Nigeria: Celebrating 48 years of solo drama

Nigeria’s foremost Mono Dramatist, Greg Mbajiorgu is currently on sabbatical in the Department of English Language and Literature of the Nigerian Turkish Nile University, Abuja, Nigeria. The Maverick MONO DRAMATIST and THEATRE SCHOLAR is an avant-garde of solo performance art in Africa and a multiple award-winning Dramatist.

He is historically acclaimed to be the first African to publish a mono dramatic text. He is also the first Nigerian Dramatist to win the prestigious first prize for Arts and Humanities Research at the National Universities Research and Development Fair (NURESDEF), a biannual inter-universities competitive event organized by the National Universities Commission (NUC).

His seminal one-actor play THE PRIME MINISTER’S SON, written, improvised and published 20 years ago, did a nation-wide tour from 1991 to 2002 and remains, till date, the only African well written and published solo play available in our research institutes and university libraries.

Taking advantage of the one-year sabbatical leave of this Solo icon in the Faculty of Arts of The Nigerian Turkish Nile University, The English Language and Literature Department wishes to host an international SOLO DRAMATIC FESTIVAL in honor of this great SOLO DRAMATIST.

As highlight to this festival, the following activities have been lined up:

(1) Keynote lectures from experts in Solo Performance

(2) Solo Performance Colloquium: Orality, Solo Performance, Spoken Word, Stand Up Comedy and Contemporary African Drama

(3) Lunch Break

(4) Performance by National and international Soloists

(5) Reading Interpretation of selected Solo Performance texts by NTNU students of English Language and Literature

(6) Official public presentation of the 20th Anniversary Edition of The Prime Minister’s Son

(7) Interactive session between the celebrant, other guest soloists and the Nigerian Media

(8) Presentation of our NTNU maiden anthology of solo plays

(9) Award dinner/Command Performance of The Prime Minister’s Son by artistes from the National Council of Arts and Culture

Arrival to the festival is scheduled to be on the 6th of May. The Colloquium and other activities begins on the 7th of May and ends on the same day. Departure date is 8th of May.

International Solo Drama Festival and Colloquium at NTNU:

Call for Abstracts and Papers.

Abstracts are hereby invited from scholars home and Abroad on the theme: 48 years of solo drama on the Nigerian stage: from improvisation to the printed text.

Abstracts and papers up to 500 words for individual papers are to be sent to the email address: j.ile@ntnu.edu.ng or ndimuo@hotmail.com by March 15th 2014. Scholars can also send abstract and papers on the following sub themes:

1. Orature and Contemporary African Drama
2. Aesthetics of the Spoken Word
3. Performance and Solo Drama
4. Stand-up Comedy and Solo Performance Aesthetics
5. Solo performance, Spoken word performance and Performance studies
6. Entrepreneurship in theatre studies; the Example of the Solo performer.
7. Audience in a One-man Show
8. The Solo performers Approaches to Theatre and Production Management
9. Theatre management and the burgeoning art of Solo performance
10. The Playwrights in a Solo dramatic context
11. Directing a One-man Show: The Challenge of Conventional Play Directors.

All papers must reach the email address below on or before the 15th of March 2014. For more information, contact the HoD Department of English Language and Literature, Nigerian Turkish Nile University, Abuja

Email: j.ile@ntnu.edu.ng or The Secretary: blatee101@yahoo.com