When the Lagos Fringe International Festival takes off today, Tuesday, November 19, 2019 it will honour Adebayo Adisa Oduneye, one of the most significant theatre directors in Nigeria and Africa; Taiwo Ajai-Lycett, easily referred to as the “Dame of the Nigerian Stage and Screen” and Tunde Kelani –ace cinematographer, filmmaker and culture advocate. The orgnisers sy tht the opening launch on Tuesday at Alliance Francaise, Mike Adenuga Centre Victoria Island is designed as a high-net-worth event to be graced by eminent guests including, leaders in business, diplomatic and social circuits.
To take place at various venues across the city of Lagos the six-day festival organised in partnership with Multichoice Nigeria, British Council Nigeria, Freedom Park and the Alliance Francaise, will bring together participants from Senegal, UK, South Africa, Canada, Brazil, Ghana, Portugal as we as Nigeria, will run till November 24th.
A highpoint of the event would be the conferment of meritorious service award on three notable personalities who, in the words of the Festival’s artistic director, Kenneth Uphopho, have contributed immensely to the development of the theatre profession and as well as the shaping of the creative industry of Nigeria.
Uphopho said the honour is being conferred on the three on the recommendations of the Lagos Fringe advisory board, in recognition of the fact that these three are “some of the very few ‘true icons’ of the Nigerian theatre, who have in particular been ‘mentors’ of several generations of Nigerian Theatre Artistes”. The objective, he says, is to set them up as models for the younger generation of theatre artistes, to encourage them to keep striving to prove their mettles in the difficult terrain of theatrical productions in the country and, in the continent.
Lagos Fringe is an open access arts festival for creative entrepreneurs and performers to showcase their work, either existing or new work to a diverse audience consisting of local and international audiences, venue owners, curators as well as local investors. We are focused on fostering a community of daring creatives that will lead the world in innovation in the arts and consistently create breathtaking experiences across all genres.
The inaugural edition of the Lagos Fringe held last year with 75 events over 8 days across multiple venues in Lagos. The 2019 edition is scheduled to hold November 19- 24, 2019 and will present theatre, film, spoken word, dance, music etc. It is in collaboration with the Women in the Arts Festival with support from Freedom Park, British Council, Multichoice Nigeria/DSTV, Alliance Francaise.
Lagos Fringe is an initiative of the Performing Arts Workshop & Studios PAWSTUDIOS a media and productions company based in Lagos run by Kenneth & Brenda – the theatre power couple than=t launched and ran the Lagos Theatre Festival, LTF for five years before launching their own Lagos Fringe initiative.
The Fringe Producer; Brenda Fashugba in her remarks says “We are revolutionizing the creative industry with the introduction of the Lagos Fringe CentreStage talent show. From our early days of developing the theatre festival till now, our objectives have been reinforced on the development of capacity and education for the young and aspiring creative. We encourage collaboration and co creation among artistes, professional and amateurs. We are focused on fostering a community of daring creatives that will lead the world in innovation in the arts and consistently create breathtaking experiences across all genres.”
Updated information on the Lagos Fringe, including the schedule of events, registration and other details may be found on our website www.thelagosfringe.org
There is also a cash prize to be won at the Lagos Fringe CentreStage Open Mic talent show. The goal of the prize is to raise awareness for the festival and inspire standards for young aspiring local performers.