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Interrogating the Politics of Oppression in The Struggle
Essay
Interrogating the Politics of Oppression in The Struggle
by Eseovwe Emakunu, Dan Kpodoh
4 January 2024
Reengineering Education in the Adagbabiri Community Through Theatre for Development
Essay
Reengineering Education in the Adagbabiri Community Through Theatre for Development
by Eseovwe Emakunu, Dennis OBIRE
17 August 2023
Performance and Climate Finance/Sustainability, Capital and Planetary Justice
Video
Performance and Climate Finance/Sustainability, Capital and Planetary Justice
Addressing the Elephant in the Room
Wednesday 9 August 2023
Nigeria, Kenya
An actress sings passionately during a performance.
Interrogating the Politics of Oppression in The Struggle
Essay

Interrogating the Politics of Oppression in The Struggle

4 January 2024

Dan Kpodoh’s The Struggle dramatizes governmental and corporate exploitation in the oil-rich Niger Delta by telling the story of a group of militants who sought liberation but became corrupted by financial interests. Eseovwe Emakunu, a Nigerian theatre professional, interviews Kpodoh about the play’s function as protest theatre against political oppression.

A troupe of dancers in formation mid-performance smile.
Reengineering Education in the Adagbabiri Community Through Theatre for Development
Essay

Reengineering Education in the Adagbabiri Community Through Theatre for Development

17 August 2023

Eseovwe Emakunu and Dennis U. Obire, co-founders of the Shanty Theatre, chronicle their work in the Adagbabiri Community in Bayelsa State, which is one of the most educationally deprived states in Nigeria. Using a theatre for development model, the group worked with local children to create a performance that demonstrated the importance of education in the social development of a community and nation.

event poster for people planet performance conversation: Performance and Climate Finance/Sustainability, Capital and Planetary Justice.
Performance and Climate Finance/Sustainability, Capital and Planetary Justice
Video

Performance and Climate Finance/Sustainability, Capital and Planetary Justice

Addressing the Elephant in the Room

Wednesday 9 August 2023
Nigeria, Kenya

The concept of climate finance refers to monies provided by those responsible for climate change to ease the burden of the crises on those who bear the brunt. This is a situation whereby the polluter pays as much as they pollute. The attention placed on climate finance dominates the narrative of climate change mitigation since polluters are able to pay monies allocated to them as climate finance. Climate finance has not fully addressed the issue of the elephant in the room.

event poster for Responses to Climate Crisis and Emergencies with people planet and performance.
Responses to Climate Crisis and Emergencies
Video

Responses to Climate Crisis and Emergencies

Storytelling from the Performing Arts

Wednesday 26 July 2023
Kenya, Uganda

Different art forms (such as theatre, film, visual arts, and social media) have often been used to communicate, educate, and promote climate justice issues. This episode offers the opportunity to hear stories of practitioners using their art forms in this era of climate emergency. We focus on theatre practices and digital art forms and ask guests to share their work and that of others from the continent.

event poster for Re-Centering Cultural Performance and Orange Economy Book Launch.
Book Launch: Re-Centering Cultural Performance and Orange Economy in Post-Colonial Africa: Policy, Soft Power, and Sustainability
Video

Book Launch: Re-Centering Cultural Performance and Orange Economy in Post-Colonial Africa: Policy, Soft Power, and Sustainability

Offering Perspectives on Ways Existing Cultural and Non-Cultural Infrastructures Can Open Opportunities for Diplomacy and Soft Power

Tuesday 14 March 2023
Saskatchewan, Canada

The Centre for Socially Engaged Theatre (C-SET) at the Faculty of Media, Art, and Performance at the University of Regina, in collaboration with Theatre Emissary International, presents the online book launch of Re-centering Cultural Performance and Orange Economy in Post-Colonial Africa: Policy, Soft Power, and Sustainability. This book explores the role of national theatres, cultural centers, cultural policy, festivals, and the film industry as creative and cultural performance hubs for exercising soft power and cultural diplomacy. This event will feature live captioning and ASL interpretation.

Poster for Book Launch event.
Book Launch: Different Models, One Goal: Doing Theatre, Democracy, and Social Justice
Video

Book Launch: Different Models, One Goal: Doing Theatre, Democracy, and Social Justice

Socially-Engaged Theatre Through the Lens of Tor Iorapuu's Community-Driven Theatre

Friday 18 November 2022
Nigeria and Canada

The Centre for Socially Engaged Theatre (C-SET), in collaboration with Theatre Emissary International and the University of Jos, Nigeria, presented the online book launch of Different Models, One Goal: Doing Theatre, Democracy, and Social Justice edited by Adediran Ademiju-Bepo, Hussaini U. Tsaku, Awuawuer Tijime Justine, Shadrach Teryila Ukuma, and Bem Alfred Abugh livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network on Friday 18 November 2022 at 9 a.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 10 a.m. EST (New York, UTC -5) / 3 p.m. GMT (London, UTC +0) / 16:00 CET (Berlin, UTC +1) / 4 p.m. WAT (Lagos, UTC +1).

