ASKARI: Theatre and Life on the road to 20 States

BY JAHMAN ANIKULAPO

(• A report of the International Red Cross & Nigeria Red Cross Theatre Project which led to 40 stagings of the play ASKARI (directed by Ben Tomoloju; asssited by Jahman Anikulapo) in 20 states of the federation. The play was also recorded on radio (produced by Tokunbo Ojekunle); and Home Video (directed by Bourdillon Bodio and Ben Tomoloju). Reports excerpted from the book: ASKARI: A VOTE FOR RELEVANCE by Ben Tomoloju and Jahman Anikulapo
(ICRC Publications (1998); ISBN-10: 9783317636; ISBN-13: 978-9783317635)


• Director Ben Tomoloju, Project producer and Coordinator, Jacqueline Erb with the Technical Director Biodun Abe... shortly before the commencement of the tour

WO, iwo lo gbe’le esu, omo kata, the middle aged driver of the Dyna mini truck would jocularly respond each time any of the technical crew men poked fun at him: “Baba e wa gbe’le esu o”.
They would call on him that it was time they loaded the hut-shaped device (part of the stage set) that served as both Esu Odara’s mound and Sofi’s house. He would, in spite of the wide age difference between him and the boys, tease them superstitiously that the house of Esu Odara (Spirit of Mischief) is rather the lot of the technical men, not his, after all he was only a driver, while the men were the builders of the set.
Welcome to the world of fun, a jolly, merry coasting on the theatre wheel round the high and low-brow centres of Lagos, through the major cities and state capitals in the West, North and the East.
Welcome to the beginning of the exhilarating phenomenal national tour of the Red Cross Theatre Project, Nigeria ’97, a one-in-an-era artistic project designed as an intervention in the orgy of violence arising from domestic conflicts, inter-personal, political, religious and ethnic intolerance; among different peoples in the world.

GOETHE, May 10th
The night before was a time of reckoning for the cast and crew of the model national production of Askari, the Red Cross Theatre Project, Nigeria’97.
A pregnancy conceived over 6 months ago, but intensely nurtured in a frenzy of activities in the last three months beginning with a reading session on March 11th and riffling through sweat sessions and practical discourse and experiments on the living rehearsal stage had yielded a beautiful baby – the world premiere of Askari, the tolerance preaching drama.
Today, the psyche of the actors is caressed by a sweetening hangover from the success of last night. More than that, the much-anticipated road run that would put the play on stage 30 times in 20 states of the Federal Republic of Nigeria begins today.
Like a ritual, the launch of the road run would take place at a venue which has become the most venerated place for bilateral cultural exchange between Nigeria and its European friendly nations; the garden of the Goethe Institute in Victoria Island, flanked northward by the breezy but gentle lagoon water.
Time was 4p.m. two hours before the performance would begin and there was no sign of the show being lucky enough to draw a huge crowd as had been envisioned by the producers.
A thin thread of rainbow had a few minutes ago coloured the face of the sky, bringing in its heel a cloudy mien in a sharp contradistinction to the hot and sunny mood of the early afternoon.
Just then a rapid rap of thunder. Everybody on the lush green garden where the gigantic three-podal set was being mounted, shifted his gaze upward towards the sky – in silent supplication or in sheer response to the rhythms of the sky. It never rained. Only very few droplets of water.
At 6:10p.m. there was not a single unoccupied one of the over 850seats arranged in arena format in the garden. Pavements around the garden had also been converted to seats, and pockets of late coming members of the audience dotted the few open spaces around the garden.
The set placed against the background of the lagoon water, in contrast to the conventional theatre arrangement of the hosting institute stood regally spreading over 20 metres ground space. Strokes of light from the office block of the institute planted a painterly hue on its visage. Few distance away across the water, spots of light cast a background on the set, like a cinematic silhouette on a canvas. Soon, enough darkness had descended on the arena, elaborating the silhouettic picture of the unlit set. Time for action had arrived. The house was already completely overwhelmed by a sea of heads, white, black and coloured.
Back of the stage was pregnant with expectation; the performers engaged in individual rites of psyching up before the show. Ori oro, now known as the terror of the Askari house was whispering warnings.
Those who know the project’s Associate Director/Stage Manger and his stern military style laughed and chorused “Ori oro!”
Something like a military camp - regimented, disciplined, industrious and purposeful - that was how the Askari Lagos West Camp was run. But everyday was still a carnival of camaraderie, fun, exploration and experiments. Real life.
The garden security light went out.
Song. Chant. Dance. Dialogue. Action. Conflict. Suspense. Clapping… Clapping… Cheerings…Sing…Chant… Dance and Resolution.
The garden light switched on.
A ravenous session of ovations and cheers and the performers kept shuttling between the backstage and the forestage to repeatedly take a bow, yet the robust applause would not cease. It went on and on. The mood of the gathering was boisterous. A fiesta of happiness enveloped the entire atmosphere. And the performers turned into instant celebrities.
Askari had scored its second goal in two days; even from a distinguished crowd such as witnessed its first state of the open-air experiment at the Goethe Institute, which has been enthusiastically offered for the project by the institute’s director, Richard Lang.

AJEGUNLE, May 11th
From the home of the elites to the arena of the downtrodden! The leap of the performance from high brow to low-brow Ajegunle is itself a statement on the potential of theatre to unite contradistinctive elements. Especially, it bears testimony to the fundamental principle of the Red Cross Theatre Project ’97 to address society without prejudice to class, political, social, religious and ethnic differences among the people.
Victoria Island provided a garden with a lush green carpet grass and the sweet whispers of the lagoon at the early evening. Ajegunle caressed the performers with the choice of the rough – surface frontage of Ayota Arts centre on the long Oyedeji Street, flanked on two sides by uncleared drainage and a strongly smelly atmosphere. All the worlds are welcome to the artiste and the theatre knows no discrimination in environmental condition.
The huge Askari set bisected Oyedeji Street, creating only a little space at the right wing for pedestrians ceaselessly streaming through the downtown Ajegunle Street.
An attempt to undertake the set runs, during which actors had their dress rehearsals on the stage was frustrated by the huge audience which kept interjecting.
Soon it was evening time and the show rolled to a start. The atmosphere recaptured the fantasy of moonlight theatre experience, with the audience encircling the stage. Not even the back stage was spared as some members of the crowd took their places, drawn by the presence of their local TV/stage stars – Tunji Sotimirin, Norbert Young, Omokaro Okonedo among others. To these members of the audience, the presence of these stars was as fascinating as the actions on set. The performance was running to its middle lap when the noise and distractions from the crowd grew unbearable. To gain better view of the show, some anxious members had risen to their feet while some others shifted base to perch so close to the set. They filled up the entire forestage of the set. Those seated at the rears and wings were inconvenienced and thus began loud grumbles and exchange of harsh words here and there.
Eventually, it was impossible to continue with the show. Thrice the director mounted the stage to appeal for calmness. That didn’t work. Threat of stoppage of the show if the audience would not behave itself also did not work. The show had to be stopped.
The actors shifted into the main hall of Ayota Arts Theatre, whose late founder, Segun Taiwo, was being honoured through the show by the Kakaki Arts Company, the performing arm of BTC Media and Creative Arts Consultants.
“We go avante garde. No set, no costumes, use minimum props except where very necessary”, instructed the director flagging off an experimental version of the play to a specially selected audience, who had been thoroughly screened before they gained entrance to prevent the unruly members that had created the pandemonium outside the hall.
Surely, even some of the actors were genuinely shocked at the good show they were able to put up in spite of the earlier problems and especially the adopted avante garde style.
It was like the absence of set and other paraphernalia had no negative impact on the audience’s reception of the play. The message sank deeply into them as they spurred the performers with their incessant but timed responses and ovations to actions in the play.
To Segun Taiwo, it was a befitting honour to a committed artiste who was so gracious in his professional endeavour that he invested I his personal, family, and borrowed resources into building a theatre and arts centre that has remained an icon in the history of theatre practice in Nigeria.
A bust of the late founder of Ayota was installed on his grave while his parents were specially acknowledged for their immense support to their theatre-relishing son.
For the people of Ajegunle, Askari gave voice to the voiceless and presented a reality of the socio-political and religious configurations of Nigeria. But they learnt too that violence and self destruction through self-indulgence, intolerance of opposing views and disruption of social ethos are not the best way for the ghetto people, the oppressed to seek redress for their disadvantaged fortunes and positions.

AJELE PLAYGROUND, May 12th
An observer noted thus: “ Whoever conceived staging a play of Askari’s status in the open air at Ajegunle and Isale Eko (Downtown Lagos) must be daring”
Yeah, the idea, the thought of it, is indeed daring; staging a play like Askari with all its tension-soaked actions in the open air in areas where violence and social miscreants are known to predominate.
But the whole concept of the Red Cross Theatre Project is to allow the voice of reason to triumph over the voice of violence and irrationality. By extension, it is to convert the violent reactionary dissenters to the path of peaceful resolution of conflicts.
Taking the play to Ajele playground, notorious for being the home to the dreaded social derelicts, otherwise called Area Boys was indeed one of the very rare experiences of the show-train. It wasn’t going to be easy.
The trepidation was palpable and it clouded the comportment of the performers and producers.
Fear and anxiety reigned in the air, especially buoyed by the previous night’s experience with the A.J. Bombers – the people of Ajegunle.
On the night of Sunday, May 11th, the technical crew and the properties and equipment of the project landed at Ajele Playground, in the very heart of the famous Isale Eko, with its many tales of dreadful experiences. A heavy rain overnight damaged the set but that wasn’t enough to dim the interest.
The morning of Monday, May 12th, showed what the rest of the day would be like. The venue, even at that early morning was already invaded by the “lords of the islands”, enveloping the playground with the heavy smoke from their cigarettes and other stuff.
In the evening, the playground was overwhelmed by a locust of soccer fans that were to watch a local derby. Such sporting event usually resulted in violence, disclosed a worker at the playground, warning that if by any chance the soccer event resulted in violence, then there would not be any staging of Askari. “They will destroy all your set and use the wood as weapons o0f warfare,” said the elderly worker.
But the producers were determined, even as they prayed hard that the football nemesis would not come to pass. Already, it was enough war warding off some of the fans that insisted they had to mount the sets to gain better view of the pitch.
The soccer event ended fortunately in a draw so that no group of fans whipped up the aggression trailing defeat of its favourite team to enact a scene of violence.
The soccer fans simply witched the direction of their seats and turned to face the stage. But then, many more people streamed into the arena and set up a festivity on the playground.
Many were still arguing ferociously about the soccer game, when the voice of the poet, Ajobiewe, a popular and venerated folk artiste rose over the singers’ voices, in the partial hue on the set to start the performance. Quickly identifying the voice, the audience exploded in prolonged ovation.
Every action in the play was caressed by loud interjection from the audience, whom many people had underrated as incapable of properly digesting the play.
As a matter of fact, some of the most intelligent remarks on the actions of the play were recorded at Ajele. The folks were able to locate the parallels of the characters in the play in the larger African political life.
In the usual post-mortem interview, which the project documentary team usually conducted with the audience randomly picked members of the audience made pungent statements.
Ajele playground was a test case for the prowess of Askari as a drama-piece capable of appealing to the interest and taste of both the academic and the popular audiences of the theatre.
But there is yet another level of audience to taste the pudding of tolerance as purveyed by Askari.

