Ola Awakan’s ‘The Madness That Cures My Land’ which premieres in Lagos and Abuja December 3 and 8, 2023, gathers momentum

Ace broadcast journalist and celebrated playwright, Ola Awakan’s ‘The Madness That Cures My Land’ which premieres in Lagos and Abuja December 3 and 8, 2023, gathers momentum

Live theatre’s catharsis is again on display in Lagos and Abuja on December 3 and 8, 2023 with the first public performance of the latest awe-inspiring play by award-winning broadcast journalist and celebrated dramatist, Ola Awakan, titled, ‘The Madness that Cures My Land.’ It’s already gathering momentum.

Expected to draw a huge panoply of extremely fanatical arts and entertainment patrons, fans and enthusiasts, it is billed to premiere at the magnificent Amphitheatre of Freedom Park on December 3, 2023 and the expansive theatre hall of the Cyprian Ekwensi Centre for Arts and Culture on December 8, 2023 respectively, which the organizers said is a thrilling appetizer for the approaching Christmas.

It is the first time a play will be staged in the federal capital city, Abuja and the city of excellence, Lagos arranged for the same week to keep the eerie feeling in the air.

The play is directed by two young prolific and energetic theatre directors, Sola Oyeniyi and Ifeanyi Eziukwu who will be giving two different interpretations of the same play in deference to the respective peculiarities of the audiences in Abuja and Lagos.

Playwright Ola Awakan who is already upbeat about the upcoming events explained that ‘The Madness that Cures My Land‘ is a satire that exposes societal social misdemeanors via a thematic preoccupation that examines the sanity of some notable stakeholders in society. It touches on the relationship between the family and the larger society while also examining the impact and friction of the interactions among family members and how such relationships balloon into either bigger crisis for the community or as a factor for development.

Ola Awakan receiving a plaque from Acting Director, Department of Arts and Culture, Social Development Secretariat, FCT Abuja…recently

Weighing in on angles of the play, the Project Manager, Ariyike Alawode, said that the play captures the sub-theme of the mental state of many individuals who assume they are sane but by their seconds’ display of madness in their daily interactions, attitudes, and actions in the larger society, realities of their true state come alive.

The play slides into the interrelationship between religion and tradition while also addressing the reality of karma. The manager who emphasized the centrality of the play to all segment s of the society disclosed that hundreds of youths will be engaged in the project in December.

Live Theatre Explosion is the project conceptualized by Artswax Communications in collaboration with the Department of Arts and Culture, Social Development Secretariat in Abuja, the National Troupe of Nigeria, Just Theatre House and other key stakeholders in the expanding arts community in Lagos and Abuja.

The project showcases live theatre as a viable tool for relaxation, entertainment, information dissemination, advocacy, soul searching to correct societal ills.

The Madness that Cures My Land comes as Ola Awakan’s brutal tool to deploy the arts and its entertainment value to interrogate society while also offering its intrinsic value to instruct, construct and deduct by peeping into society to enhance creativity, stimulate human and economic growth, foster youth development through engagement, drive youth empowerment and project modern social realities through the stylistic instrument of drama.

In its full view, the play offers a window into the life of the playwright as a quiet but highly effective advocate for societal reform and catalyst for peace. It is also his own platform for advocacy for mental health, good governance, cultural awareness, and enlightenment for the residents of Abuja and Lagos and to usher them into the last month of the year 2023.

Mr. Ola Awakan expects the project to whet the appetite of salivating theatre enthusiasts and lovers ahead of the forthcoming Playfestal event in April 2024, which is geared towards using the theatre to impact humanity through drama. It promises to be a huge rendezvous for top public office holders, lovers of the arts, and the general public coming to see the live production in Lagos and Abuja of how indeed The Madness that Cures My Land.