After a successful debut earlier in the year at Freedom Park, Lagos Island, ‘Hertitude’, a play by Kessavier Vanille Productions has joined the growing list of productions that Nigerians will enjoy this yuletide.
Written and directed by Kesiena C. Obue, the play is berthing this time at the National Theatre, Iganmu.
It centres on three young Nigerian female professionals and sisters forced into an uncomfortable reunion by the death of their mother. They come to play and gingerly navigate the contours of their maturing lives under the glare of social media, Lagos fakery and glitz with a nasty underbelly.
The play, according to the production house, is “a rib-busting, exciting and delicious piece of dramatic adventurousness. It promises a five-course meal of beauty, music, dance, technical pizzazz and real drama while examining the past, challenging our view of the future, as well as surprise and inspire the audience.”
Speaking on the choice of the National Theatre for staging the play, Obue said, “Hertitude is a bold move with a punch, a thumb up for legacy, theatrical beauty and professional pride. This, after all, was where the likes of Taiwo Ajai- Lycett, Richard Mofe Damijo, Joke Silva and Olu Jacobs made their names on the Nigerian stage of the 90s.”
Apart from the National Theatre, other collaborators include Teju Kareem’s ZMirage building the sets and lighting the show; innovative outdoor advertising agency, Motomedia and new premium household brand, Vida as well as the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture.
Obue, whose recent writing/directing credits include ‘The Bling Lagosians’, ‘Moremi the Musical’, ‘Fela and the Kalakuta Queens’, ‘Wakaa the Musical’ and Femi Osofisan’s ‘A Nightingale for Dr Du Bois’ further disclosed that the cast and crew comprise young, bright and gifted Nigerians trained in Nigeria and abroad.
They include Martha Ehinome Orhiere, Jessica Gabriels, Maryann Ivy and Njoku Cynthia Nneka, a certified dancer that has worked with Waje, Burna Boy and Clarence Peters.
Commenting on the partnership, Public Relations Officer, National Arts Theatre, Steve Ogundele, said, “We are happy to work with the talented producers of ‘Hertitude’ who know their onions. We want to use ‘Hertitude’ to showcase the National Arts Theatre as the hub of theatrical excellence. The Cinema Hall 1 boasts of a mechanised curtain and a proscenium arc, something you hardly see in this part of the world. We invite Nigerians to come to experience a feast of thespian art.”
‘Hertitude’ will be live by 5 pm daily at the National Theatre on the 14th, 15th, 21st, 22nd, 25th, 28th, 29th December 2019 and 1st, 4th and 5th, 2020.