Crown Troupe@Terra

The Crown Troupe of Africa presents five sizzling performances, every Sunday, this January at Terra Kulture...what better way to start a promising year?

Schedule of performances:
Three performances have gone down already...there are two to go!

Sunday 23rd January- Mixed Menu

Sunday 30th January- No More the Wasted Breed by Femi Osofisan. Also featuring performances by the Amulegbajo Dance Company.


Time: 3pm & 5pm (2 shows) Venue: Terra Kulture, Plot 1376 Tiamiyu Savage Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.


Gate fee: N2,000 only.

More Music! More Dance! More Drama!
For tickets, call: 08162641754 or mail: olomuaperan@yahoo.com
Supported by Terra Kulture and the Dream Arts & Design Agency (DADA)

Nigeria is 50...So What?

As the nation clocks 50 this year, there are series of events to 'mark' the it. One in Lagos, one in Abuja...enjoy!

On Sunday 6th June, Crown Troupe of Africa will set off sparks at Motherlan' 64 Opebi Rd. Ikeja, Lagos as they present Season 2 of their series of performances in commemoration of Nigeria's 50th anniversary, tagged- Nigeria @ 50, So What? 

Early this month, Sound Sultan joined the award winning dance-theatre company on stage in asking our brothers and sisters in diaspora to try come back home to make this land work for us all. 

On the 6th of June, Crown Troupe will be joined by the Coded Tunes All Stars, led by prolific Producer & Musician- I.D. Cabassa. Also performing will be the enigmatic Amulegbajo Dance Company. 

There will be two shows- 3pm and 5pm and tickets cost only N1,500. Call 234-01-8529562 to get your tickets before we run out!

Proudly Supported by Motherlan'

The Abuja Council for Arts and Culture presents a play titled  "A Rich Heritage" Expect a night of laughter. dance and drama.

Date: Friday, June 4, 2010

Venue: Cyprian Ekwensi Cultural Centre, Area 10, Garki 

Directions: Off Moshood Abiola, Off Kalems Street, 3 Awka Street.

Time: 7pm

Gate: 1, 500 naira for individuals, 1000 naira for groups of 6 and above

For reservations, call Joan, 08084996998. Tickets are also available at the gate...

CROWN TROUPE'S BUMPER PACKAGE IN JUNE

Crown Troupe plans for you fun entertainment in June. Top Naija performers expected include:

• Soft Rock Diva Con-tra-diction who will be headlining at the show
• Mr. Abinibility himself, Ace Comedian and Musician, Koffi
• Sound Sultan, Yinka Davies, Beautiful Nubia, Nefertiti and Festac Town based Rapertuar...

Date: Sunday 7th June 2009
Time: 3pm - 7pm
Venue: Cinema Hall 1, National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos.
Gate Fee: N1,000 only.
Menu: Great Music, Massive Dance, Thrilling Choreography!

The Gist:

To mark their13th Anniversary, and to give fans a sneak preview of their forthcoming (music) album, The Crown Troupe of Africa will stage a massive concert on Sunday the 7th of June 2009 from 3pm - 7pm at Cinema Hall 1 National Theatre, Iganmu.

Crown Troupe will perform the two songs from the Tunde Kelani/Mainframe Productions 'Arugba' motion picture that earned them a nomination for the AMAA awards and new never-heard-before songs, accompanied by the energetic dances and more surprises...

See you all there!!!

LISTENING TO THE WHISPERS IN THE DARK

Crown Troupe always takes the creative route in the execution of their plays, whether foreign or local, original or adapted. Crown Troupe’s April performance focused on Noel Greig’s Whispers in the Dark, however, yet they gave a bumper package: with Footprint’s performance of Window Talk; Qudus Onikeku’s dances and Nefertiti’s songs. The performance opened with an ‘ewi’ recital by Adisa; he made use of pun (‘ase oro’) in his description of love which thrilled the audience as they cheered. But I had a question on my mind: why wear a native cap on a pair of jeans and shirt? Maybe that’s his own brand, I mutterred to myself.

Talking about brands, I’d always known Footprints as an energetic children dance group. They told the audience that they were more than dance as they took on the stage with Window Talk, a play written by Segun Adefila and directed by Seun Awobajo. Window Talk is an existential, almost absurdist philosophical play that asks questions about opposites: heaven and hell, peace and war, politics and power, wisdom and folly, religion and belief, God and man, among others. What do you think of this?

Neighbour: What is a body without a head?

Player: No manager without a messenger. One makes one. The equation of bribery is not complete without a giver and a taker. Asewo needs a customer to be asewo. Sellers need buyers. The head needs the body and the body, the head. Tango needs two to be tango.

Crown Troupe did justice to Noel Greig’s Whispers in the Dark. A fable with other stories embedded in it, more like a tree with many branches stretching out. The thematic thrust being the survival of the arts despite opposition in the society. Crown Troupe adds its spice to the story not only by using Nigerian artistes but by double casting, songs, remixing well known songs (‘Ero-Oja’ Yoruba folk song), flashbacks, riddles, etc. Here’s a riddle from the play: You cannot wear it but it will bring warmth to your heart on the coldest day. You cannot eat it, but it is the most nourishing food in the world. You cannot hear it, but it possesses the voices of the whole world. What is it? You may have a clue after reading this.