TO THE SCHOOLS, May 14th – 20th
Askari, the tonic of tolerance streamed on to the caucus of Nigerian children and youths who are the real targets of the Red Cross Theatre Project Nigeriua’97. This is another level of accomplishment for the cast, crew and producers of the play.
The journey began to the open sports field of the aged St. Gregory’s School, Obalende, where, perspective-wise, a great degree of tolerance and brotherhood is needed, since the children of the poor and the rich are expected to co-exist in the school founded on the principle of equality for all men. Interestingly too, St Gregory’s is located next door to the headquarters of the Nigerian Red Cross Society and the Nigerian mission of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Here, however, was discovered an intriguing correlation in behavioural tendencies of all these people, the simple fact that human beings would always be human beings.
An estimated over three thousand pupils from about five schools around Obalende and central Lagos had invaded the venue in the scorching sun of Wednesday May 14th. As is expected of the young ones, they were restless, bubbling with energy and enthusiasm. But they were pushing and shoving themselves so that eventually their noise and distractions necessitated a stoppage of the performance.
This wasn’t different from what had happened at Ajegunle. Thus, the producers applied the Ajegunle strategy; they shifted the performance into the Adefarasin Hall at the headquarters of the NRSC/ICRC.
Not to be deterred, the huge population of students shifted en masse too and invaded the serenity of the Red Cross office premises. But the hall is too small in size to accommodate the now more than 2,000 callers. Devices were made to discourage them from over-populating the hall, many of them beat the devices through certain incredible but creative actions.
The performance rewarded their perseverance and determination. Though in its newly invented avante garde form – without set and certain set props, Askari at Obalende succeeded in implanting itself in the consciousness of the students and youths. Evidence of this accomplishment registered in the post-production interaction between some of the pupils and the performers were quite intelligent as probing interpretations, the students delivered questions, comments and critiques.
As if scaling from one level to another, the atmosphere at the elite Queens College in Yaba contrasted sharply to that at St. Gregory’s. In any case, in terms of design, the two shows were different. Though as pre-conceived for the project, the producers had networked other schools in the neighbourhood to join their Queens College counterparts for the show, the school authority had cleverly (and reasonably too) arm-twisted the producers to make the show exclusive to their students alone.
Besides, the locale of Queens College is preserved, serene and cut off from the main body of Yaba township; very much unlike the St. Gregory’s, which could be said to be in the heart of a densely populated Obalende area of Ikoyi.
Askari on May15th, held in the sports hall of Queens College, since their social hall was hosting the term examination of a section of students.
However, it was more like the entire student populace was in the hall that evening’ the expensive hall was filled to the brim that even foyers and galleries upstairs housed many of the pupils.
A thoroughly bred student body, it rewarded the performance with quality responses. At the end of the show, autograph-seeking students invaded the back stage and they came in hundreds.
The school management instantly made an appeal for an en core, to enable the set of the final year students who couldn’t see due to the examination to have a chance. But the school’s wish could not be met. Askari had another date, next day, May 16th with the pupils in Agege, about 15 kilometres away from Yaba

* * * *
Alarm was raised very frequently that the hall of the Government College, Agege, would collapse due to the immense pressure on its strength and aged and poorly maintained facility. Particularly, its gallery, designed for, may be, about 250 pupils had been completely overfilled that mass of bodies was resting on its iron railings. From the point of view of the stage, sited adjacent to it, it was like the gallery would cave in at the last minute.
The hall bubbled in festivity as the pupils, running into thousands from about ten schools hollered and pushed and shoved. The noise was so much that the actors had to speak extra loud and stress their words in order to be heard. The electronically amplified sound really helped.
The total theatrical form of Askari was a saving grace, as in many other problematic venues, enabling the mimetic and expressive dance and movement to explicate the message of tolerance and peace.
About two hours after the play had ended, the large school compound was still in festive mood as some of the pupils mimicked certain actions they had seen in the play to the amusement of the performers, who were already bombarded by especially the male pupils seeking autograph. The next port of call was Ikorodu.

* * * *
The Dyna truck donated by the Lagos State Government through its Agriculture ministry for the first time proved outrightly inadequate. Before now, it had managed quite effectively to satisfy the need of the production – most times doing two or three rounds to be able to move all parts of the set.
Such repeated trips would not work for Ikorodu. Not for 34 kilometres. Not for the stress the journey would bring the ageing vehicle and the middle-aged driver. And even the technical crew men, who since the premiere had no rest as the play, ran daily at different venues.
A wooden Bedford lorry was hired. It was the only one that in fact agreed to undertake the journey. The others simply rejected the incentives to make them pick the job. But this truck was itself on its last breath, rickety, roaring and rumbling.
Driving through the waterscape of the Lagos-Ikorodu Road, through the Majidun bridge, notorious for being accident prone, the lorry compelled prayers from the occupants of the CD2, the Red Cross Jeep allocated to the technical team. On an occasion, when the lorry jerked violently, with its wooden backside doing a rambunctious dance, it sank fear in the hearts of the men.
But the driver and his motorboy were always ready to assure the team that, even if the journey were to the farther northern scape, the lorry would perform its duty in one shape.
It did make Ikorodu quite alright. It only ate into the time projected by the team. For a show that was billed for the afternoon, it was taxing.
Oriwu Model College, Ikorodu is historical. One of the earliest schools in that part of Lagos, it is almost ancient. Recent cement patches dotted its walls. Its window and door shutters vanished.
Particularly, the hall in the school wasn’t worthy of the magnitude and glamour, which the Red Cross Theatre Project harboured in its system. Hollow, dirty and colourless, the hall was capable of depressing the spirit of the performers. But not the Askari team, that had weathered the choking air of Ajegunle and Ajele in Isale Eko.
A fraction, more of a carcass of the huge set was squeezed onto the small stage of the hall. There was no backroom; and even the headroom was non-existent, since the hall itself is less than 12feet in height. Though adequate in length, the hall has a narrow breadth, posing a disadvantage to those who sat at the back to have good view of the stage. And since the headroom is almost non-existent, the set could only accommodate the one foot riser.
Meanwhile, the crowd of young ones, mostly pupils from the school and their colleagues from neighbouring schools had put the hall on heat. The date was May 17th. The students starched with equally enthusiastic folks from the town were however kind enough to allow the play begin and run smoothly. Occasionally, their responses became over-stretched, and applause overplayed, but the audience was good. A very lively and fruitful dialogue and exchanges persisted between the performers and the audience.

UNILAG, May 18th
The message of tolerance is doing the round of the young people alright, but the young people fir this show is of special breed. Caught between adolescent and adult stages, they represent the immediate generation that would hold the mantle of leadership in the divergent spheres of national life.
Within the conceptual framework of the Red Cross Theatre Project, the students of Nigerian Universities form a huge core of the expected audience.
The University campus itself is a most veritable ground to sell the sermon of tolerance, peace, unity and brotherliness. The perennial incidence of cultism and inter-group violence has turned campus to theatre of war. School authorities are now more devotedly engaged in fighting cult groups than administering matters of the academics.
Peculiarly, the University of Lagos in the past three years had been the most notorious battle ground for cult violence. And the cases are usually of graver consequences, where sophisticated weapons and students against fellow students employ guerrilla tactics.
Askari at the University of Lagos on May 18th, 1997 thus had a most significant background. And it is with such great expectation that the ship of the theatre project berthed on the campus.

*********
Expectedly, the hall was overfilled with enthusiastic audience comprising not only the students, but also guests from outside the community who had chased the team to the campus, before the Lagos showcase would close shop.
The reception of Askari as it ran at the University of Lagos was peculiarly heart-warming. It played before a critical audience – even in the literary sense of it – who digested the statements, symbols and stage craftsmanship in a professional air. Their ovations meant more than the thrill. It was a score for the philosophical depth of the play.
Another success! A special one actually, because the highly enlightened audience had obviously thoroughly viewed, digested and comprehended the play. The nature of interjection in the course of the presentation had testified to their thorough grasp of the message of the play, inspite of its many symbolic, allegorical and metaphorical notes, coded sometimes in the popular theatre tradition. This was the first signal that Askari would succeed in an academic environment, just as it had done in popular theatre environment like Ajegunle, Ajele, Victoria Island and the schools.
One more run to the school. Badagry was the next port of call.

