It’s a first!
The popular stage musical by Bolanle Austen-Peters – Fela and the Kalakuta Queens – is transforming into a cinematic project as the play is set for a big screen debut in South Africa.
Thanks to a deal with the leading cinema chain, Ster-Kinekor, the edited recordings of the stage play will make its cinema debut this month and run all through October.
In a statement made available to TCN, BAP Productions and Terra Kulture Arts and Studios in collaboration with the South African State Theatre (SAST) are pleased to announce the partnership with Ster-kinekor, the leading South African Cinema chain, to screen Fela and the Kalakuta Queens (FKQ) in cinemas across South Africa from September to October 2021.
According to Bolanle Austen-Peters who produced and directed the stage musical based on an important aspect of the legendary Nigerian Afrobeat musician, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, “it was quite exciting to receive the news of partnership from Aubrey Sekabi, the Artistic Director of the South African State Theatre.
“It is indeed exciting times in the African Theatre industry and BAP Production is proudly flying the Nigerian flag internationally.
It is the first time a Nigerian stage play has been converted to screen, after successful outings in Cairo, Egypt; Pretoria, South Africa; Lagos and Abuja in Nigeria.
Created and directed by Austen-Peters, who has become a frontline figure in musical productions for the stage in Nigeria, FKQ is supported by the Estate of Fela Anikulapo Kuti, with many of Fela’s children and grand children attending its Lagos command performance.
The musical had made a great impression in South Africa when it was staged there in 2019 as the first Nigerian play to collaborate with a South African government institution in touring the country.
Audiences will have yet another opportunity to savour the intriguing aspect of the life of Nigeria’s enigmatic Fela and his dancers-turned wives as the play transmutes to a big screen content.
