The Arts Theatre Production Group, one of the earliest resident groups began its excellent production of classical and contem
porary world drama in the Arts Theatre v/ith Andre Obey’s Noah. This play, according to Axworthy was chosen for its theatricality, a quality which is confirmed by Fola Aboaba 19 Aboaba also noted the fact that although the
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'title of the play suggested a thematic Christian contepffc, there was little Christianity in it.
The play according to him provided limitless opportunities in acting exposure, exciting
experience in costume making for human beings and animals, construction on the ark and many other attributes which were essential to make theatre really fascinating t'o people who had not been very much used to the European experience of
theatrical productions. The sounds of the carpenters’
harmers; the shouts and tunes of the builders
climbing up and down the ark, the din of carousing;
the prurient populace and their jeers at Noah that stir our imagination make Noah very theatrical.
Prom M oa h, the ATPG moved into mundane themes and a wide variety of world drama and musicals. In all, the ATPG produced 44 plays of which 15 were classical and 29 modern plays. Apart from Antigone by Sophocles,
An Enemy of the People by Ibsen, Cthello by Shakespeare, The Duchess of Malfi by Webster, which were tragedies, all others were either romantic comedies or tragi-comedies
with musical accompaniment. They included The Merchant of Venice and A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Shakespeare,
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Lysistrata by Aristophanes , You Never Can Tell by Shaw, The Bald Suprano by Ionesco, Uncle Vanya by Chekhov etc. Works of major playwrights in Europe,
3ritain, America and Russia were well represented.
There exists no literary reviews on these productions from where we can sample opinions and assess the audience reaction, but box office records reveal enthusiastic
reception. Posters and handbill information as well as their quality give brilliarlt impressions about the
artistic standard of productions and of audience taste.
The big task of selecting plays (usually two for
a year) for production depended largely on who was willing to do what among the ATPG membership. More often than not, Axworthy found himself directing the plays since most of the members were primarily theatre enthusiasts and not experts. This is much in consonance with
Stephen Langley's view that decision-making in play production in College Theatre is largely guided by what plays the artistic directors wish to direct at the moment.
Although Axworthy's influence in the choice of plays was overwhelming, it was far from being arbitrary. He knew the society and his audience so well that the chosen plays often coincided with their taste. Professor John Ferguson observes that Axworthy "had a penchant for minor
20
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PLATE 4 A scene from Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, ATPG Production (1961). Fola Aboaba
standing at the extreme end of the steps on the left. Mote the subtle aesthetics of the production in symetry, set solidity, the columns and costumes that reveal its Roman setting. The fanciful costumes of the women also provides insight into the leiOdness of Lysi strata (Pix courtesy of Professor Michael Hudson, Dept, of Physics, University of Ibadan).
r
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Shakespeare'*21 hence his choice of Shakespeare's comedies which complemented his own conviviality and jocular nature. But no matter his own personal
preferences, the academic and cultural interests of the university took precedence over all other considerations.
He explains the reason for the choice of plays in the following terms.
The first plays were chosen very specifically to this end. Obey’s
Noah offered a familiar story treated with” humour, opportunities for
multiracial casting, unconventional staging, and the use of masks.
The Merchant of Venice, familiar as an examination play... All this arose from the simple desire of a teacher to teach better, and of lover of music and drama to share their excitements^.
Other delineable factors that accounted for play selection, apart from teaching and entertainment, were the question of the audience's desire and the economic demands of production. The nature of audience is one of the first things to inquire about in any discussion of theatre. The Arts Theatre audience of the 1950s and early 1960s composed mostly European intellectuals and civil servants and for them the hilarity of Brendan Behan’s The Hostage and Pinero’s Kaaistrate was just what they needed to kill boredom in the socially underdeveloped colonial environment.
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Consequently plays that were not irksome and long were preferred. Axworthy provides a clue in his description of the cultural taste of the university community at this time thus: "African audiences appreciate most plays with clear plots and well defined character preferably with a moral or argumentative flavour ... The European
community, numbering many thousands, is largely lowbrow, but would rise to Christ’ies, Sawyer, Priestley, etc.
A broad farce like Pinero's Magistrate would probably span both audiences" 23. Perhaps comedy was a trans
continental favourite, for Evans noted that farce and romantic drama were in general, the fashion24
Competition with other amateur theatre groups that, used the Arts Theatre affected the programmes of the ATPG and influenced its choice of production significantly.
Groups like the University College, Ibadan Dramatic Society (UCID3), Ibadan Operatic Society (ICS) founded by Tom Child and the Music Circle more often than not
collaborated in productions in which they were all mutually interested. Such common productions include Noah, Antigone, Lyslstrata by ATPG and UCIDS and King Arthur by ATPG
and the Music Circle.
The advantage of the competition was that It promoted healthy rivary, and standards. The harmonious co—existence of these groups enhanced the development of various genres
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of theatre and stiumulated new groups to sprout up.
In 1959, a group known as The Players of the Dawn comprising of graduates of Ibadan and fellow civil
servants in the town of Ibadan was formed to take theatre to the people, performing in school halls, Arts Theatre and the British Council Hall. They were active enough to attract criticism from Wole Soyinka 25 and comments
about their Arts Theatre heritage from Geoffrey Axworthy . A cursory look at Appendix 7 reveals the wide rnage of their repertoire and the fair geographical spread of world drama which justifies ATPG’s objective to provide variety of world dramatic styles 27. Conspicuously African or Nigerian plays were not represented in the repertoire. Axworthy explains this omission by calling attention to the fact that there existed no African plays and playwrights at the time 2Q We observe this may not
be completely true, as James Ene Henshaw had published *
/
his first play This is Our Chance in 1956•Axworthy*s other reason "that they did not attempt to bring in the African culture at all" 29 seems more authentic. This is corroborated by Dapo Adelugba’s accounts 30. Later,
European productions, particularly, Ahmal and the Night Visitors 31 by Ibadan Operatic Society attempted costumal
and nominal adaptation of African culture
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The best they did according to Professor Aboaba was to adapt "African names and costumes into production" 320
In such colonial atmosphere, there was little the Europeans could do in promoting African culture which they did not understand and did not make any
pretention about. It was not until Axworthy in collabo
ration with the dramatic society (UCIDS) produced Wole Soyinka's The Swamp Dwellers and The Lion and the Jewel 33 in 1958/59 session that realistic African plays and
culture emerged at the Arts Theatre. These Leeds plays, James Gibbs wrote, "opened doors for him (Soyinka) in London and established his reputation in Nigeria"^.
♦
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PLATE 5: Seene from Amahl and the Night Visitors jointly *