Wai stage productions com be laik desert for Naija? Abi na so e be for oda kontris? Wai e be say, as univasiti de graduate tieta students reach evri year, still yet we no de see ogbonge stage productions? Wai pipo no de point hand and de hala join, de tell pipo say “see dat bros and dat sista, na koret stage actor?” Wai stage actors no fit popular laik film actors? Shebi una no say once una waka enta eni cinema hall for Benin or Lagos, or una nak play on top mani online streaming platforms, una mus to see how de Naija film industri wey we de call Nollywood, de scatter evriwia with koret quality and ogbonge tori wey una fit aline with? Una go see how de film pishur clear, the sound de enta bodi, and de actors de act laik say tomorrow no de. But all dis wey l yan so, no go make sense to meni pipo bicos, as far as dem konsan, na tieta naim born film for naija. Again, is dat so? Dis nor be case of to wia ovasize agbada on top person wey nor suppose wia am?
Meni pipo ajument be say, it have tey wen stage or tieta drama don de shele for awa kontri. Dem even yan say, bifor camera and green screen start to reign, na stage play be de king of entatainment. But nawadays, e com be like say dis two cousins, Stage and Film, com de live for two diffrent world. Dem com be laik two brodas wey hustle tey and wella, but one com get kuza pass de oda one. Film, as all of us no am, get all de money and hype, while Stage de fight and struggle to fill up eni hall wia him for de hustle. Dem don com be laik north and south for distance as far as kuza is konsan. But again de big kwesion wey de skatabalance person brain na: Wia dis two industri for jam? How dem take relate?
Una even no say de first place wia stage and film for hold hand like brodas na inside de body of the actors? Stage na wia de ogbonge training ground for actors de. E be laik wia dem for de train army korofo to take de strong gidigba. Meni of us don no say Director for stage, no be laik Director for film wia him go de go hala “Cut! Take two!” once you forget ya line for stage, na only you and ya god no wetin you go do to cover ya face bicos of shame. Una even de use style take notice de way stage actors de wia one kain disiplin for bodi eni time dem liv tieta enta film set? No be shakara at all at all! Na wetin stage disiplin de do to dem be dat. Walahi, dat dia kain disiplin no be wetin you go see eniwia. Dem nor de see am buy for market laik kuli kuli.
Stage de teach how you go take de control ya voice, ya presence, and how to grab de audience attenshon for meni hours. As for Film, dat one get e own style. E get as e take de him de. Film de take dat ya raw energy wella and com use diffrent type of shots to gbab de deep emotions wey de inside de actor eyes. Meni big actors for Naija and oda kontris na old-skool stage legends bifor dem bicom film supa stars. Even dis awa new generashon stars still de always run go back to stage jus to recharge dia acting battery.
Anoda major junshon wia stage and film for jam again na for tori mata. Meni beta films wey we de wosh today na stage plays wey dem arrange to bicom ogbonge film wey pipo take de jolly for house. Meni of us no say dem don carri Wole Soyinka stage play take do films na and de rison be say wen film producers de luk for solid, deep, and cultural tori, na theater script dem de always run go meet.
Stage scripts de always deep bicos dem de rely on heavy dialogue and karacta mata. Forget about fine locations or to use bomb blow-up cars. Wen film de gidigba for beta writing, de result de always get morzul. De teknika mata wey de bitwin film and stage no be small somtin at all. Abi na de pipo wey de do lighting design for tieta wey de work laik magicians? Abi na de ones wey de build de set for film and tieta? Make Una join me rison dis mata na! Person wey fit use light to make audience believe say empty stage na forest for night, tell me wetin dat kain person no fit do for film set wia editing software de do abaracadabra?
Now, make we yan truth to awasef on dis mata bicos dis na wia de two sides for de get small kasala. Film de make kuza quick bicos one film fit show for meni cinemas and online at de same time. Stage nor get dat kain level and e get wai. Afta all we no say stage get e limit as you mus to rent hall, and na only de pipo wey buy ticket and enta de hall fit watch de stage productions. De mata of stage and film don serious reach say some Naija producers sef de record stage plays with ogbonge cameras and stream am for pipo to watch online. Dis na wia de monetizashon for stage fit meet de level of film.
Stage and Film no suppose de fight for space at all! True true dem suppose de rub each oda back. Stage as we don de see am so, na de root, wai Film na de branches and leaves wey evribodi de see. If Nollywood want make her tori get weight wella wey go fit com de win intanashonal awards laik Oscars dem, e must to kontinu to invest inside tieta. And if tieta get plan to survive de modern world, e must use film teknologi take waka far. Again we also no say stage and film meet inside awa korshur, and na so dem still meet inside de heart of de actors, plus inside awa sweet tori wey de make us proud as Naija pipo. De two of dem na two sides of de same coin, and as e com be so, e don clear say we nor fit drop one for de oda ones.
