Saro sets new standard for theatre business

NOVEMBER 1, 2013 

One of the scenes

The premiere of Saro the Musical sets Lagos a glow, writes Akeem Lasisi

The Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Chief Edem Duke, and a former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, are among the people that welcomed Saro the Musical, a broadway styled play,  to the stage in Lagos at the weekend.

The ambitious musical dramatisation of the Lagos story was premiered at Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Friday through Sunday.  The musical, produced by Bolanle Austen-Peters, attracted a large audience for  each of the shows.

Some of the other dignitaries that watched it are the Commissioner for Tourism and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Mr. Disu Holloway; Founder of OYASAF Foundation, Prince Yemisi Shyllon; a former Chairman of GTBank, Mr. Fola Adeola; and poet and critic, Odia Ofeimun.

With a large cast of youthful artistes beaming with talents, the audience, including Soyinka, found the play so impressive that they accorded the cast and crew a standing ovation. That was at the end of  Saturday’s last show.

The first thing that many members of the audience found difficult to resist is Saro’s theme song, an eclectic rendition crowned with a piercing chant. But one of the playmakers, definitely, is William Benson, who acts as The Don, the music producer under whose umbrella the four youths that led their rusty community in search of fortunes in Lagos try to perfect their musical trade.

Williams has a physique that fills the stage. His voice is impressive, while his dance styles – especially his recreation of afro juju star Sir Shina Peters’ memorable Ace steps – were a winning shot for the performance.

 In the story of Saro, some four youths leave their rusty community for Lagos, in search of the greener pastures. There they run into different experiences that cut across the socio-economic and the cultural. Apart from the fact that the experiences come in the forms of drama sketches strung together by musical performances, the visitors’ decision to form a band makes their adventure a total musical journey, which the playwright (Austen-Peters) and the directors – including Makinde Adeniran and Ayo Ajayi – exploit to reenact the history of music as it particularly concerns Lagos.

Although Saro may not yet be as tight as the FELA! on Broadway – as people saw in Lagos earlier – it will get tighter as the show progresses. It seems richer than the latter. The reason is that while FELA! dwells on Fela’s songs alone, Saro  exhibits the very best from many of Nigeria’s music legends or icons. This makes it richer and unpredictable.

The play ran for about two hours. This shows that the producer and directors strongly considered a suggestions earlier made by pundits that they could do away with some of the scenes included in the preview edition. Yet, there is room to further shrink the performance by taking a more critical look at some of the scenes that appeared dragged at the premiere.

Besides, some people could wonder why none of the Tuface’s songs was among the ones performed, especially during the concluding part where the narrators, including Nollywood star, Dakore Egbuson,  introduced  a kind of documentary into the show.

Apart from the fact that Tu Baba, as the musician is otherwise called, was one of the stars that identified withSaro during rehearsals, he is the ‘legend’ of the contemporary hiphop/R&B generation, meaning that it is difficult to tell the story of the Nigerian music without acknowledging his role.

And although the structure of the  Oriental Hotel hall used could explain why the sound quality was inconsistent at some points, the Teju Kareem-led technical crew, which proved dearly that a global show can be handled locally, cannot afford to rest on its oars.

Above all, Austen-Peters and her team proved an historical, patriotic and ideological point by daring to stage a musical of the magnitude of Saro. They have done it well and proved that it is possible here in Nigeria too. Indeed, they have created a good problem for theatre practitioners in the country because they have set a new standard that all must aspire to beat – or at least maintain.