NB: Crown Troupe performances hold every first Sunday of every Month. For the month of May, it was an adaptation of Joy Bewaji's Eko Dialogue, a rib-cracking and thought-provoking novella about Lagos. Coming soon on The Bookaholic Blog with a quiz with a prize: a copy of the book. So watch this SPOT.

Crown Troupe Presents Joy Bewaji's 'Eko Dialogue'

Crown Troupe of Africa will dramatise Joy Isi Bewaji's witty anecdotes of Lagos life as contained in her most enjoyable EKO DIALOGUE (and as directed by Segun Adefila)

Date: Sunday May 3rd
Venue: Cinema Hall 1 of the National Arts Theatre, Lagos.
Time: 3pm and 5pm.
Gate Fee: N500 (N200 for children)

Also on duty will be Footprints and Nefertiti; Crown Troupe will also perform their socio-political dance skit- Fellow Country Men...

Where would you rather be this Sunday?

RSVP the event here

A Review of Eko Dialogue
Anyone who lives in Lagos will agree that it is a complex city of paradoxes - a place that brims with many cities in dialogue in the heads of its dwellers.

Joy Isi Bewaji's Eko Dialogue explores the many voices that roar through this chaotic mass in a witty and sarcastic way.

The book opens with a prologue titled ‘My Lagos' which introduces the reader to a city filled with hustles and bustles, chanting and noises - a world of extremes. From here, the writer penetrates into the minds of Lagosians, rendering in interesting ways the day-to-day dialogues in the city otherwise known as ‘Eko'.

Each story introduces characters and situations that we are not unfamiliar with, though sometimes we choose to close our eyes to them.

Bewaji knows her Lagos well; you can hear and smell it through each word from her pen and this is revealed, not only through her detailed description of the metropolis, but the clinical dissection of its residents through the characters and the language that is very "Lagosian".

The author's characters are everywhere: the passengers and conductors on a molue; the distraught job seeker, a ‘paraga' seller; and a greedy pastor who feeds fat on his impoverished congregation in the story, ‘The Sower and the Ravenous Wolf'.

Read the rest of 'People of the City' here.

Crown Troupe in April...

In April, Crown Troupe will be performing Noel Greig's Whispers in the Dark, a play that was first produced in 1998 by Gwent Theatre.

Venue: Cinema Hall 1, National Theatre, Iganmu

Time: 2 shows (3-5pm and 5-7pm)

RSVP the event here, send an email to olomuaperan@yahoo.com or call 08028855193

Click here to read about the 'swashbuckling' fun of the March performance.

The Fall of a King...

Yes, I watched a Nigerian play recently. The venue was National Theatre; the host, Crown Troupe and the play, Ahmed Yerima's The Fall of A King.

There was a poetry performance of 'Ajani', a passionate love poem from Jumoke Verissimo's new anthology I am Memory by the troupe. There was Fulani dance by some children which made me know that there is hope for the arts sector in Nigeria. There was also a maiden dance that focused on the upliftment of the traditional African values. And guess what? That was just the appetizer.

Now to the main dish, the performance was captivating. The play was very well acted: a blend of traditional dance and contemporary Nigerian dance (Alanta, yahooze, for those that know them!)the use of pidgin English, chants, songs, masks and tatoos. The play itself was a political satire about the love of power and the things humans do for power. The setting was the animal kingdom at a time when animals were living in peace without any leader, then, there was an hunter who missed his way and taught the animals how to have a ruler through democracy. The crux of the play focused on the gamble for the throne by the Elephant, Lion and Tortoise. The in-between is why you will get hold of the book and read or pray that Crown Troupe performs the play again...One more thing, Tortoise Inauguration Speech was an adaptation of Obama's Inauguration speech, that was really it for me...he was giving his speech punctured by fast paced music that as I remember was 'Oya Tortoise quote Obama', that was very hilarious...

A very well told and dramatised play with allusions to past dictators in Nigeria (Abacha, Babangida) and a warning to politicians in general: the people put you there, they are the ones you should serve. And the use of animals, maybe we are all animals in a way, particularly when we let the animal instincts in us rise, when we let the 'dog' in us eat another 'dog' in the chase for a 'bone' called power.

There was also the dessert: a dance by Nefertiti, a traditional dance troupe. What else could I ask for to make my week lovely?

It was however pathetic that the audience was not big enough for that kind of presentation, we were not up to fifty in the hall. Imagine!













NB: Crown Troupe presents plays at the National Theatre every month. The next production is on March 1, 2009 with Ayo Arigbabu's adaptation of Moremi.

PS. Read interviews with Ayo Arigbabu and Segun Adefila, the Director of Crown Troupe soon.

Ebuntemi