BADAGRY, May 20th
Is the town really part of Lagos? Fifty kilometres away from the hustles and bustles of the city, Badagry was like an odd shot in the land plan of the Red Cross Theatre Project. Not certainly so, anyway. Badagry is the project’s most venerated wing to take the Lagos run to the grassroots.
The ancient and historical town sitting on the verge of the Atlantic Ocean is no stranger to the Askari team, in any case. Less than a month earlier, it had hosted the team for six days during which the tele-movie version of the play was recorded. The experience, especially the warmth of the town was alluring; a needed tonic that spurred the cast to greater commitment.
Lushful vegetation, mesmerising in their greeness and an unending stream of coconut and palm tress whistled in sonority as the convoy of vehicles sped through the busy Lagos-Badagry road. They whispered sweet songs into the ears of the cast and got them drunk of expectation of good tidings in the land of Aholu Menu Toyi 1, Oba Akran of Badagry, a culture and art patriarch.
Destination was the Badagry High School, just at the turn off of the main highway into the innards of the town.
The pupils, drawn from also as many schools gave a dignifying gift to the vast last lap of Askari –the fact that the message sank well with the target audience.
As the curtain drew close on the show the scenario of desperate autograph seekers returned.
In no time, the set was one pile of planks and parts as the technical team vented their last reserve of energy on it. They knew that, at least, they had a few days off the routine rhythm of hammering and painting. The next port was farther up in the west.
At a corner, Mrs. Jacqueline Erb, Mr. Ben Tomoloju and a visiting delegate from Geneva busied themselves with a review of the performance. The delegate said he was bewildered at the overwhelming response of the audience to the presentation. He was sure, he said the message of Askari went down well with the youth and wished that more schools could benefit from the theatre project.
The cast might have agreed, but home was the song on their mind. And suddenly home was no longer far off, even from Badagry. Just a pleasant drive through the poetic vegetation of the Badagry-Lagos route.

WESTERN TOUR, May 23rd – June 5th

BENIN, May 23rd
It is now clear why venerable artist, Demas Nwoko kept stoical at ambivalent comments on the exciting design of the theatre complex in Benin City.
The Sani Abacha Cultural Complex, as the Nwoko-designed theatre structure is now known, is structurally and functionally a place of pride and aesthetic excellence.
The house that Demas Nwoko built in Benin City, launched Askari on the course of its national tour; that is the first real theatre hall with all the dynamics of design and staging techniques to host the Red Cross Theatre Project ’97.
Sitting a little above 400 people, the Sani Abacha hall is mighty on a panoramic view. Seats are laid out with generous legroom. Ventilation into the hall is natural with fresh breeze from the spacious compound of the cultural complex whispering ceaselessly into the hall through openings under the seats.
Yet the real good story about the theatre structure is the stage, which ranks well in size with the main bowl of the National Theatre and the FESTAC-inspired theatre halls in Calabar and Ibadan. However, of all its contemporaries, the Nwoko house has the best backstage room in terms of space and comfortability. The wings, too, are generously elaborate.
And all these lessened the burden of the technical team, which throughout the Lagos run had had to become space managers, squeezing the huge Askari set and props into almost unthinkable spaces.
At Benin, the set was fully consumed by the stage that the technical team had to devise means of blocking off excess space. Technically, this improved the aesthetic possibilities of the play, and enhanced the chances of experimentation, especially in directorial conception.
To the cast, the first real test of Askari on a proscenium stage was in Benin, at least, a great improvement on the University of Lagos. And though likes the critics, some of them were unimpressed with the little number of seats, they were inspired by the challenge posed by the stage for them to test their skills to move a great play on a great stage.
Going to Benin indeed had been one sweetly anticipated dream for the actors. It manifested a positive dimension in the career of the individual actor that he would be privileged to participate in a project that is destined for a pan- Nigerian profile.
Having mastered Lagos, the western run debuting in Benin was a reinvigorating experience. Moreso, as a path that would eventually run through five other capital cities in the western part of Nigeria.
A carnival of festive singing and drumming reminiscent of the travelling theatre experience of the folk artistes of the 50s and 60s trailed the five hour cruise of the convoy of Red Cross vehicles and a hired truck into the ancient city of Benin on Thursday, May 22.
In its boisterous mien, it raised the soul of the culturally robust but socially modest city. As the convoy snaked into the city through Uselu road, through the frontage of the University of Benin and the Ring Road, en route Airport Road, the Benin folks welcomed the artistes with enthusiastic glances and occasional waves. These were signs that Benin was ready for words on tolerance. A small party of the folks trailed the convoy into the expansive yard of the cultural centre.
In one hour, fifty minutes Askari had been ritualised into accomplishments and opened up an intense dialogue between the genuinely impressed members of the audience and the artistes.
The audience was lavishing commendation on the artistes for staging what they considered the most elaborate performance ever held in the hall. Particularly, as submitted by the director of a federal culture parastatal “the depth and quality of performance was impressive. The artistes were very professional.”
This was buttressed by an arts journalist, now an officer of the Edo zonal office of the National Council for Arts and Culture who said “with this play, the face of theatre in Benin here has been changed. And the audience here would demand for nothing less than quality theatre programmes.”
The road ahead into the heart of the western zone seemed long. But in places the tour entered its most crucial points as a road work campaign. From Benin the train turned to Akure, the Ondo State capital.


AKURE, May 25th
Adegbemile House is an inspiring song in the consciousness of those who dream of a time when artistes would be in position to build their own structures and thus be freed from reliance on limited government facilities.
A moderate structure housing a theatre/cinema hall, a night-club, an exhibition foyer, a workshop as well as a row of administrative offices, Adegbemile House is a tribute to a progressive vision for the arts. It was conceived and built by Chief Ayo Ogunlade, who, though started out as an actor, was now a top member of the political class.
Having run the place for some years, he had negotiated it to the Ondo State Government, as a home for the state’s arts and culture council, and especially, as a place for artistic and cultural excellence.
With over 600 seats, Adegbemile is not a bad case for a theatre hall. Especially, the seats are graduated in levels that instantly erased the usual problem of viewing, encountered in many of the halls in Lagos. Though aged, technical facilities for light and sound were still intact; the technical team only needed to adapt its equipment to suit the design of the hall.
Significantly, the performance took place after a Muslim event in which participants wrapped up their activities swiftly to attend to the campaign on tolerance with Christian clerics, government officials, community leaders and the general public. Differences sank and comments reflected a consensus on the essence of the campaign, the touch of humanity being beamed by the Red Cross, which, like in other venues had several enthusiasts queuing up to be part of it.
All the same, Akure was a mixed grill of sweet songs too; especially the audience palliated the discomfiture of the team in its warm embrace of the performance. Indeed, Akure is one of the few cities in the country with well exposed and sophisticated audiences. Askari got a good dose of quality response from the audience, many of whom had been used to frequenting the same theatre hall for regular theatre shows.
Quite impressive of the Akure show, indeed were the good mobilisation of the student population and the prominence of place they were given in the hall. This was perhaps a dress rehearsal for the next flank of the tours; a trip back to Lagos for a special presentation to commemorate the International Children’s Day on May 27th.

LAGOS, May 27th
For a project that is designed specifically to lift children and the youth to a certain level of participation in discourse about moral and ethical code of conduct in the society, the children’s day is a unique opportunity to make its statement at the most appropriate forum and to the most relevant age-group. So, Askari’s return to the stage of the National Theatre was a festival of life.
Already, the theatre environs was enveloped in an aura of celebration. There were three other organisations staging programmes for kids to mark the children’s day. Thousands of kids had mounted a carnival in the vast expanse of the cultural edifice.
The huge exhibition hall, sitting over 1,500 people, was the choice for the play on this second bill. The decision was wise though. The population of kids that attended the show was in excess of 2,500, drawn from over 20 schools. Parents who brought their kids as well as adults who had missed the many runs of the plays in Lagos jostled for a place with the kids.
But unlike the premiere on May 9th in the Cinema Hall II, the Askari set was fully cast on the limitless stage space of the exhibition hall. Not so lucky with light and sound however, a great degree of improvisation had to come into play.
The hall was noisy quite all right, as is expected of a children show, but the May 27th show was one of the best outings of the Red Cross Theatre Project nation-wide.
Vividly, the artistes were in flight, faced on one side with such a huge house of enthusiastic kids and on the other, the varied recording gadgets mounted by the television documentary team to record the performance for posterity. It was also the only presentation to feature Lagbaja; the masked musician originally billed to play the role of poet/narrator in the play.
From Geneva headquarters had also come Ronald Siddler, a senior project executive of the ICRC who had earlier into the rehearsals visited the cast and crew at their Isolo camp. Armed with a sophisticated camera, he had paid frequent visits to the backstage to record the actors as they prepared to go on stage.
The May 27th show was a reassertion of the success that the Red Cross Theatre Project was destined to be nationally. Beyond that, however, it was a testimony that in terms of projection of the organising committee and the Red Cross institutions behind the project, Askari had lived up to the expectation of being thoroughly digested and understood by all the classes of audience, and especially the children and youth of Africa’s most populous country.

ADO-EKITI, May 29th
Historic Christ’s School and its famous amphi-theatre were the ideal venue dreamt and desired by the cast and crew of the Red Cross Theatre Project. They didn’t get that. And it set a tone of disappointment for the project’s berth in Ado-Ekiti, the capital of Ekiti State.
Aside of its famous name, the amphi-theatre located on a slope just beneath the concert of alluring Agidimo hills that run a ring round the school, is a legend in the history of Nigerian theatre.
It is where some notable teachers of the humanities in the country including poet laureate, Professor Niyi Osundare, were trained.
And very important, this is where the multi-talents of Ben Tomoloju, author and director of Askari were trapped, honed and instituted as gift to the Nigerian and African literary arts world.
Far more important than all these was the fact that initial contacts of the organising committee with the management of the school had set the school community working and full of expectation.
To host the project, the school authorities had invested money in putting its amphi-theatre in top shape. They had even begun to extend its sitting arena and repainted the wall of the back stage.
However, a special request from the Military Administrator of the state and some other consideration – reachability for the townfolks among others, had turned the table in favour of the hall of St. Paul Church.
Ado Ekiti sang a most sonorous song of greenness with the natural beauty of the landscape. More like a virgin land, the taste of rural Nigeria was very imposing even in the behavioural patterns of the folks of the town. This non-urban character however did not detract from the response of the people to the coming of the project.
Over 1,000 people were estimated to have been crammed into the hall. Hundreds of other enthusiastic people had mounted vigil outside the hall with impromptu performances.
Shouts of “Askari people let us enter, otherwise you too are Askari”, rented the air as the crowd engaged the law enforcement agents in games of hide and chase. These, including townfolks, would perhaps have a chance to see the play in a national TV broadcast that was part of the package. But the cast and crew dropped their message to a highly appreciative audience which included the State Military Administrator; a morale-booster for the next destination, Oshogbo, the culturally rich capital of Osun State.

