At the 2025 edition of the Society of Nigeria Theatre Artists (SONTA) conference, technology and the business of theatre took centre stage. With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), discussions revolved around how the performing arts can thrive in the digital age. Could AI allow us to simulate indigenous languages in real time, offering dynamic subtitling or linguistic immersion to audiences across cultures? Could such technology help us archive, revive, and re-interpret ancient cosmologies that are at risk of fading into obscurity?
These were the questions posed by renowned filmmaker, Femi Odugbemi. Delivering the lead paper at the gathering inside the Buba Marwa Auditorium of Lagos State University (LASU), Odugbemi urged theatre practitioners, scholars, and students to embrace technology not as a threat but as a partner in reimagining performance.
“Technology does not erase culture, it extends it,” Odugbemi declared.
As a descendant of legendary Yoruba novelist D.O. Fagunwa, whose fantastical works like ‘Ogboju Ode Ninu Igbo Irunmale (The Forest of a Thousand Daemons)’ have long leapt from page to stage, he envisioned a future where such myths could unfold in virtual reality. Imagine walking through Fagunwa’s forest with VR headsets, he said, encountering characters and spirits not as passive spectators but as participants.
The conference theme “Technology, Intercultural Dialogue, and the Future of the Performing Arts” framed urgent conversations about survival, authenticity, and innovation. Odugbemi argued that the “digital turn” offers more than gadgets or gimmicks; it represents a rebirth of performance where physical and virtual stages coexist, and audiences are as likely to scroll and stream as they are to sit in front rows.
Yet, the promise of technology also carries a warning. “How do we innovate without losing authenticity?” he asked. “How do we embrace plurality without succumbing to homogenization?” For Odugbemi, the answer lies in preserving roots while expanding reach: archiving indigenous performances digitally, teaching theatre students to marry tradition with algorithms, leveraging online platforms to connect diasporic audiences, co-creating with global artists from a foundation of cultural wealth, investing in technological infrastructure for the arts, and championing original African content.
He also stressed the economics of innovation in African theatre. In a landscape where African theatre often “survives more than it thrives,” digital tools, he said, can open new revenue streams, from streaming rights to NFTs of costumes and props. Technology, he pointed out, could transform not just aesthetics but sustainability.
“In a hostile funding environment, technology can lower the cost of entry, expand access, and professionalise the business side of theatre. But only if we invest in training, infrastructure, and a mindset shift.”
Still, Odugbemi’s call was not for uncritical adoption but for courageous imagination. “Theatre has always been the art of presence,” he reminded the audience. “As we embrace tech, we must not lose the touch, the intimacy, the moral mirror.”
Odugbemi believes the task before theatre practitioners is to nurture a generation that doesn’t just perform but redefines performance.
“Let us dream boldly, code ethically, and collaborate fearlessly. And may our stages – physical, virtual, and spiritual – continue to echo the deep truths of who we are, where we come from, and where we dare to go,” he concluded.
Credit: Thisday
