ATN interview with Femi Elufowoju - celebrating African traditions
 Following the critically acclaimed sell out run of Iya Ile (The First Wife) at Soho Theatre earlier this year, Femi Elufowoju, Jr., the artistic director of British African theatre company, Tiata Fahodzi, is directing a festival of African music and play writing at Almeida Theatre. Tiata Delights will run from July 27-Aug. 1 and the play, The Golden Hour, is written by award winning British Zimbabwean Michael Bhim.
Tiata Delights has become a springboard for emerging African writers into mainstream theatres such as Levi David Addai’s Oxford Street (Royal Court) Lucian Msamati’s Zuva Crumbling (Lyric Hammersmith), and Lizzy Dijeh’s soon to be staged High Life (Oval House, autumn 2009.
Femi’s first role in theatre was at the age of 10 when he played the ogre in his school’s production of Jack and the Beanstalk. When he was 12, his Nigerian family returned home and he prepared to be a solicitor for the Federal Supreme Court of Nigeria before finding his element in the dramatic arts. He has worked as an actor, performing at the National, Royal Court and making radio plays for the BBC. Femi established Tiata Fahodzi in 1997 to address the gap in the portrayal of the African experience in Britain.
Why should we come to see The Golden Hour?
It is arguably one of the first Zimbabwean stories made for the stage set in London. Adrian is a British-Zimbabwean working as a triage nurse in a London hospital. Suddenly he finds himself drama into a drama of ethics and loyalty when he encounters an African baby who he suspects has been brought into the country illegally. It is also a great chance to see a powerhouse cast present this play, amongst who we have Annette Badland, Simone Lahbib and the exquisite Wil Johnson (Waking the Dead)
Why were you attracted to this script?
Michael Bhim is one of those rare young writers who cleverly conveys through his medium, complex psychological chapters of the human condition which engages his readers rather than perturb. I particularly love the twist at the end of this play which in my opinions is devastatingly haunting and departs from anything one expects to encounter in a conventional NHS hospital.
How did you become involved with Almeida to do Tiata Delights?
Jenny Worton, literary associate at the Almeida and I met several years ago through the National Student Drama Festival in Scarborough, and introduced our work to Michael Attenborough the artistic director of the Almeida. The Almeida is a renowned theatre establishment located in a very white middle-class section of Islington and for most of its history has served a very traditional constituency of audiences. Both companies were very keen in changing this. Diversifying the work, reconditioning old traditions and importing a new set of values into the building, including an all inclusive British audience.
There is a wide range of artists for the music festival; what was the soundtrack to your teenage years in Nigeria and why?
Michael Jackson and his brothers. I went home with my parents in 1974, and packed Gary Glitter, the Osmonds, Slade and the J5 in my suitcase. Of course the Highlife, Juju and Shrine pulses from King Sunny Ade, Sir Ebenezer Obey and Fela Anikulapo Kuti soon eclipsed my Western influences - but it was very difficult exorcising the musical resonances of Michael from my membrane. I ended up staging all of his early music videos for the theatre at the University proms. We'll be paying homage toJackson at the concert in true African style, each artistes performing a separate rendition from the Off the Wall, Thriller, Bad and Dangerous albums.
Your tenure as artistic director ends next year, what play would you most like to direct, where, and why?
MEDEA, the story of the daughter of a sorceress and the sun god, who kills her children in an act of vengeance against her cheating husband. It's a play poised to be given its strongest possible transposition to date as I want to revisit this fascinating classic and throw everything I have learnt through the years into its conception in making it the most memorable piece of African storytelling experienced on the British stage. In retelling this horrific tale of revenge I'll attempt to clarify Medea's homicide as a predicament, which hangs in the balance of validity and guilt. My first attempts with this play six years ago never quite caught the fire of my imagination as much as I would have loved it to back then. However, 2010 will see us giving our audiences the new and improved makeover. Jocelyn Jee Esien who I discovered at Guildhall School of Drama, playing Perdita in Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale back in 1996, will be in the title role alongside Jude Akuwudike as Jason (of the Argonauts fame).
The Golden Hour is at the Almeida Theatre from 29 to 31 July at 7.30pm. |
