Kakadu recreates Lagos life on Muson stage
Award-winning hit musical Kakadu was
on stage at the Agip Recital Hall, Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos from December 29
to last Sunday. The musical is a narrative of love and friendship that
characterised Lagos life of the 60s, Assistant Editor (Arts) OZOLUA UHAKHEME
reports.
Unlike the trendy way of starting
most musical and theatrical performances, an art exhibition was held in place
of a red carpet to herald Kakadu The Musical.
Mounted on an unusual stand made
from raw wood at the lobby of the Agip Hall, Muson Centre, Lagos, the
exhibition featured 14 paintings and sketches by Polly Alakija, which are the
artist’s visual way of getting ‘into character’ and learning the visual
language of any subject.
The paintings include These
politicians are at it again, Rehearsal and We don’t know where we are going. Like
an appetiser, the paintings refresh the audience’s memories with many images of
rehearsal sessions and discussions between the cast and the director of the
musical, Uche Nwokedi.
The opening stanza of the musical,
which is a blend of music, drama and dance, leads the audience into the Lagos
life of the 60s and 70s, using a popular night club, Kakadu, as backdrop
for the era. Within the first few minutes, every slice of Lagos life is being
captured on stage. They range from traffic jam to vendors of newspapers and
food hawking their wares on the streets, mobile tailors (Obioma tailors)
sanitary inspectors (Wolewole) and the regular hangout on Saturday night
at Kakadu Night Club. On the band stand is the Fabulous Flamingo Dance Band
presenting the old school songs for the popular Twist dance steps.
“Kakadu is Lagos life. And Lagos
means love all girls on Saturday. In Kakadu, you don’t rush alcohol or women,”
warned the band leader.
“Forget Nigeria and the outside,
this is Kakadu in Lagos, he added. All these were pointers to the fact that
irrespective of one’s place of birth, Lagos provides the leveler for all
visitors. Issues of ethnicity and tribal differences found no place then.
Produced by the Playhouse
Initiative, Kakadu The Musical, which made its return by courtesy of MTN
Foundation, Access Bank Plc and Casers Group is the journey of four friends
through a time of infinite possibilities. “It is a story of peace and war, of
friendships and broken promises, and of innocence. It is a powerful plot and a
captivating storyline that sees and looks at the 1960s Lagos as a nation
celebrates the end of colonialism and the birth of a new nation.”
No doubt, Kakadu The Musical
is being described as arguably Nigeria’s first contemporary stage musical and
is a real tribute to the period and infinite possibilities of Nigeria in the
60s and early 70s. Apart from offering a complete theatre that educates and
enlightens while entertaining, it also recalls the strong bonds and values that
kept Nigeria together as a nation before the unfortunate civil war that was
preceded by military coups.
Set in the 60s and 70s, the musical
concert did not fail to re-enact the significant role Highlife music played as
the soul of Nigerian music industry at that time. Classical works from the rich
repertoire of Nigerian musicians such as the late Bobby Benson, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti,
Celestine Ukwu, Christian Igbokwe, Onyeka Onwenu, Victor Olaiya, Sir Victor
Uwaifo were rendered all through the two hour performance. It was a refreshing
night for the ‘old school’ with the presentation of songs such as Bobby
Benson’s Taxi Driver, Victor Olaiya’s Sisi Mailo, Sir Victor
Uwaifo’s Guitar Boy and Onyeka Onwenu’s Dancing in the sun among
others.
In the spirit of the independence
celebration, Kakadu lighten up the hall with the post-independence party
held at the club though was truncated by the announcement of a military coup.
Suddenly, the hitherto friendly Lagos life turned unbearable for many. “And we
must close Kakadu. Everything is changing. People are leaving Lagos in fear of
a looming war.”
Complementing these old tunes were
dress codes that take people back to the 70s when Afro wig hair style was the
vogue.Also part of the customs is the shuku (elongated) hair style
common among women of that age. “Tonight we will celebrate Africa. From Congo
to Ghana, Port Harcourt to Lagos,” the band leader reassured the audience who
danced to the evergreen Olaiya’s Sisi Mailo and Benson’s Taxi Driver
songs.
Even when the war was declared
closed, the people of Lagos still did not find it easy to accept one another
because of perceptions and misconceptions. War is ugly, and even at the close
of it, it still raises some national questions of tolerance, unity and
understanding among the various ethnic nationalities. Little wonder Jimmy
Cliff’s Many Rivers to Cross was aptly presented to prick the audience
conscience.
But why are we here? Several
governments and laws have been in made but how do we build a nation? These were
some of the posers for the audience as the curtain was drawn two hours after.
Instructively, the performance is
returning on stage when similar drumbeat of war is sounding again across the
country, especially the on-going agitations by Movement for the Actualisation
of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and Indigenous People of Biafra
(IPOB) for the creation of Biafra nation led by Nnamdi Kanu.
According to its Executive Producer
Nwokedi, ‘’The Kakadu storyline catches the watershed years in Nigeria’s
history.’’ He described theatre as amazing and that through this process ‘’we
get to see the truth in what we do as human beings, and learn what we should
about lives we live. The Kakadu family continues to grow and we are encouraged
by the support of many to reprise the production. With this run of Kakadu, we
will donate some of the proceeds from the show to the Pacelli School for the Blind
and Partially sighted, our chosen charity for 2015/2016’’.
To one of the lead actors, who acted
Lugard Omo Eko da Rocha, Lagos city is life at a furious pace and it is theatre
at its best. “It is the celebration of the infinite possibilities in life. Lagos
is a musical called Kakadu, rich and enthralling, an amazing combination of
brilliant dance routines, a roller coaster of emotions and a powerful narrative
of love and friendship. It is a way to re-connect and recreate on several
levels, where stage mirrors life in Lagos,” he said. Interestingly, Kakadu
was performed simultaneously at the same centre same days and yet, tickets were
always sold out on each day.