OSHOGBO, May 31st
The sky grumbled insistently, rolling in a staccato rhythm that sent fears and despairs into the hearts of the members of the Red Cross Theatre team.
The anxiety over weather condition mounted in spite of the great promise of the show on the D-day. “It is going to rain,” announced Jacqueline Erb, not particularly sounding disappointed.
“It won’t rain, don’t worry,” responded Ben Tomoloju, with the precision of a clairvoyante.
Instantaneously, the actors turned the serious affair into something else. As Tunji Sotimirin launched a slapstick on how to “arrest rain”, Omokaro and Omokhuale simulated a skit in the shrine of a ‘rain maker’.
All these were mere psychological games to temper the rising anxieties in the minds of the actors.
From the onset, the state branch of the Red Cross had said that it intended to pull a big house to the show.
As soon as the convoy of vehicles bearing the men and materials of the project arrived the Osogbo town in the evening of May 29th, the chairman of the branch, a very articulate and self-assured man had requested that they went on a campaign tour of the town. According to him, Osogbo is a home of culture and the base of many great folk artists. “Our people here like cultural activities very much, and we want them to know that the Red Cross also shares of their interests”.
From the popular Station Road, through Oja Oba, Sabo and other important parts of the town, the public address system blared news about the presence of Askari in Osogbo.
Ajobiewe, an indigene of Osun State, who is well known in Osogbo chanted and sang praises of key figures in the town, inviting them to meet with the presentation at the stadium on May 31st.
But the gods were obviously not sufficiently amused by the compulsive ritual skits, because a few minutes into the run of the play, the sky opened up and sent forth rapid drizzles that lasted about five minutes.
Life on stage however refused to cave in to the dictate of the rain. Rather, the actors pumped more energy into the presentation which already demanded much more work from the actors, since it was being staged in the open air soccer pitch of the Osogbo Sports Stadium Complex.
Unable to secure any other suitable venue in the Osun State capital, the producers had eventually settled for the Sports Stadium, even in spite of a possibility of the rain disrupting the show.
However, the stadium helped greatly in accommodating the huge crowd that saw the performance.
When the crowd descended on the stadium, it was clear that the public campaign had indeed been very effective. Even while the play ran, many more people came into the stadium, which was already filled by the townfolks, kids and dignitaries including the Secretary to the State Government, standing in for the Military Administrator.
With a renewed vigour, the actors performed creditably, even though they had to be extremely expressive to be able to fill the vast performance space that the stadium environment provided them.
The audience got a good bargain. That vividly manifested in their post –production attitude when almost an hour after the show had ended, they sat through the purely ceremonial event — the presentation of the Milad’s address by the secretary to the government.
A boost to the performers was the special tribute paid to them by the Secretary who also shook hands with the actors, amid inspiring commentators on individual performers.
A day off had been set for June 1, since the next date at Ibadan was June 3rd. That day was a day of celebration as the actors took over the regular Friday night session of their hotel and danced till the next morning.

IBADAN, June 3rd
Professor Dapo Adelugba was visibly struck when he arrived at the Cultural Centre Ibadan to partake of the ritual of Askari. Of course, the venerable artiste and erudite scholar, teacher of many professional artistes had every cause to be so angry.
He was disappointed that despite an initial contact by the producers and in fact a special move he had made to ensure that the Red Cross Theatre Project was staged at the Department of Theatre
Arts, University of Ibadan, the presentation was to hold at the cultural centre, which is situated on a high hill far off from the centre of town.
“You guys were not fair to us at the department,” remarked Uncle Dapo, as the foremost theatre critic is called by his students, and he trailed off in his famous deep-throated laughter.
“We had really prepared for the show. Everybody was standing by — all the students, the entire staff, the whole of the Faculty of Arts. Why, Ben…you ditched us?” Prof. Adelugba was putting Ben Tomoloju to task. It wasn’t only Ben that apologised. Mrs. Jacqueline Erb did, too, and assured the Prof. that arrangement had been made to ensure that the students of U.I. had a good presence at the presentation.
Earlier, the 28-seater bus allocated to the cast by the Oyo State Government, accompanied by two 1-seater jeeps of the Red Cross had been sent to the U.I. campus to bring as many students as they could pick to the venue of the show.
The Oyo State Cultural Centre in Mokola, though offering the best choice in terms of materials and conduciveness to a theatre presentation, is not a favourite place of interest to the people of Ibadan. Not even to the big audience of theatre and the literary arts.
But this was where Askari decided to try its luck. By its antecedent in crowd pulling, it wasn’t out of place that such a decision was made by the producers of the Red Cross Theatre Project.
Just as its huge, gigantic design intimidates the beholders, the inside of the theatre hall of the cultural centre is like the elephant head, not the load of the lilly-livered.
Vast, expansive and seemingly incapable of being completely filled by materials and men, the auditorium presented a real challenge technically. But the Askari set too is no small thing. It is huge, expansive and multi-dimensional, ready to tackle the biggest theatre space.
As a matter of fact, it was on the cultural centre stage that the Askari set transformed to a four-unit format; with the addition of a forest created on the extreme right wing of the stage. Automatically, this affected the design of the stage blockings and movements. But it created a better scenic atmosphere for the actors, especially the ones that are exterior in motif.
Also, the concept of the palace gateway at the up-centre stage, which had developed at the Benin Cultural Centre was further advanced in design in Ibadan, because the head room was enormous.
It is thus appropriate to state that the best scenic (set) design was realised in Ibadan. It naturally follows that one of he best performance in the Western zone was staged at Ibadan.
To the amazement of the producers, the audience pull out in Ibadan was very impressive. It had started on a very low scale, with the town folks trickling into the venue. But by the time the presentation took off one hour behind schedule, the hall, which like Calabar sits about 2,500 had been filled to about three quarter capacity, from the U.I. campus, the vehicles had mobilised about one hundred people.
Particularly inspiring in the audience pull at Ibadan was the presence of three distinguished scholars — Professor Niyi Osundare, poet, critic, literature teacher and Commonwealth poetry Award Winner, professor Femi Osofisan, a prolific playwright, theatre director and teacher, and, of course, the doyen, Professor Adelugba. They had also mobilised quite a number of their students.
Post-mortem commentaries and critiques by the three respected dons were testimonies to the accomplishment of the Red Cross Theatre Project. While he was uncomfortable with the representation of Esu as an ambivalent character, Osofisan said that Askari succeeded in appealing to both the academic and the popular theatre tradition.
To Adelugba, the message of tolerance and peaceful co-existence was manifestedly realised in spite of the fact that the play has a rare quality in the way it blends varied elements and symbols of theatre. Osundare was taken in by the poetic quality of the language and the resourcesfulness of the performers. Yet Adelugba capped the critique that the actors and directors were professional in their performances, while the Red Cross Theatre Project represents a land mark in Nigerian and African theatre practice.
The popular audience was no less impressed with the offering, wishing that there would be further opportunity to share of the experience. A septuagenarian who speaks in Yoruba recounted to some of the crew-men how the various actions, mimesis and symbolic gestures elucidated the meaning of the play to him. To Ladi Savage, actor, dancer and a senior member of the Oyo State Arts Council, who with his colleagues stood by the Askari team in terms of support, Askari would bring a shine to public perception of theatre presentation at the cultural centre. He feels that with the project the Oyo State Government would now value better the work of the arts council.
In actual fact, this is one redemptive mission, which the Red Cross Theatre Project ’97 was expected to accomplish for the practice of the theatre in the country.
There was a subtle compliment to womanhood between Mrs Jacqueline Erb and the lady chairperson of the Oyo State Red Cross branch, Chief (Mrs.) Aboderin. The reception at Ibadan was warm, with the chairperson personally serving food to the actors all the time in the course of the two-day stay in Ibadan.
Lodged at the serene Pastoral Institute in Bodija area of the city, the cast and crew couldn’t have asked for a better accommodation arrangement.

ILORIN June 5th
IIorin, the Kwara State capital was the very last port of the Red Cross Theatre Project ’97, Lagos-West zone. The cast, the crew and the producers, though wearied of travelling and substantially spent in performance-energy, sought to pull through their 17th show in the zone.
Already, they had made history, for it is hard to remember any other group of cast and crew that had ever mounted as much as 17 performances of same play in as much number of venues and traversing almost the entire stretch of the western part of Nigeria within four weeks. Perhaps, the only other project they had to contest with is the Red Cross Theatre Project itself which in 30 performances traversed a record 20 states, of the federation and employing almost 200 personnel including artistes, artisans menial labourers, drivers and other categories of workers in the experience.
Decidedly, the tolerance-preaching theatre missionaries wanted the IIorin show to be a memorable cap to an epoch-making experience. But the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), the nemesis of the people of Nigeria frustrated that dream; derailing the smooth coasting home of the project.
Just in the last two minutes of the presentation at the multi-purpose hall of the IIorin Sports Stadium. When, however, the full text of the play had made its point, leaving only the closing dance, the power authority cut electricity supply.
“Everybody freeze,” that was the command of the stage manager/associate director, shortly before the artistic director of the Red Cross Theatre Project and the commandant of the Askari team announced;
“That’s the end of the show. Everybody come to back stage.” No other word was needed to tell the cast that the ritual of that June 5th night had come to an end, even if abruptly.
Tomoloju explained to the anxious Red Cross officials that already the message of the play had been exposed to the members of the audience. That they would not miss much if the closing dance didn’t continue to the end. Besides, when such an incidence of disruption in the course of a performance occurred, the viable and traditional options were either to start the play afresh (as happened in Ajegunle and Obalende) or to pack it sup altogether, except where the director feels that a continuation after the disruption would not injure the mental, physical and spiritual connectedness of the play.
The incident, however, could not destroy the reverence, which the audience had for the Askari team. They indeed waited calmly in the hall for the almost 20 minutes duration of the light-out to share good moments with the performers and the producers. Trust the students from the faculty of arts of UNILORIN, they mounted pockets of viva sessions during, which they engaged the members of the team in reviews of the performance.
The Military administrators and members of the troupe had become good friends. Aside of paying a visit to the producers at their lodging in the government guest house in the GRA area of Ilorin, he gave substantial amount of money as gift to the cast and crew.
Essentially, however, the organisational competence of the leadership of the Kwara State branch of the Nigerian Red Cross was the tonic that propelled a most successful staging of the Red Cross Theatre Project in IIorin. Comprising a group of old, distinguished citizens of the state, the Red Cross executive was astute in planning and well disposed to “ensure that you have the best welfare provision in our state, since we are the last port of call in this zone,” said the chairman, a businessman who, however, had read theatre arts at some famous institutions in the United States of America.
Despite the late-release of funds from co-sponsors, Red Cross chieftains had wisely designed alternative means of at least satisfying the welfare needs of the team. Fortunate enough, some of the members are hoteliers, and so had put their facilities at the use of the team. They also mobilised personal resources for the feeding of the cats and crew members.
IIorin was a warm embrace to the Red Cross Theatre Project ’97.and it was effectively a befitting curtain call for the Lagos- West run of the project.
In the morning of January 6th, when the team headed back to Lagos, the heart of the IIorin township palpitated rhythmically to the loud singings and exuberant jives of the members of the Red Cross Theatre Project Nigeria ’97. Well, in their pocket was the monetary gift from the state administrator and in their heart was not only memory of the good reception and successful outing in IIorin, but also the relieving thought that they were returning to their individual homes after almost three months severance since March 11th when the first reading of the play was held at Isolo,; a long break from almost a month of road run with the gigantic theatre project since the premiere on May 9th at the National Theatre , Iganmu.
It was a different stroke for the technical crew and the producers, however. Somewhere in their consciousness is the thought of the task ahead, in the north and in the east.

