By Bukola Afolabi
In a Press statement made available to our correspondent and signed by the Media Executive of TheatreMania Africa Summit (TAS) 2024, Naomi Idowu, good news seem to be coming the ways of lovers of theatre, stage production and all stakeholders and practitioners in that space as the organisers of the summit are primed to have this year’s edition come Thursday November 28th, 2024 by 10.00am for the Opening Ceremony at the Shodex Gardens, Ilupeju, Lagos.
All is set for the 2024 edition of TheatreMania Africa Summit (TAS), the event is part of the Build-Up activities lined for Theatre Arts/Stage Play lovers and stakeholders to herald the 2025 edition of the much talked about Pan-Africa project tagged TheatreMania Africa Festival (TAF) & Awards scheduled for Lagos, Nigeria next year.
Expected at the Summit are Theatre Production companies, Guilds of Actors, Dancers, Drummers, Singers, Theatre Arts students across the country, Stage Play Directors/Producers, Writers, Festival organisers and as many stakeholders in the Theatre/Creative Arts space in the country.
The TAS 2024 idea is to create a convivial avenue for stakeholders within and outside the Theatre/Creative Art space to discuss pertinent issues concerning the present and future of Theatre Production not only in Nigeria but in Africa. The central theme for the 2024 Summit is “The Future of Theatre: Embracing Innovation and Technology in Theatre Productions”.
TAS 2024 will serve and provide a platform for networking, knowledge sharing, advocacy, and inspiration, ultimately contributing to the continued growth and success of theatre production as an art form with focus to peculiarities in Africa. Key players including Theatre Production stakeholders are expected to be part of this summit.
According to the CEO/Co-Founder, TheatreMania Africa Festival (TAF), Alayande Stephen T., “we are happy to announce the list of the Speakers and Panelists for this year’s TheatreMania Africa Summit (TAS) as part of the activities to unveil the festival next year. Today we must accept that life itself is evolving, hence, Theatre production must evolve and the African Theatre Industry must not be seen to be lagging behind. TAS 2024 will showcase how technology can propel African theatre to a global standard. It is indeed from tradition to transformation, echoing innovation at the heart of African Theatre. We want to see how we can make a bold leap into the future by blending the traditional story telling with modern technology without losing the core ingredients that makes us uniquely Africans” he averred.
Some of the confirmed Speakers and Panelists are Dr. Tunji Sotimirin (Lecturer/Actor), Akin Lewis (Veteran Nollywood Actor), Norbert Young (Veteran Nollywood Actor), Thandekile Maseko (Actress, South- Africa), Segun Adefila (Convener, Crown Troupe of Africa), Julius Olaolu Oyekanmi (Co-Founder, NIGPT & CEO, Finnova Corps), Zani Challe (Actress/Artist- Malawi), Lydia Hagan (Media/Entertainment Consultant- Ghana), Owen Gee (Comedian/Actor/Award Winning Producer), Mr. Joseph Edgar a.k.a The Duke of Shomolu, AJ Dagga Tolar (Author/Poet), Owen Gee (Comedian/Award Winning Producer), Helen Sosu-Ezirim (Convener, The Street University), Uwagbai Paul (Co-Founder, TheatreMania Africa Festival) etc.
During this year’s Summit, the organisers are set to officially launch TheatreMania Africa Festival (TAF) 2025 emblem & announce some of the details of the project.
TAS 2024 is put together by TheatreMania Africa Concepts and supported by QUIDBOT, Nkan Media, Platos Health, Shodex Gardens, Zmirage Multimedia while the Media Partners for the event are Hip TV, WAP TV, RAVE TV, SHOWBIZ AFRIKA, GOLDYMYNE TV, R2TV, YAW NAIJA, Brand Times, GOGE AFRICA, SPLASH9JA, THE NOLLYWOOD REPORTER, THEATREDOME ETC.
The event is free but registration is required, hence, participants are expected to register online via the official website of the project www.theatremaniaafrica.com.
The organisers said the event schedules, programmes details and the Hosts of the TAS 2024 will be made available to the media very soon.
