By Solomon Ugo
An enthralling and emotional piece laddened in a creative, imaginary scenes of better and prosperous country clawing away from continuous underperformance gives audience a reality to relish.
Portrayed as a “The Crippled Giant” in satirical form, the spectatcles envelope audience who thronged the Chinua Achebe Arts Theatre in the University of Calabar with a firm believe that there would still be light at the end of a dark tunnel after being exposed to the play.
The stage play, CRIPPLED GIANT, written and directed by Kingsley Oyong Akam, a lecturer in the Department of Theatre Film and Carnival Studies, University of Calabar harps on the efficacy of Esua and Ekpa dance in Boki and Efik cultures to examine the country’s major problems like; greed,corruption,injustice and insincerity.
With reeactment in indigenous African culture, the setting in Boki nation mirrors the palpable and pitiable state of the country.It not only tells the story of a great kingdom but also highlights its huge potential having shown enough resourcefulness in the past.
Drawing strenght and favour from the Honey Pot, a symbolic national cake in the play. It primarily serves as source of procreation, fertility and blessings often shared to individuals on festivities. Greed and abnormalities of a selected few plundered this sacred pot and rendered the entire kingdom barren as it leaves trails of unproductiveness in the land.
A final atonement for sins committed never spared the kingdom which only purged itself of evil by making confessions from both the high and mighty with justice taking its cause through death. Failure to exercise strong will to nip the prevailing problem in the bud almost mirred the the king’s reign but justice carried out blindly by the gods sparred the kingdom of further hardship. It indeed reechoes the woes of the country in a masterly crafted form that did not tell the story alone, but leaves reflections that will linger in the minds of audience.
Mrs Affiong Effiom, a lecturer in the Department of Theatre Film and Carnival Studies, university of Calabar, notes that having passed the quality assurance test , the play fits the auidence and indeed added satisfaction.
‘’we have not seen the light at the end of the dark tunnel in this country because justice has not been carried out. This is a metaphor of what the country should do. The playwritter has been able to use traditional nuances of finding solutions to the problem”
The playwriter, Kingsley Okam maintained that the local setting was used in the satire to stir up prevalence of greed in families, churches and communities across the country even as he notes that the satire symbolizes the anomally in all facets of Nigeria.
“The local setting is motivated because the indigenous aspect which encompasses music and reality as creative imagination of the writer and the director”
Arikpo Samuel and Atibe Williams Prince, both graduate of the University of Calabar who performed the satire play identified Nigeria as a deeply flawed society that blames the system for every rot.
On her part, one of the audiences, Mary Aneke, said the satirical presentation indeed fits the mood of the moment as she also gave commendation to the playwriter who conceived the idea to push it further beyond the bounderies of the academic environment by publishing and enacting it in the Nigerian home video to pass a message of hope to Nigerians.
“This play really fits the mood of the moment, the idea was well crafted and there is a full deployment of all elements of an ideal film and the setting is another part that made it more interesting. Perhaps if this is pushed beyond the confines of the University of Calabar and home videos, it would give more hope to Nigerians.
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