There Is No Functional Theatre In Akwa Ibom State- Godwin Tom (E-Director)
Godwin Tom aka
E-Director is a Thespian and the author of the EQUAL FOR EQUAL that was first
staged on 8thMarch, 2020 at Model Theatre, Department of Theater
Arts, Univeristy of Uyo, Uyo. In this interview with our correspondents, Uko
Callistus and Thelma Kalu, he stressed the need for the government to support
and partner with Thespians, to grow the economy through investment in
Entertainment Industry.
Please can we know
you?
My name is Godwin Tom, I ampopularly known as E-director
among colleagues and friends. I hail from Nsit Ubium Local Government Area. I
man a Thespian; I graduated from the Department of Theatre Arts,University of
Uyo, Uyo. I’ve been producing stage plays since when I was doing my National;
Youths Service (NYSC)
You recently staged a
play in the department of Theatre Arts, University of Uyo about the struggle
for gender equality and obviously the play portrayed the need to give equal
rights to the both male and female gender. What inspired you to put up that
play?
Every March 8 marks the celebration of the world women’s day
and this year’s theme of the program was EACH FOR EQUAL. As a person that has
flair for the female gender and their struggle for equality ,decided to prepare
a package to help in further sensitizing the need to promote and grant women
total equality in all ramifications. Already it’s evident that what a man can
do, a woman can also do and some times and in some cases even better. I
entitled that play EQUAL FOR EQUAL, I believe that women should not just settle
to play second fidel.
Please let us look into
the issue of entertainment in Akwa Ibom State (AKS). Do you think the
entertainment industry in Aks is moving forward?
The Akwa Ibom State Entertainment Industry can grow through
rapid exhibition of our culture and heritage. And the theatre is a major
platform through which our culture and heritage can be promoted and showcase to
investors. As it is now, the industry in Akwa Ibom State has not recorded
commendable success. Please, I stand to be corrected; we don’t have a state of
the arts Theatre Company in Akwa Ibom as those in Lagos.
As a professional in
the theatre, what advise can you give to the government to help grow the
entertainment industry in the state?
It is very important that relevant government agencies
should properly collaborate with theater departments in every tertiary institution
and also be interested to train and retrain young Akwa Ibomites that have the
flair for the theatre. If the government encourages the concept of stage play
to be inculcated into the entertainment of Akwa Ibom State, this will cut the
Lagos and drag some investors to the state. We know that our people here are
only too familiar with home videos while the experience of stage play is very
low. Let me mention that in theatre, the audiences, receive best form of
entertainment because it is very unlike videos, in stage play the audience sees
the actors live, more closer to them that some audiences can even jump into the
stage and grab the casts. Apart from the fact that the theater offers real live
experience for maximum entertainment, it is also a platform that promotes our
culture and heritage and sale same to investors. The government can assist the
growth of this sector by assisting the producers of stage play to take the
business in Akwa Ibom to another level. Already the Lagos market is over
congested and investors are looking for new grounds to break, Akwa Ibom is in
picture to this new land, we have all the cultural norms, values, tradition and
heritage to use and give new face to entertainment, it will just take the
government’s little sincere investment in this sector and the economy of the
state can begin to bubbling on entertainment. One challenge we Thespians in
Akwa Ibom do always have has been that after you might have written a wonderful
script you will end up not producing it because you do not have the money to
stage the play, this has made so many wonderful plays to rot in the cupboard of
its writers without seeing the light of the stage. The government can start
assisting by providing loan to Art-entrepreneurs. The government can also
assist by training youths who have passion and talent to write scripts, film, and
orchestra or direct. The theatre in Akwa Ibom does not have known stage
performers and funny enough most stars in Nollywood are products of the
theatre.
If you agree with me
we know that theater performance is not a form of entertainment so known in
Akwa Ibom State. So as a theatre professional, how do you think peoples’
interest can be drawn into this form of art in the state?