Tolerance Train Goes Up North
BY
JAHMAN ANIKULAPO

NORTHERN TOUR, JUNE 20-JULY 4




* Ya Mallim in the Northern leg

BACK in Lagos where the National Directoral Corps was preparing to travel up-north for the crucial final stages of rehearsals, a major breakthrough had been recorded in the quest to secure the support of the military authorities in prosecuting the national campaign of the play. A long military vehicle, the 30-ton truck had been released to the production team.
When the truck snaked its way onto the red sand quarters of the bungalows known as Red Street, base of the artistes camp, the entire community was astounded. Such a strange sight; a military truck on the street of civilian residents. But it was clear to them that the Askari project is an all-important national project, hence its drawing, as part of its retinue, a military truck.
At 6.30a.m the truck took off for the North, thus, firming up the realisation of national spread of the project; opening up another in its multi-farious phases.
It was the loud music from CD 2 that jolted everyone in the Artsville to the realisation that ‘Time For North’ was here. But by then, all of them had woken up and loaded the lighting equipment, costumes and props in the ICRC jeeps parked overnight in the compound.
Driving up north was a pleasant cruise with chatters and music as tonic. The crew stopped to eat in Ibadan, where the rain had not even as much as dropped a stroke, in spite of its menace in Lagos. They had lunch at about 5p.m at Mokwa. The technical crewmen arrived Kaduna at about 10p.m and picked up accommodation on the highbrow Independence Road. The next two weeks were spent attending rehearsals of the cast at the Kaduna Arts Council. A lot of intervention had to be made to the work met on the ground and this involved a total restructuring and redirecting in some segments. However, the zonal team had done tremendous work especially in the area of dance and music. But the cast had to be brushed up to the standard of the model play, scheduled to open, on at the hall of the Kaduna Polytechnic on June 20th.
The show was slated for 8p.m. but by 6pm. a huge, tumultuous heap of people had laid siege by the main entrance to the hall.
When they were allowed in they altered the sitting arrangement, just to have vantage viewing of the stage. When the hall was filled up, the main entrance was blocked off, but the crowd went round the hall and took up the improvised backstage door.
It should be noted that Askari in the north come as another version in accordance with production policy, especially in the basic dance and musical empathy and lively retorts from audience to actors.
With the ceremonial dimension, the event went into midnight. But, certainly, the message was therapy for society to right its wrongs and maintain an equilibrium in human co-existence.
The night went out. Morning and the theatre voyagers faced another destination to deliver the golden message

MINNA June 21st
Minna is known to have the best theatre structure in the north. Commissioned as recently as 1991, the U.K Bello theatre evinces a contemporary air and demands quality artistic expressions as full compliment of the huge resources invested in it.
Clearly, Askari had an answer. The steam and efforts put into preparations by the Niger State Red Cross branch bore testimony to the coming of an epic event when the artistes arrived in Minna on June 20th. Although a few lapses had to be redressed virtually at the point of arrival of the cast and crew from Kaduna — especially in the area of lodging — the challenges of the mission were much too high to dampen the guts and gusto of individuals participants.
Indeed, the formula of applying a formidable team–spirit among Red Cross officials, local administrators, volunteer local artistes and the production crew soon levelled down logistic challenges in Minna to open the way for an inspiring creative trip.
Between the night of June 20th and the morning of Saturday, June 21st, the normal ritual of setting up the stage had been done with. Publicity on radio and with posters carried by commuter vehicles from one part of Niger State to another had made an impact on he populace. This as well as the direct instruction from Government House to Local Governments also rallied a cross section of the students population. Indeed, Niger State offered the best officials line for the involvement of students in the viewing and digesting of Askari and its message of tolerance. Special accommodation and lodging arrangements were made by the respective local government authorities for these schooling youths who travelled from all corners of Niger to the state capital to view Askari.
Added to these incentives to a great even was the fact that the Red Cross Theatre Project had a sort of home-coming in Niger, the home-state of the National President of the Nigerian Red Cross Society, Alhaji (Dr.) Shehu Musa, the Makama Nupe as well as Mallam Garba Wushishi (now late), former Information and Culture Minister and National Adviser on information for the NRCS.
The deal in the evening of June 22nd — when the play was presented was, therefore, a multiplicity of honour.
The citizens of Niger State and their friends exhibited pride in their illustrious nobilities who have a formidable mark in humanitarian work nationally and international. Mallam Garba Wushishi was decorated that night — a few months before his transition — by the Military Administrator as vice-patron of the state branch of the NRCS.
For the artistes performing on the U.K Bello stage was paradisal, a sharp contrast from the squeeze on the Kaduna stage a couple of days back. It was their first taste of the giant four-dimensional stage. The set was larger, more elaborate and they squared up to its new challenges to give the capacity-filled hall of enthusiastic audience a thrill and enough food for thought.
It was a heart-warming experience for the audience who formed only one-third of those who turned up to see the show.
The night whispered its way into the slumber-time for the cast and crew who had a long trip to embark upon the following morning, to Sokoto.

SOKOTO, June 24th
“We have to drive for 6 hours”, announced Mrs. Erb who quickly added. “It might be up to 10 hours if we go in a convoy with the truck.”
Only one day, Monday, June 23rd, stands between Minna and Sokoto. And with the longing trip the whole of Monday would be spent on the road. It meant that the team would arrive Sokoto in the night; and the set would have to be mounted overnight and part of the morning of the performance day, June 25th.
The journey nevertheless began, with three jeeps and two 10-tons trucks cruising slowly through thick grassland that punctuate the wide, extensive and most times undulating landscapes for which the northern land space is reputed.
Arrival at Sokoto was in the evening at about 8p.m.
Driving straight to the Sokoto branch office of the Nigerian Red Cross Society, there was a relieving atmosphere of preparedness. The Secretary, Mallam Hassan was not in, but his office was already anticipating the team’s arrival and they gave a generous welcome.
This wasn’t surprising though. Hassan is a meticulous planner. Even before the team met him, they had been told of his diligence. Besides, a few days to the opening night in Kaduna, he had come over to the Kaduna Red Cross office to personally pick the posters and handbills in a readiness for the show in Sokoto.
He was able to brief the producers of the extent of preparation. Not too long after the team arrived Sokoto, Hassan took the members to the Sokoto State Motel, where his office had secured double rooms ready for the cast and the crew.
Sokoto was indeed good!
The publicity drive was commendable. On Thursday, June 24th, the technical team began work at 7.am at the open-air theatre and the men were pleased at the great challenge, which the open arena provided for their technical work. It was in fact the very first standard open-air theatre, in the tour, others had been the Ajele playground and Oyedeji Street, Ajegunle and the football pitch at Oshogbo which they had experienced with the Lagos-West cast.
A particular problem for the Sokoto theatre was the absence of a back stage, which then needed to be improvised with curtains. But there was a wing where the actors could change their costumes.
The arena atmosphere, however, made up for show. The main fear then remained the rain, which earlier had threatened. A second major problem the timing which was already put at 4 p.m. following a conflicting information already received by the state branch.
Eventually, the earlier time of 8pm was agreed upon, coming up after the evening muslim prayers, a good time it was agreed to allow the predominant muslim population to view Askari.
In this presentation, the understudy of the lead role, Askari had been picked by the director to perform. He had also been scheduled for at least two more shows in the entire northern run; a credit to his potential. And this brought fresh promise.
The performance started on a very solemn note, as if the actors couldn’t manage the space and the pace, especially, with the new Askari not so sure of his lines and having been instructed by his drill-man, Jahman Anikulapo, to play slow to avoid over exhibition of his speech defects, which always manifested whenever he tried to speak fast.
But gradually, the pace picked up as the actor carried the role with vigour, dictating the pace and winning applause for his stylised movement and gestures.
The dances and music were particularly better realised, as the arena nature of the stage turned to an advantage.
The auditorium, which normally sits about 2, 500 people was filled up excessively. Over 3, 500 were said to have squeezed themselves up into the sitting arena, with almost half that number hanging around all the available spaces in the corners of the theatre.
About 3, 000 people were still hanging around outside trying to gain entrance. They were not violent, but it was indeed very difficult to control them. Eventually, some of them went through impossible routes, scaling the wall and could be seen dropping into the theatre from behind and on set even as the play progressed.
A very beautiful audience, they celebrated the play, and showed an even better understanding of all actions and moments of the day than anticipated. They did applaud even the scenes, which the cast members had warned could create violent reaction.
There was no ugly incidence. And about 10 minute after the play had ended, the crowd kept on clapping and whistling. They would not vacate the theatre even as the technical team began to dismantle the set. Some kids joined in packing the set into the truck that was already waiting outside the theatre.
And so the Sokoto audience, painted before the show as a hostile, fanatical lot turned out to be one of the most disciplined, polished and hospitable in the entire national tour. Indeed, they scored an ace for tolerance in word and deed. So, much was it that the truck, which moved the set from Sokoto to Kano was personally provided by a private businesswoman and community leader, Hajiya Aisha Aliu, who was heartily moved by the play.

