The “Emotan” play came to Lagos for the first time on Sunday, the 22nd of December 2019. The play is about the story of Emotan (also known as Uwaraiye), a childless market woman who helped to save the Benin Kingdom monarchy in the 13th century. From the music, dances, beautiful costumes and set, to the exceptional acting, there were a lot of reasons the “Emotan” play blew our minds.
That is why we had to share some of our favourite moments from the play. In no particular order, here are seven things that happened during the “Emotan” play:
Awesome Acting: The acting in the play was remarkably flawless. There were no visible line errors and the whole cast worked in sync. It was honestly very beautiful to watch the cast perform together.
2.
Great Music: What’s an African stage play without music, much less without drums. From the drummers, to the dancers, to the musicians and the cast members, every song was a hit! It was flawlessly executed, the music could make you feel as though you had become a part of the Edo culture.
3.
Great Dancing: Where there is good music, you’ll find good dancing. The dancers were on point, the steps matched, the movements were energetic and the acrobatics were enchanting.
4.
Beautiful Costumes: Part of telling a believable story through stage play is making sure that the costumes of cast members are perfect. The costuming was well done, and they added a certain flair and colour to the whole play.
5.
Versatile Actors/Acting: You know someone is a great actor when they can somehow play four roles at the same time. There was one actor who played the role of a younger Uwaifiokun, a man from Isoko, a member of the king’s guard, and a part of Emotan’s story. There was another woman who played the role of Emotan’s mother and the king’s wife. They were not the only ones who had multiple roles but they stood out. They handled each role so perfectly, they left no room for confusion.
6.
Interesting Insights From The Story: Majority of the stories you will find about Emotan only give a skeletal look into her life. The writer of the play, William Benson gave insights to every part of Emotan’s story. The story of her life from the point she got married until she died slowly unfolded before our eyes. It was a beautifully told story with loads of lessons to learn.
7.
Viewing of a Documentary: Before the play started, a 7-minute documentary about the making of the play was shown. The main point of the documentary was that Nigerian theatre needs more support from Nigerians and organisations.
All in all, the play was beautifully put together and it was worth every minute spent in recreating the story of a great woman. If you want to see more of the events from the play, head to our social media pages to get all the gists and see snippets of the play. You can check out our Twitter and Instagram accounts, @thenetng for more of Emotan’s story. You can also see the play at Muson Center on the 24th and 25th of December.