First,Thespians must always have a story to tell to present
and promote the local culture of the Akwa Ibom Locality. Second when we use
Akwa Ibom costume, makeup and language to stage plays, the people will be
interested because what we do is promoting their culture and heritage. Also, it
is to bring in popular faces as characters, and this have been a problem for
startup “Artprenuers” like myself who may not have the money to pay Ini Edo or
Ime Bishop to be on my stage, if you look very well in Akwa Ibom you will
discover that there is no popular stage actor but we have lots of screen actors
and most of them graduated from the theater, so if we bring back these faces to
the theatre the industry will grow rapidly.
Will you advise the
government to build an equivalent of the National Arts Theater in AkwaIbom
State?
Yes I strongly recommend that. The government should do this
to reciprocate good dividends to the citizenry and the theatre industry, it has
always been a pity that after years of study in University you will graduate as
a Thespian but you will go into other job because there is enabling no environment
to practice. Many theater artists are working in Banks and other establishments
because there is always little or no opportunity in the entertainment industry.
The government should start now to begin huge investment in entertainment
because this is quite a pitable situation that can perpetually hamper the rise
of theatre in the state. For instance when I was an undergraduate and I heard
that the Akwa Ibom State government was building Ibom Tropicana, I was excited
and I thought that I was in the design of the complex to build stage and
theater studio for promoting the activities of theatricality. But it is obvious
now that the Ibom Tronpicana was not built to accommodate arts, so I feel that
it is important for the Akwa Ibom government to redesign the Ibom Tropinicana
to provide space for the theater, this will create a platform for young theater
graduates in the state to explore their potentials and express themselves while
promoting the culture and heritage of the state and in turn bring more
investors to assist the growth of our economy.
How the theatre
generates money?
First, from the box office, that is where tickets for events
are being sold, second from sponsorship, in this aspect if the government
collaborates with the theatre practitioners they can work out good measures to
make money.
Is there any theatre
company privately owned or government owned that is making the needed
difference?
No, in Akwa Ibom State we don’t have any popular or big theater
company, what you will see are small groups own by churches. But I have a
theater that I run, it’s not a big company yet but I have a vision to grow it
big, that’s the reason I emphasis the need for the government to partner with
us, to make the needed difference in the entertainment industry. After I
graduated, I did not want to go into other jobs or return to street, so I
started Dominion Theatre Outreach. I recommend that the government of Akwa Ibom
State support young people to actualise their goals by providing support and
partnership.
What businesses do
theatre companies can go into?
Like my private theatre company, we go for functions like;
weddings, birthday, government events etc. our duty is basically to
communicate, educate and entertain through performance.
As a professional,
estimate how many people can a workable theatre will to employ?
The number is uncountable, the theatre have the capacity to
employ every entertainer in Akwa Ibom State, when you look at the theatre you
will see the script writer, the director, the costumer, the makeup artist, the
actors, the choruses, the set designer, the lightening man, the props man, the
stage manager etc. in fact there is no limit to the number the theater can
employ.
So can you recommend
investment in the theatre as a way the government can use to fight the menace
of unemployment in Akwa Ibom?
Yes I strongly recommend that in fact when the government
sees the theatre and entertainment industry in general as a serious industry to
invest, you will see that even the level of crimes in the society will be
reduced.
Do you have any
reason to regard the ministry of cultural and tourism as your regulator? How do
you and other Thespians relate with the ministry?
I believe that anything that concerns theatre should be handled
by professionals, the Thespians. We have a good relationship with them but
sometimes we disagree with them, reason is not far-fetched; most of the people
that are in the ministry are not Thespians. So always we refuse to allow them,
to influence our professionalism when instances arose.
So you recommend that
government should set up a committee on entertainment where professionals are
the managers?
Yes, that is the simply way to move forward, like when our
sister, Ini Edo was the Special Assistant to the Governor on Entertainment and
she being a Thespians, an entertainer, she performed well because she really
understood what it takes to grow a productive entertainment industry.
What are the steps
you have taken to get sponsors for your theatre?
First, what I do, develop my professionalism by working on
so many projects. I believe that someone cannot just come out and sponsor me
but it’s my works that will introduce me to someone for sponsorship. But whenever
we have production, we communicate it to people and
intimate them of the benefits of theatre and the gain to invest in it.
©The Sensor Newspaper
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