KANO, June 25th
Like it happened in Minna, an advance party had earlier gone ahead to Kano to examine the level of preparation for the production. There had been assurances that the state branch was ready to host the production team.
Getting to Kano was relaxing because the Red Cross secretariat at least showed that it had done some ground work.
In fact, the cast, which had gone ahead of the producers and the technical crew had been ushered into a glamorous reception by the secretary to the Red Cross.
They had been driven, to their astonishment, to the Royal Tropicana Hotel, a prestigious three star hotel, which was a world of difference from the places where the cast had stayed in all other states they had been.
Forty rooms had been secured, with as much as 20 singles, which meant that majority of the cast members had for the first time single rooms to themselves. Others paired up while the top cast members occupied VIP rooms.
Besides, the feeding arrangement was most attractive. The cast and crew could eat their three meals a day at the hotel. The meal was generous and it was just as pleasant as that, which were given to the hotel’s paying guest.
The reception in Kano was wonderful.
Fortunately, it was in Kano that the team had decided to spend its very first free day, which was Friday, June 27th. And that day was spent inspecting the performance venue. Rumfa College school-hall was the choice. Again, it took the play straight to the young people, but could not offer technical infrastructure better than any other school-hall. It lacks adequate facilities but the producers settled for it all the same. And instead of using its raised platform, the artistes decided to play against the back of the hall— like they had done in the Kaduna hall, which shares, except for size, similar inadequate attributes, theatrically with the Rumfa hall.
The team set up and the hall was filled up to at least 3/4 before the play began at about 4.30pm with the representative of the Emir of Kano and the police commissioner in attendance.
Eventually, the hall was filled up, though a lot of he people had to stand on seats and hang around the hall to gain better view of the stage, thus, creating noise.
The production, however, was well applauded, with the school authority saying that it was so moved by the show that it was contemplating not only reactivating its dormant dramatic society, but setting up a Red Cross branch in the school to advance the ideals of tolerance, peace and conflict resolution.
Kano government still lived up to its good stand as it provided the team with two ‘counter’ trucks to shift its set materials. It also gave a bus with which to convey the cast. But the team couldn’t leave for Maiduguri on Saturday, June 28th as early as it had wanted to because the cast members seemed to be reluctant to leave the glamour of the Kano accommodation and feeding provision in a hurry.
The director, Ben Tomoloju had to take off from Kano to the East to see the progress of the production team in the East led by Omokaro Okonedo, who had been a part of the Lagos/West show.
The cast and the crew with the trucks led ahead of the producers including Mrs. Erb. We had about eight hours journey ahead of us then to Maiduguri, where the next show would hold on Sunday, June 29th.

MAIDUGURI, June 29th
Though the bus conveying the cast had gone ahead, the producers’ jeep levelled up with them near Potiskum.
With Mrs. Erb the producers soon overtook them and headed for Maiduguri. They arrived rather late, at about 5pm.
They hit the road, checking from one hotel to the other to get a place for the cast. After much check on about six different places, the managers happened on the Safari hotel, which fortunately was just across the road from the open-air theatre, venue of the performance. The producers had to pay from their resources. They got temporary hotel for the ladies who had to join the rest in Safari the next day.
It was to be a free day, and again the project handlers had to contend with the timing for the play. The local organisers had picked 3pm, in the heat of the scorching sun. The actors feared that the timing was bad and might impair their performance.
Eventually, accompanied by a very helpful Obadiah, director of the Borno State Arts Council, the producers wen to the state house and met the protocol officer to the administrator who then informed that, fortunately, an evening reception had been cancelled since the military lawyers, members of the Boundary Adjustment Commission then visiting the state and whom the administrator had projected would see the show that sent words that they were no longer coming.
The show was thus shifted to 8pm and a quick publicity machinery set in motion so that the townfolks would be adequately informed of the shift.
The cast was elated. Surprisingly, however, by 3pm the original time earlier scheduled, a huge crowd had descended on the venue, ready to sit through the sun to see the show.
The crowd waited even till the 8pm and filled the open-air venue to watch the presentation.
An estimated 4,000 people sat through the residual heat on the cemented seatings to watch the play. They were very elated and gave loud ovation to the actors. The crowd in fact seemed larger than the one in Sokoto, which was put at t about 6, 000. A huge crowd also laid ambush outside the venue, begging for a second show.
The next day was free and it was to be spent in Maiduguri, since the show in Bauchi was still four days away on Wednesday, July 2nd.
Not much to do, the actors wen ton the excursions to the zoo which was across the road from the Safari Hotel while the producers spent the time firming up arrangement for the trip to Bauchi.

BAUCHI, July 2nd
The troupe arrived in Bauchi on July 1st, enough time for the producers to fine-tune logistic arrangements and set the ball of the show-train rolling. A quick decision had to be reached to transfer the performance from the multi-purpose sports complex to the Open theatre. And it paid off pretty well, though with a little extra-cost on refurbishment of the stage.
At about 3p.m., the Artistic Director returned from the east, was adequately briefed by the Associate Director and later by Mrs. Erb. Clam and collected, he called for a stage-run, which lasted until front-running members of the public began to troop in.
At 5p.m., the open air theatre was more than half-filled, save the front row, which had been reserved for the filming crew of Kola Ogunsolu, Ola Lemi and Tunde Adegbola. The actors were set. Everything was set.
At 7p.m., there was no longer a sitting place, but outside, the gate was jammed with people, shoving hollering and aggressively demanding to be let in.
Askari in Bauchi was an experience as the Open Air Theatre served the purpose of a theatre built for audience participation. In spite of the vastness of the auditorium, there was a communal link between the house and the stage. Every song excited the audience and the music was gripping… sleek, inspired and energetic, pumping and volumes of tension –soaked sound into the open house.
The actors were better motivated by the Askari understudy. Each time he played there was a change in the rhythm. He has the actor’s bribery-stage presence. And his voice is deep and affective and with his carriage, he came into the picture of a Jimi Solanke, the master actor on the Nigerian stage.
A couple of actors overplayed their comic antics; this only exaggerated the extent of humour in the play, which already has in-built entertainment elements, requiring no padding up. Otherwise, every other person was in the upswing. Patra Dokubo, playing maiden for the first time on the tour, got an ovation for her punchy delivery of lines talking about protecting children and the weak from the sad effects of war and violence. And Rita, Esther and Yemi put the songs in such affective tune that rang mellifluously drawing a ring of melody round the house.
The chairman of the state branch of the Red Cross was the first to come backstage and he almost collapsed with refrains of “Oh! I am happy. Thank you.” His companion, a friend of his whom he said had come to the rescue of the branch when government money would not come said he would want someday to re-invite the troupe to Bauchi for a second outing. “Let us know when you are ready,” said Mrs Erb as the technical team unleashed their energy on the set, turning the massive pack of wood into shreds of meaningless planks.
The next day, the producers chased and chased a truck and a bus, with the little money left.
Thank heavens, there was only one more show to go, in Jos.


JOS, July 4th
Jos was, in the mind of the directors, a high pitch. The tin city has a reputation as a centre for artistic and cultural activity. It has the best cosmopolitan outlook of all the north, except for Kaduna.
The last show was probably the best show of all the northern shows. The University hall gave an ambience that was most helpful to realising the play. There was space, space and more space, the atmosphere was roomy and the hall atmospheric.
The mood of the performers was high and the audience positively disposed, exited, boisterous and full of life.
The Military Administrator came with about five commissioners. And it was a big party. The show was a sweet song; its tune reverberated and titillated the sense of the artistes and their watchers.
The producers too were flying, in the air of achievement. A befitting crown to a challenging northern adventure. Indeed, it was another story of misjudgment from fixated minds about the social disposition of Nigerians, throughout the tour, protocol had a avoided bringing state administrators into campuses. But in Jos, the jinx was broken. A warm-hearted colonel sat for two hours among exuberant university students and even as electricity supply was disrupted three times in the course of the presentation, they shared the gem of theatre without hurtful slogans and the administrator left in a glowing light of triumph of civilised socialisation process. A triumph of Askari, balm in an atmosphere of fear. Afterall, the play is addressing humanitarian issues concerning the civil population in times of military operations.