Thirteen people holding a giant check and posing for a picture.
Theatre Education as a Transformative Tool in Southwestern Nigeria
Essay

Theatre Education as a Transformative Tool in Southwestern Nigeria

20 September 2022

Theatre artist Kofoworola Owokotomo describes her experience teaching theatre to students at the Concord School in Ibadan and advocates for more funding of arts education in Nigerian schools.

Five men in white robes sitting in a semi-circle.
Exposing the Ills of Forced Marriage of Women and Young Girls in Nigeria Through the Theatre
Essay

Exposing the Ills of Forced Marriage of Women and Young Girls in Nigeria Through the Theatre

16 May 2022

In 2021, Nigerian director Josephine Awele Odunze directed a powerful production of Wedlock of the Gods by Zulu Sofola. Odunze sits down with Eseovwe Emakunu to discuss the play’s connections to issues Nigerian women face today, as well as her hopes that theatre can contribute to attaining true gender parity in Nigeria.

Several people dancing together in a room.
Thinking Through Racism: Nigerian Theatre’s Response
Essay

Thinking Through Racism: Nigerian Theatre’s Response

11 January 2022

Eseovwe Emakunu sits down with theatre practitioner Israel Wekpe to discuss how he and other Nigerian theatre artists use theatre to address racism and discrimination.

event poster with speaker headshots for The Dramaturge as a curator and programmer.
The Dramaturge as a Curator and Programmer
Video

The Dramaturge as a Curator and Programmer

Episode Five of Decolonizing Dramaturgy: Theatremakers from Africa in Conversation

Wednesday 17 November 2021
Africa

Taiwo Afolabi presented Decolonizing Dramaturgy: The Dramaturge as a Curator and Programmer livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Wednesday 17 November 2021 at 9 a.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 12 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5) / 5 p.m. GMT (London, UTC +0) / 6 p.m. WAT (Lagos, UTC +1) / 18:00 CET (Berlin, UTC +1) / 19:00 SAST (Johannesburg, UTC +2) / 20:00 EAT (Nairobi, UTC +3).

The Future Is Now: Conversations with Ambrose Idemudia Joshua and Rusanda Curcă
Podcast

The Future Is Now: Conversations with Ambrose Idemudia Joshua and Rusanda Curcă

12 November 2021
episode 3 poster for decolonizing dramatury.
Self-Dramaturgy and Dramaturging Others: Dramaturge as a Nurturer
Video

Self-Dramaturgy and Dramaturging Others: Dramaturge as a Nurturer

Episode Three of Decolonizing Dramaturgy: Theatremakers from Africa in Conversation

Wednesday 3 November 2021
Africa

Taiwo Afolabi presented Decolonizing Dramaturgy: Self-Dramaturgy and dramaturging others: dramaturge as a nurturer livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Wednesday 3 November 2021 at 9 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 12 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 4 p.m. GMT (London, UTC +0) / 5 p.m. WAT (Lagos, UTC +1) / 17:00 CET (Berlin, UTC +1) / 18:00 SAST (Johannesburg, UTC +2) / 19:00 EAT (Nairobi, UTC +3).

event poster with speaker headshots for Dramaturgy and dramaturgical processes from Egypt, Nigeria and Zimbabwe.
Dramaturgy and Dramaturgical Processes from Egypt, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe
Video

Dramaturgy and Dramaturgical Processes from Egypt, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe

Episode Two of Decolonizing Dramaturgy: Theatremakers from Africa in Conversation

Wednesday 27 October 2021
Africa

Taiwo Afolabi presented Decolonizing Dramaturgy: Dramaturgy and dramaturgical processes from Egypt, Nigeria and Zimbabwe livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Wednesday 27 October 2021 at 9 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 12 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 5 p.m. WAT (Lagos, UTC +1) / 17:00 BST (London, UTC +1) / 18:00 SAST (Johannesburg, UTC +2) / 18:00 CEST (Berlin, UTC +2) / 19:00 EAT (Nairobi, UTC +3).

A woman in a blue and red dress crying.
Towards a Feminist Theatre in Nigeria
Essay

Towards a Feminist Theatre in Nigeria

21 September 2021

Kofoworola Owokotomo shares her experience directing a new production of The Vagina Monologues that explicitly addressed women’s oppression in contemporary Nigerian society.

A group of women and children.
Applied Theatre for Community Development in Nigeria
Essay

Applied Theatre for Community Development in Nigeria

26 July 2021

Kofoworola Owokotomo shares the theatre for development processes she undertook with a team of students to tackle issues of drug abuse, tribalism, and poor attitudes towards education in two Nigerian communities.

colorful globe with arts connect international logo.
Arts Equity Summit 2020: Creating Culture Shifts (ASL & Captioned)
Video

Arts Equity Summit 2020: Creating Culture Shifts (ASL & Captioned)

A Summit for arts & culture leaders committed to building equity

Friday 24 April - Saturday 25 April 2020
Boston, Massachusetts

Arts Connect International presented the Arts Equity Summit livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv from Friday 24 April to Sunday 26 April 2020.