Experts Highlight Gains of Tech in Theatre, Call for Brands’ Partnership at 2024 TheatreMania Africa Summit
By Azeez Disu
Veterans and other professionals in the theatre Industry in Africa have highlighted the importance that theatre plays in society, especially with the integration of new technologies that have enhanced its operations today, which has also opened up opportunities for more businesses to be part of it. They, therefore, tasked brands and other stakeholders to rally around the industry for it to fully actualize its potential.
They made this known at the maiden edition of TheatreMania Africa Summit (TAS) held at the Shodex Gardens, Anthony, Lagos, Nigeria, recently with the theme “The Future of Theatre: Embracing Innovation and Technology in Theatre Productions.”
CEO/Co-Founder of TheatreMania Africa, Alayande Stephen T., said that theatre production continues to evolve, and the African Theatre Industry must embrace technology to be able to connect with millions of people worldwide to the continent’s theatre production.
“We have realized that the pace we are moving in the industry, we can move faster by embracing technology like Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and others. People across the world can connect and watch a theatre performance done in Nigeria, for example, which means beyond collecting naira, people pay in dollars and other international currencies. It is a state that African theatre needs to get to. It can also help boost our productivity and we have to take advantage of this,” he said.
Alayande revealed that the next edition of TAS in 2025 will be a three-day festival with a summit, exhibition, and awards.
“By next year, this summit won’t stand alone, this summit will be part of the festival. It will now become a three-day event; the festival, summit, the walk for peace, the metallic fashion, performances, and we round up with the awards,” he explained.
He appealed to brands to partner with the industry, stating that theatre is not dead. “We are appealing to brands to partner with us; the industry is very big, and theatre is not dead as some people are postulating. We partnered with Platos Health and QUIDBOT for this edition. More brands should come on board to enjoy media visibility and enjoy the patronage of hundreds of people that will be at the festival.”
Veteran Nollywood Actor Norbert Young said some of the modern innovations in theatre were borrowed from Africa, adding that technological innovation plays a key role in theatre production today. He pointed out that people are doing online drama in Nigeria and acting with counterparts aboard. He, therefore, urged actors to align themselves with new technologies and keep innovating and learning.
In the same vein, Veteran Nollywood Actor Akin Lewis stated that theatre performances are being added to events to make them beautiful and memorable, citing sports tournaments like the Olympics and the World Cup, which start their opening and closing ceremonies with theatre-like performances. He added that for the industry to compete favourably with Television and Film, it has to leverage technology.
TAS 2024 is put together by TheatreMania Africa Concepts and supported by Nkan Media, Platos Health, Shodex Gardens, QUIDBOT, and The Street University Project.
In 2025, TAS will transform into the TheatreMania Africa Festival (TAF). TAF is the first all-encompassing All Africa Theatre Awards & Festival,evolving from the African root aimed at re-writing the African story to the world in a positive way using drama, dance, chants, songs, and poems as creative instruments to convey the messages. It is a reward
system meant to appreciate African stage artistes/actors and other stakeholders in the entertainment Industry and a platform to showcase the best of African Theatre on the street on different stages.