Nigerian Stage Directors’ Philosophies, Aesthetics and Ideologies

In several Nigerian universities, theories of Western stage directors who are long dead are still relied upon to teach Nigerian students the art of stage directing. This is akin to eating Nigerian delicacies, such as isi ewu (a goat’s head delicacy), which are traditionally eaten with fingers, with cutlery. How can the brain of an aspiring Nigerian theatre director be full of the principles of Russian, German, English, French, and Polish stage directors who are all dead, while he or she does not know much about contemporary Nigerian stage directors, many of whom are still alive and practising? This is the major lacuna that this book fills. Containing essays and interview contributions from 30 directors of different ages, generations, genders, and social classes, and from different parts of Nigeria and beyond, this book will afford the future generation of stage directors, not only in Nigeria but also in the world at large, the opportunity to learn from an epistemic community and stand on the shoulders of indigenous Nigerian theatre giants to touch the sky.