Honey in the East
BY
JAHMAN ANIKULAPO



* Sam Dede (Askari) with Itoro (Tolani) and Junior

THE East was a complex character. Perhaps, it manifested the project in a similar way it does in the Nigerian political equation; unpredictable, dynamic with a bent of slyness but still an irresistible bride. At the outset, Askari in the East had appeared cloudy, following a least-expected miscalculation by the officials’ earlier dispatched to prepare the ground for the take off of the project in the zone.
However, an instant intervention in Lagos had ironed out the conflicts, though it had to take drastic actions such as change of personnel and contacts and tactics.
A lecturer in theatre arts at the University of Uyo, Mrs. Uwem Okome was at home at the Uyo operational base of the Eastern zone. This is apart from her good network among artistes in that community.
The substitute assistant director, Omokaro Okonedo, was by design fully prepared for the heavy schedule required in the zone. He was to face the assistant director role strictly, which by principle is that of supervising the realisation of the play according to the basic directoral and production tenets already designed for the project nationally. He had to groom the new crop of actors from the zone and see to the re-presentation and packaging of the song, music and dance motifs in the peculiar cultural traditions of the ethnic groups that make up the state.
Finally and perhaps more importantly, Okonedo had a firmer grip of the principles and dynamics of the production. He was a member of the Lagos/West Zone cast, with an additional administrative schedule as a supervisor of the artistes’ camp in Isolo. Being a member of cast made him to understand the play inside-out.
Thus, with the substitute assistant director, signs had become palpable that there would be a better deal in the East. In any case, in the course of the preparation for the Lagos-West zone, the director, Ben Tomoloju and the assistant director, Okonedo had made an exploratory visit to the East.
The mission first was to introduce Okondo to the Red Cross secretariat in Uyo, where he would operate from basically. The second objective was to put him in rhythm with the work which the new co-ordinator, Mrs. Okome was assigned to do in terms of contacts with actors and with the Red Cross branches in the six states — Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Cross River, Imo, Enugu and Delta.
All these pre-production contacts paid off in that engendered a better working.
By the time Okonedo moved down to Uyo in June, barely two weeks after conclusion of the Lagos/West zone lap, the East was ready for him and he was ready for the East, too.
As a boost, the directors recognising that out of the three zones, the East had lesser number of weeks — less than four to work — had resolved to dispatch some actors from the Lagos/West zone to lessen the assistant director’s workload and facilitate the realisation of the play.
In this light, Ehi Omokhuale (Ogufe), Tony Okuyeme (Askari soldier Apostle understudy), Mary Udofia (Maiden/Minion understudy/assistant props manager) and Victoria Otenigbagbe (minion/dancer) were to join the team. However, it was clearly stated that these actors were not to be compulsorily made to play the same roles they had played in the Lagos/West.
In fact, to ensure a unique identity for the East, and in keeping with the zonal principles of the project, they were to be given other roles, strictly, dissimilar to their former roles; excerpt where the assistant director felt otherwise.
Eventually, two more members of the Lagos/West — the brothers, John and Aquilla Njamah (Jato and Zaki respectively) joined the team. However, it turned out that Zaki was not really needed since the East produced its own Zaki who was good enough within the peculiar ambience of the Eastern production. Same fate was in line for John, until the original cast for Jato failed to make it to the final production dates.
Rehearsals in the East commenced on June 26th at the Cornelia Connel College, Uyo with a mixed cast of tested performers and a club of relatively young but fairly exposed amateurs.
A chunk of the lead performers was drawn from the academic theatre arts community, though many of them had bee tested actors or stage technicians. These include:
• Samuel Dede (Askari) — a lecturer in theatre at the University of Port Harcourt
• Edet Essien (Ukpaka Ekpo)— lecturer at the University of Calabar,
•Geoffrey Agbo (Ya Mallim/Commander) — lecturer at the University of Calabar,
• Mrs. Margaret Akpan (costumes/make-up) — lecturer, theatre arts at the University of Uyo.
There was also James Edet (Askari soldier/Apostle), a theatre alumnus of the University of Calabar, but now the head of drama, music and light entertainment with the Akwa Ibom Broadcasting Corporation TV. Resourceful singer, Emem Okon works with the Akwa Ibom State Arts Council. Itorobong Etuk was a youth corps member in Minna, Niger State.
Others include fresh diploma holders in theatre arts from the University of Uyo — Ekaette Umoh (Sofi) and Queen Esther Moses (singer/minion). The others were students of the university — Iboro Umoh (Moni), David Etuk (Drummer), Cyril Bassey (Junior) Anthony Usoro (Drummer), ImaobongUdoh (Red Cross Volunteer/Girl/Dancer) and Adeyinka Adetoro (Zaki). There were also the Ufford siblings, about four of them who are members of a family of performers headed by their father. They have performed in many places and were the leader team representing Akwa Ibom State at many editions of the National Festival of Arts.
Of course, a big inspiration to the cast was Mr. Fred Eno Essien, a former senior manager with the Nigerian Newsprint Manufacturing Corporation, Oku Iboku, who, apart from being a popular business man and community leader in Uyo, is a great theatre enthusiast. He was regarded as a father — figure to the eastern cast.
Venue was the regular challenge in the eastern run of Askari the absence of a conducive hall, equipped appropriately for the challenging architechtonics of the play, indeed was a recurrent factor for the producers.
It was in this situation that Askari opened at Ibom Hall on July 12th, 1997. The crowd was large and of high quality with a fair representation from the state cabinet, business and academic communities. The student population was the big bonus as it placed the performance in the proper context of the project’s vision.
Particularly, the Eastern cast gave indication that it was competent, in spite of its divergent components. Those who claimed that the Uyo premiere was one of the best shots of Askari showings were not far from the truth because it was like the cast accomplished itself.
Not opportuned to encounter the full dimensions of the gigantic set, the cast fit itself well into the reduced technical input and relied on the ‘actor’s vitality’. Good enough, it was the very first show, a virgin, so there was fresh strength and light psyche. No baggage or hangover.
For the Uyo audience, Askari was a song too sweet to nibble at. They grabbed and grabbed at the heart of the play; participating so heartily in the unfolding action and stomping along the flow of the play. Songs and chants were quickly picked from the tongues of the performers as the intensely percussive music motivated a flamboyant mood of reception. It was like the night shouldn’t end; for the actor and for the audience.
In the last scene of the play, certain members of the audience had grown restless as they interjected on the lines of the actors, especially when recompensing Askari engaged in self-remorse, offering apology (perhaps on behalf of all war mongers) of having stood the world of his family, his neighbour and humanity on its head through greed and selfishness.
Such interjections became excessive participation by the audience as it further slowed down the pace and distorted the rhythms of the actions.
If it bothered anybody, not the performers as they amazingly stuck to a distinguished performance to the end. In fact, when the children emerged in their ritualistic dance formation, spotting the green-white green colour of the Nigerian flag, there was a signification of a very promising run for the play in the east.


* Itoro who played Askari's daughter in the South-east leg

CALABAR July 15th
Calabara has one of the best theatre structure in the country, having benefited from the largesse of the 2nd World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture, FESTAC ’77. Its cultural centre, a sprawling complex in the heart of the city house a big multi-purpose theatre structure, which has all the ideal technical and spatial requirements for a theatre complex anywhere in the world. It is however, beset with poor maintenance culture.
In spite of this, the hall retains its physical elegance in terms of space, design and atmospherics. He auditorium is vast, able to sit three thousands guest. Sighting it alone put the cast and crew of Askari in an upswing mood; like it happened in the case of U.K. Bello Theatre in Minna and the Sani Abacha Hall in Benin
Problems did not distract from an impressive outing of the play on the stage of the Cross River State’s Culture Centre. A huge crowd, of over 4,000 people and the biggest ever to congregate in that hall, witnessed the presentation. The seats were fully occupied and people hung on the gangway, obliterating chances of the usual stage-auditorium shuttle of the actors.
The performers, however, were stretched to the most possible limit by the huge size of the stage, which actually had been reduced in depth.
Here, the full complement of the set was in engagement, and yet there was still large space left, especially in the wings. The actors had to speed, where ordinarily they would have walked and played big elaborate gestures all the time.
The pace was even slower in spite of the speed and fast rhythm of play, but it was a good show eventually. This, in fact, was where the potential skill of such a young actor as Adeyinka Adetoro (Zaki) came to light as he dictated the rhythms of most of the actions.
The stage was, however, advantageous to the dancers. They had more space to play and the beauty of the choreography was vividly expressed. Not so, however, for the lighting input, as the stage was littered most times with patches of darkness and dullness.
A great gift to the show was the enthusiasm of certain personnel at the cultural centre, especially the support of Mr. Bassey Effiong, founder/artistic director of Anansa Playhouse, now the Deputy Director of the cultural centre.
There were also other officers of the centre, including the junior workers, who, in spite of a perennial strike at the centre, turned up to assist the production. This north, distance among the chosen cities and state capitals were very short, the farthest being about the three hours between Enugu and Asaba, and other less than two hours stretch between one venue and the other.
This aided the technical team in its huge task of putting up the elaborate set. The cast and crew also had less of travel stress to cope with, a factor, which was so pronounced in the north and certain parts of the west.
In fact, it would have been possible to stage the play on a daily basis if the organising committee and the producers had been willing.

PORT HARCOURT, July 17th
Going to Port Harcourt wasn’t particularly a cheering piece of news to the cast and crew.
Well, maybe for the cast, but certainly not for the producers. First to consider is the attribute of the garden city as a very expensive place where a visitor really needed to be well armed in the purse to survive.
With this news in mind, it was only imperative that the executive co-ordinator, Jacqueline Erb and the director/consultant Ben Tomoloju would resort to adopt the “Rescue Strategy” devised for the North— which means that the two would have to travel ahead of the rest of the cast and crew.
This was indeed a saving grace, leading to the sorting out of a lot of logistic problems.
However, the Rivers State branch of the Red Cross had laid a fairly pleasing foundation for the hosting of the project. Though they initially had a stalled arrangement, they had at least secured a fairly good accommodation for the performers at the Ceadar Palace Hotel in the centre of the city.
It was the venue that was going to pose problems, because the management had first feigned ignorance of the coming of the project to the popular Civic centre provided enough room for the set of Askari; and indeed the technical crew could afford to experiment with space as it did in the multipurpose sports hall in IIorin in the conclusion of the western zonal lap.
But not so for the accoustic of the hall. It was one huge hollowness that licked up the actors speech and unnecessarily amplified drum sounds or any other effects to the detriment of effective audibility.
A change of performance strategy had to be devised to ensure that in spite of the problems, the audience still got into the system of the performance, actors had to slow down line delivery and play big, while deliberately punching every word and syllable. Naturally, this drastically altered the rhythm of the play, but it worked. Seating provision had earlier been restricted to a carved arena of the centre with about 2, 500 seats arranged in arena format to maximise viewing possibilities. But by the time a huge house of fans descended on the hall, more seats had to be moved in and the gallery upstairs converted. It was just 3p.m. whereas the play was slated for 4.30-5p.m.
About 3, 500 people watched the showing of Askari in Port Harcourt, where due to its peculiar richness in petroleum, there had been recorded the most notorious inter-community; and inter-organisation crises. This included the globally publicised Ogoni people-government clashes, which led to the hanging of the writer Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other activists. Askari was on a corrective and sermonising mission and playing to such a crowd, it indeed, covered a significant mileage.
Like the good accommodation, the cast and crew had a most pleasant experience in the really delicious meal they had in the course of the three days in the city at a restaurant attached to one of the sports complex buildings.
It was understandable when one of the actors belched out after the last meal in the city saying “a beg make we stay more day, here.”
But wishes are not horses. The team had to move on; to Owerri, the town with the dual attribute of a civil service and a trader settlement.

