Ever seen any of Professor Wole Soyinka’s plays in the theatre performed in Hebrew? If not, then you have an opportunity of a lifetime. As a part of its extensive support for arts and culture in Nigeria, MTN Nigeria through its social investment vehicle, MTN Nigeria Foundation, has partnered with Crown Troupe of Africa, a Bariga-based theatre group led by Segun Adefila, to provide arts enthusiasts in Lagos a weeklong theatre carnival that features one of Soyinka’s plays in Hebrew.
The Theatre Carnival which kicked off on Sunday at the Nike Art Gallery with a media parley had notable guests such as the Oba (Arc.) Adeen Aderemi Adedapo (Alayemore of Ido-Osun), Director, MTN Foundation, Mr. Dennis Okoro, Executive Secretary of MTN Foundation, Nonny Ugboma, and many other arts lovers.
The Eko Theatre Carnival, formerly known as the Bariga Open Air Theatre (B.O.A.T) Festival is a performance-based carnival that celebrates the belief in performing arts as a viable tool for social engineering and empowerment. The carnival was introduced to mark more than two decades of creative theatrical performance by Crown Troupe of Africa. This year’s edition has been made possible by the leading telecoms brand in the country, MTN Nigeria.
This support further reinforces MTN Nigeria’s commitment to empowering the youth population in Nigeria as evident in other initiatives such as Muson Scholars Programme, and Nigerian Universities Theatre Arts Festival (NUTAF). The partnership with Crown Troupe of Africa is another effort that is geared towards promoting the rich African cultural heritage.