TITLE:
Digital Directing Aesthetics in Lagos Theatres: An Examination of Austen-Peters’ Wakaa the Musical
AUTHORS:
Damian Enyaosah
KEYWORDS:
Nigerian Theatre and Performance, African Total Theatre, Multimedia Design, Digital Theatre Directing, Digital Media and Globalization, Global Theatre and Performance Studies, Nigerian Directors
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.12 No.4,
April
19,
2024
ABSTRACT: In Lagos, Nigeria, the exploration of multimedia in theatre directing as an act and art is gradually gaining ground even with the paucity of funding and technical deficiencies in most Nigerian institutional theatre practice culture. This paper applies Nadja Linnine Masura’s concept of digital theatre to assess the nature, types, and impact of multimedia design inclusion in the theatre directing practice in Lagos. Two objectives were formulated for this study. First, to investigate to what extent Bolanle Austen-Peter’s (BAP) Wakaa the Musical actualized the concept of digital theatre directing, and second, to find out if the twenty-first-century Nigerian audience will be receptive to the introduction of this new theatre technique. Data is collected from BAP production’s online sources on YouTube and Terra Kulture. The study is analytical hence an exposition of the extent and essence of the application of multimedia to Wakaa the Musical, a digitally inclined stage production performed at Terra Kulture, Lagos State. The study is pivotal to understanding and appreciating digital relationships with theatre thus, relevant to theatre practitioners, theoreticians, academicians, students, and policymakers.