Lagos-based Thespian Family Theatre & Production is working with 12 universities across the country to use drama to promote the environment.
In the first phase of the project, the theatre company founded by Mrs Ayo Jaiyesimi will, in collaboration with BOWEN University, Iwo, stage a play titled ‘Ekun Omi’ – When Water Cries’ – on Thursday May 23, at the Chris Alabi Lecture Theatre in the university.
The play is written by veteran dramatist and administrator, Professor Rasak Ojo Bakare, who is also part of the production, alongside other professionals at BOWEN, including Dr Labisi Adigun.
According to Mrs Jaiyesimi, the performance will be preceded by a workshop that will take 2023/24 BOWEN students through issues in environmental protection and the relevance of theatre as an agent of socio-cultural change.
On the importance of the project, Jaiyesimi notes that, for over 20 years, THESPIAN Family Theatre & Productions has kept its passion aglow for community-focused initiatives that trigger social and behavioral change through visual storytelling. Its tools of engagement include using the performing and visual arts for learning, team building, therapy, advocacy, transformation and change.
Jaiyesimi enthuses: “Our spotlight this season is on the environment, and rightly so… It’s the current buzz! Our community conversations this season are therefore focused on the environment; from rural-urban environmental issues, climate change and global warming, solid waste, water pollution, ocean acidification, clean air to loss of biodiversity.”
She explains, “We are taking a look at the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) designed as a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all ‘by the year 2030’ and zeroing in on the following as the basis for our conversations:
“The environment plays an important role in our lives and we have an obligation to care for it and try to maintain an ecological balance in our planet’s natural environment and conserve natural resources to support the wellbeing of current and future generations. In order to achieve this, it is important to understand the environment, be aware of our social responsibility and join in supporting and upholding the Governance Practices put in place. In essence, we will be preserving our tomorrow today!
“Despite measures, propaganda and never – ending news flashes on the issue of the environment, there is still a lot of apathy displayed by a vast majority of the populace, and this needs to be tackled. So, we have taken this PERSONALLY. We are doing our bit to etch this all- important-issue on the minds of the community and community groups through workshops, readings, stage plays, competitions and roadshows.”
Jaiyesimi, who had in the past, through the arts, successfully championed similar causes in family bonding, cultural regeneration and youth empowerment, believes this will positively reinforce Government efforts and Global interventions.
“The Creative Sector plays a huge role in social change as it is able to ‘paint vivid pictures’ of current situations, why there is a need for change, what change looks like and what is in it for all parties involved. The Performing Arts, in particular, uses live performances to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. We are therefore using a unique methodology for advocacy, and we are working with 12 Universities in 2024/25 which we believe are apt to drive home awareness and social change,” she says.
The 12 universities involved will do workshops to understand the environmental problems, create scripts or adapt scripts as their storyboards to showcase to their communities. At the end of the season they will also showcase the discovered talents within the institutions.
