The National Theatre, Nigeria is the primary centre for the performing arts in Nigeria. It shares the same architectural design as the Palace of Culture and Sports in Varna, Bulgaria, and it is four times bigger. [1] The monument is located in Iganmu, Surulere, Lagos. Its construction was completed in 1976 in preparation for the Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC) in 1977.
In July 2024, President Bola Tinubu renamed the National Arts Theatre in Iganmu, Lagos, in honor of Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka. [2]
Construction of The National Theatre was started by the military regime of General Yakubu Gowon and completed during the military regime of Olusegun Obasanjo. By the year 2021, this edifice had been run by a number of management teams with heads such as Jimmy Folorunso Atte (1991 – August 1999), Prof Babafemi A. Osofisan (2000 – 2004), Dr. Ahmed Parker Yerima (2006 – Aug 2009), Kabir Yusuf (2009 – 2016), George Ufot, (Late) Dr. (Mrs.) Stella Oyedepo, Sunday Enessi Ododo (2020–present) [ citation needed ]
The National Theatre exterior was designed, shaped and built to look like a military hat. It originally has capacity for a 5,000-seat Main Hall with a collapsible stage, and two capacity cinema halls, all of which are equipped with facilities for simultaneous translation of 8 languages; among others.[ citation needed ]
The National Theatre, Nigeria was designed and constructed by Bulgarian construction company (Techno Exporstroy). Alhaji Sule Katagum was a co-owner and also their chairman. It resembles the Palace of Culture and Sports in Varna, Bulgaria (completed in 1968); the National Theatre Lagos, Nigeria being the bigger of the two.[ citation needed ]
In 2005, President Olusegun Obasanjo announced plans to privatise the National Theatre. This sparked controversy amongst Nigerian entertainers and playwrights like Wole Soyinka [3] On 30 December 2014, it was reported that the National Theatre has been sold to a Dubai-based conglomerate for the sum of 31.5 billion naira, and that the building will be converted to a duty-free shopping centre. [4]
Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde "Wole" Soyinka is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature for his "wide cultural perspective and... poetic overtones fashioning the drama of existence", the first sub-Saharan African to win the Prize in literature.
Death and the King's Horseman is a play by Wole Soyinka based on a real incident that took place in Nigeria during the colonial era: the horseman of a Yoruba King was prevented from committing ritual suicide by the colonial authorities. In addition to the intervention of the colonial authorities, Soyinka calls the horseman's own conviction toward suicide into question, posing a problem that throws off the community's balance.
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Palace of Culture and Sports is an indoor complex for culture and sport located in Varna, Bulgaria. The complex has three sports halls - "Kongresna Hall", "Mladost Hall" and "Hall 20". The Palace of Culture and Sports was completed in 1968.
The World Festival of Black Arts, also known as FESMAN or FMAN, has been a series of month-long culture and arts festival taking place in various parts of Africa. The festival features participants of cultural expression – arts, literature, music, cinema - from around the African Diaspora.
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Festac '77, also known as the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture was a major international festival held in Lagos, Nigeria, from 15 January 1977 to 12 February 1977. The month-long event celebrated African culture and showcased African music, fine art, literature, drama, dance and religion to the world. Around 16,000 participants, representing 56 African nations and countries of the African Diaspora, performed at the event. Artists who performed at the festival included Stevie Wonder from United States, Gilberto Gil from Brazil, Bembeya Jazz National from Guinea, Mighty Sparrow from Trinidad and Tobago, Les Ballets Africains, South African artist Miriam Makeba, and Franco Luambo Makiadi. At the time it was held, it was the largest pan-African gathering to ever take place. The event attracted around 500,000 spectators.
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Cheta Igbokwe is a Nigerian playwright, poet, and author. His play Homecoming won the 2021 Association of Nigerian Authors' (ANA) Prize for Drama and was nominated for the 2023 Nigeria Prize for Literature.