OWERRI, July 19th
“I hope we won’t have to cancel this Owerri show,” lamented a member of the production team, when at an informal review session of the Eastern leg, the producers were overwhelmed by the spate of discouraging news emanating from the Imo State capital.
The secretary to the state branch was acknowledged as one of the most active and committed administrators of the Red Cross movement in the country. “His branch is very very active,” commended an officer of the NRCS in Lagos, noting that he would most probably pull through the best show in the series. But the secretary was confounded by a most trying situation; a result of recent event in the state. The case of ritual killing, celebrated as the Otokoto saga had plagued the state for about a year and half before the call of Askari.
Not ended, the aftermath of the case had almost grounded the business of governance and economic activities to a standstill in the state. The state government had, for some time, been engrossed in trying to sort out the problem and restoring confidence and safety of the residents of the state.
I has thus, been very difficult for the Red Cross branch, led by its revered secretary, to have an audience with the administrator or even certain key members of the cabinet to whom the government had given the Askari assignment.
A good note, however, was the availability of the multi-purpose of hall situated in the extension wing of the government house’s premises for the purpose of staging the play.
The multi-purpose hall is a most imperceptible venue for Askari. It was small and cut off from the reach of the general populace. But since the state government insisted that the State’s Military Administrator would want to be a guest at the show and he would not to any other place in town, the hall had to be used.
Eventually, no flats were used, just base platforms; and not enough rooms for entrances and exits.
The play ran in less than one hour and 30 minutes with a lot of its dramatic nuances undermined. But the audience, made up of a good presence from members of the cabinet and, surprisingly, people from the city had a good show, going by their enthusiastic response to the actions of the play.

ENUGU, July 22nd
Enugu was a big delight. The sojourn was so very breezy and spick. Two protocol officers had been briefed to ensure that the artistes were properly accommodated and, given the best of welfare provision. This was a major credit for the organisational and negotiative power of the local Red Cross branch.
Three houses owned by the state had been reserved for the team, with the in-house personnel — cooks, stewards, cleaner and house masters – specially instructed to be at the beck and call of the team. The houses, gratifying, are those specifically designated to hosting top government officials on special duties; and guests of the state government.
Thus, the female members of the cast had the rare privilege of staying in the duplex, sleeping on the beds and using the furniture that were usually the preserve of first ladies of other states visiting Enugu. The master bedroom upstairs which had a family-size bed, expensive, colourful beddings and huge television sets, it was learnt, was the room of any visiting wife of a Military Administrator.
There was a sweet drama when three of the actresses —Mary Udofia, Iboro Umoh and Vicky Otenigbagbe — opened a guest sitting-room adjacent the master bedroom and were apparently stunned by the exquisite furnishings. They froze in bewilderment, undecided whether to proceed into the room or turn back. They had to be specially spurred to step into the room.
And they did so, giggling so unsurely with strokes of tear ruffling the already creased face of tender Mary. This was to become a common joke among the cast.
Some of the male members of cast were quartered in another duplex, which shared glamorous design and exquisite furnishings and sets of facility with the females’ apartment next door.
The senior members of the cast (male) also had a most comfortable lodging in yet another duplex, almost adjacent to the Presidential Hotel, venue of the performance. Though of less elegance than the others, the accommodation was no pushover.
Yet a smaller partly of the cats comprising some of the directoral crew and a few elderly members of cast stayed in a very intimidating apartment, located directly behind the administrator’s lodge in the GRA area. The building is the usual official guest apartment for the senior personal staff, like the ADC of the Administrator.
In all these facilities was the heavy presence of armed soldiers and security officers, who, in spite of their sterness of postures and regimented human relations, gave much respect to the artistes. In fact, a grumbling by one of the actors that he felt like a prisoner with armed soldiers around, was quickly pacified by one of the protocol officers who said: “Please feel free, don’t panic. They are there to ensure your safety. They cannot harm you. They must respect you.”
“But can one be so free to move about? What about if one has to return so late in the night?”
“Oh! Please no problem, you can even enter past midnight.” Well, that turned out very true. In the four days (July 20—23) spent in Enugu there was never a time that any member of the cast was harassed in any way. At least none was reported. And the soldiers became such good friends of the cast that they shared drinks and cigarettes.
Some even combed the city with some of the soldiers while off duty. The feeding arrangement was also near perfect in terms of choices and taste. And, at some point, the lady artistes took over the kitchen from the in-house staff. That was the extent of interaction.
Askari in Enugu was, as a matter of fact, almost an entire story of the best in welfare package. Indeed, it was like one big pie of succour for the cast, who had in the course of this last lap indeed experienced some very disappointed welfare facilities.
For the production, it prepared them for the great vision and ambition of the producers. They had to squeeze out an ace with innovations. Starting, of course, with the matter of venue.
The conference hall of the Hotel Presidential sits less than 600 people, although the seatings are graduated in levels like in an ideal theatre hall. But the stage is so small that the set had to be further reduced and altered beyond what was used in Owerri, which the directors had lamented was only a little above one –third the size of the full Askari set. Credit to the spontaneous innovations of the Technical Director, Mr. Biodun Abe. The hall was bare of any light or sound facility, challenging the crew to mount the production’s reserve.
However, the audience in Enugu, which numbered about 800 overwhelmed the capacity of the hall. With people hanging around the stairs and backroom spaces of the hall, it was a most quality audience. It was largely mobilised from the city, thus, comprising people of diverse shades.
The members received the run of Askari with a deep introvertive silence, the type that is notable among European audiences. Their responses to high points or comic shots in the play were measured; mostly applied in modicum so that at times, the laughter would have terminated almost same time as the action that had provoked it.
Seemingly, sharing a chemistry with the audience, the performers were in their cleanest state — sleek, spick and neatly cut, so, that the play ran in one hour 29 minutes, the best recorded in the entire eastern lap. And there was a good pace and tempo; save the rhythm that suffered a bit of stage weight from the drudgery of some actors. “It is because of over feeding and overpamper by the state government,” jocularly offered Fred Essien, the elderly artiste in the cast.

ASABA, July 24th
Arriving in Asaba, the Delta State capital from a lavish fiesta in Enugu, the cast and crew met a trying situation on the ground. The local Red Cross officials were holed up with Mr. Danjuma Bawa, the NRCS PRO and schedule officer for the Eastern lap, in the government treasury to collect the little assistance, which the state had promised the project. They got the money alright but it was so late, for all the arrangement that had to be put in place.
Like other centres, Asaba did not disappoint in providing very limited options of even a manageable venue. Only one option was available; the hall of the old House of Assembly, situated on the upper floor of a one-storey building.
Though well-furnished with comfortable seats, the hall can hardly sit 200 people. The stage leaves almost no space for the set; it was in fact, the most inappropriate of the halls in the entire nationals run of the Red Cross Theatre project. But the show must push ahead.
Already reputed as experts at making the best of even hopeless situations, the crew converted the hall and its limited facility to suit. What seemed an adaptation of Askari, which though still essentially 9artistically) the play, had its directoral structure drastically changed. For he audience, however, it was date with a “compulsively effective piece of theatre, communicating its essential humanising and moralising message, without necessarily being megalomaniac,” as critiqued by a University of Ibadan communications arts research fellow on attachment of the Delta state College of Education, from where the bulk of the audience came. He also believed that Askari as presented was one of the most professionally accomplished theatre presentations he had encountered in his six-year teaching experience which had spanned higher institutions in Jos, Ibadan and IIorin. He said he had been lured to the show by the carnival, which, like in many other centres, the local Red Çross Volunteers had staged few hours to the presentation on Thursday, August 24th.

* * *
Sweet songs. Trying experience; Askari, the tolerance-preaching theatre-piece, the biggest of its type in the history of theatre practice in Nigeria and arguably in Africa had traversed far and wide; a conquistador destined and determined to scale all hurdles and odds. It has its last rite of triumph sealed in Asaba, the historical town in the Delta region, where as recorded in history, the 30-month-long Nigerian Civil War devastated a large number of human lives, who, being mid-westerners were otherwise unconnected to any of the parties involved in the conflict.
Askari’s accomplishment in the East was ritualised in a memorable night of celebration in the reception hall of a hotel, with the old house of Assembly standing calmly and watching, perhaps, enviously at the jolly ride and merriment of a team of youthful people of the world whose mission of helping humanity to re-examine itself and philosophical apprehension of the beautiful universe and its people could not be broken by odds, human and non-human.


AND FROM THE ICRC WEBSITE
Dissemination for the general public



In Nigeria, one exciting and effective means of reaching the young and “still young” is theatre art. Local units of the Nigerian Red Cross use this medium to put a number of messages across to the local populace. One good example is public health campaigns, and this was done by the Kano state branch during the 1996 meningitis epidemic, with volunteers using a drama production to drive home the causes and preventive measures available against the disease.

The positive impact of the play prompted the ICRC delegation and the National Society to consider more closely the possibility of drama as a means of dissemination, with special focus on tolerance among the youths. Nurturing a spirit of tolerance among young people in a country with over 250 different ethnic groups was seen as a good way to promote peace, which the Red Cross stands for at all times. Putting this noble idea into effect was something greatly desired by the Nigerian Red Cross but the Society lacked the necessary resources. In line with Frédéric de Mulinen’s insight in The Law of War and the Armed Forces that “traditions, motivations, the origins of the law regulating relations between peoples, nations and states, whether in time of peace or in time of war, differ from place to place”, the ICRC also embraced the idea. The regional delegation therefore agreed to take part in the project, which began with a series of preparatory meetings that gave rise in May 1997 to the “Red Cross Theatre Project — Nigeria” and a play entitled Askari, which was performed in 30 different venues in 20 of Nigeria’s 36 states between May and July 1997. The play was seen by over 30,000 people including state military administrators, top government officials and young people, who were the main target audience and who have continued to embrace the Red Cross message of tolerance.
One of the most remarkable aspects of the “ASKARI project” was the oneness of the Red Cross conveyed by it over the thousands of kilometres covered during its nation-wide tour. What the public saw and admired was one Red Cross advocating peace through tolerance. No one distinguished between the different components of the Movement, no one took more credit than anyone else. It was cooperation in its most beautiful colour. It was an act of one indivisible family. It was the Askari Red Cross Project, 1997.