic was burned, and Fela’s studio, instruments and master tapes were destroyed, he claimed that he would have been killed if it were not for the intervention of a commanding officer as he was being beaten. Fela’s response to the attack was to deliver his mother’s coffin to the main army barrack in Lagos and write two songs, “coffin for head of state” and “unknown soldier” referencing official injury that claimed the commune had been destroyed by Unknown Soldier. Fela and his band then took residence in crossroads hotel as the shrine had been destroyed along with his commune. In 1978, Fela married 27 women, many of whom were his dancers, composers and singers to mark the anniversary of the attack on the Kalakuta republic. The year also marked by two notorious concerts, the first in Accra in which riot broke out during the song “zombie” which led to Fela being banned from entering Ghana. The second was at Berlin Jazz festival, after which he had a lot of his band members desert him due to various issues.

Despite the massive setbacks, Fela was determined to come back. He formed his own political party, which he called movement of the people. In 1979, he put himself forward for president in Nigeria’s first elections for more than a decade but his candidature was refused. At this time, Fela created a new band called Egypt ‘80’ and continued to record albums and tour the country. He further infuriated the political establishment by dropping the names of ITT Vice president Moshood Abiola and then general Olusegun Obasanjo at the end of a hot selling 25 minute political polemic titled I.T.T (international thief-thief) in 1984, he was again attacked by the military government, who jailed him on a dubious charge of currency smuggling. His case was taken up by several human right group and after 20 months, he was released from prison. He continued to release albums with Egypt “80” made a number of successful tour of United State of America and Europe and his album output slowed down in the 1990’s.

He died on 2^nd August 1997, more than a million people ironically including from the armed forces and police attended his funeral in Lagos. His musical career was matchless and prolific with over 70 albums and over 200 songs.

source: FELABRATION 2012 BROCHURE: THE MAN FELA, PICTURES: KALAKUTA MUSEUM,