Of Saworoide And Today’s State Of Nollywood -By Folorunso Fatai Adisa

Starters on cue, take 1, take 2, ACTION/ROLL THE PLAY. Thespians WORK is our PLAY. The end product of their work is entertainment and education.

Lately, most movies produced lack both entertainment and education as their features. They are nothing but dog breakfast. All thanks to Tunde Kelani, Kemi Adetiba, Kunle Afolayan and a host of others who are still sustaining professionalism.

Two monologues from Saworoide surfaced on my mind, this morning, and I couldn’t help but appreciate how movies that were directed by TK serve as a tool for teaching language/culture. Here are the lines: “Aso funfun ni sukun aro Ipile oro ni sunkun ekeji tantantan (White cloth longs for the indigo dye, the first part of a statement cries for the second)”, “Oro leye ngbo, Eye o deede ba lorule o, oro leye ngbo (A bird doesn’t perch on the roof for nothing, it is gathering information)”. The richness of the Yoruba language used in Saworoidẹ is enough to make you fall in love with our language and culture. It situates you in and brews your love for the talking drum and its creativity. Drum poetry is the core of the play.

Importantly, the statement “Aso funfun ni sukun aro Ipile oro ni sunkun ekeji tantantan” explores and explains the compelling relationship between the king, the authorized drummers, and the citizens of Jogbo— A relationship that is a product of the incision ceremony, which the kings and authorized lead drummers should undergo. While the absence of indigo dye reduces the beauty of the piece of white cloth, the first part of a statement remains incomplete and meaningless without its second half. Consequently, the king is no king without incision, the lead drummer and the people of jogbo, CULTURE and TRADITION that’s situated in UNITY.

It has been said, especially by material thinkers, that unless African theatre shows an acute concern with urgent contemporary issues by interrogating the popular economic and political aspirations of the masses — urban and rural— our drama and theatre, as a vital arm of the cultural superstructure of the economy, stands the risks of consigning itself into permanent irrelevance.

In Saworoide, ritual and folklore were exploited, both as technical frameworks and as conveyers of sociopolitical statements. It embodies the dominant aesthetic of a “complete theatre”— Drama, dance and music. Rich and reasonable dialogues.

Overall, I think the Nollywood industry needs to be rejigged and restructured. Retraining is needed.

Folorunso Fatai Adisa wrote in via folorunsofatai03@gmail.com

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