Over the years, the arts had been celebrated in diverse ways by diverse people from different tribes and states across Nigeria. Performing arts students tend to celebrate theatre at school either during their practical or when there’s a special event at the school. Although some go as far as engaging in extracurricular activities outside the school either to earn more cash, or to improve in versatility and knowledge.
The diversity in tribes, brings about diversity in culture, which then births the diversity in arts, basically: dressing, drumming and drum structures, dance techniques, and music styles; to mention a few.
In the Theatre Arts departments in Nigerian Universities today, these techniques and styles are embraced, so much that all that’s left to see from diversity is unity and beauty. This amazing outcome is usually as a result of students who are willing to learn and embrace the arts regardless of the tribe or culture s/he has to portray.
Arts is in everything around us. The ability to bring it to life is nothing but beauty. Creating a mere fabric into a beautiful costume coupled with the beating of drums, accompanied with fantastic lyrics of songs, dances, and then words, projecting and reaching out to an audience with different perspectives, troubles, and moods. Actors, dancers, drummers, singers, even directors and other artists that are involved in bringing a production to life, changing an charging an atmosphere to tell a story – a story that often times reaches the audience, lifting and bettering their moods, is nothing but aesthetics and intelligence, and these students are nothing but creative, yet they receive little or no love at all in return for their creativity. TSA was made just for these – to appreciate the less appreciated.
With the invention of technologies and the vast acknowledgement of Social Medias, theatre arts representation is seldom remembered. The stage which is said to be the home of a Thespian is hardly visited, people would rather go to the cinema now, than go sit with popcorn at the National theatre to see a stage performance. Yet this is the very beginning.
Theatre students are hardly recognized or appreciated in their field of study even after four years of academic impart and a year or two more of practice and professionalism. They are easily tossed aside, barely seen. Which is why most theatre students are found in banks, hotels, and at the most insignificant sections in companies – their dreams, gone due to the lack of a platform.
Discerning and recognizing these prominent reasons and many more is why E’FHER Arts Management initiated an annual award event for majorly theatre arts students across the Nigerian universities, using the well accepted avenues –technology and social media to carry out her vision.
Being an event company that promotes culture and arts, E’FHER Arts Management – founded in Nigeria in the year 2017, organizes events such as carnivals, symposiums, expos, and campus cultural tours. The company had triumphantly organized three editions of the annual award show popularly known as TSA – the Theatre Students Awards, targeted at appreciating, encouraging, discovering, and motivating young, talented creatives in the cultural and performing arts.
The Theatre Students Awards is an annual event initiated for the core purpose of showcasing and rewarding brilliance and excellence in creative, extracurricular and leadership qualities of students in the Department of Theatre Arts in Nigerian higher institutions. The award event is aimed at facilitating the development and relevance of theatre art in Nigeria by providing recognition platform for student theatre artists across the nation, thereby bringing student theatre artists together to celebrate aesthetics and style, creativity, and talents of the art.
The vision, as always, is to discover and empower theatre art students in Nigeria higher institutions, motivating them to impact positively in the society they live in.
The mission remains to create a platform for all theatre art students to see and pursue a career in the art, network with professionals and also connect with other passionate artists from around Nigeria.
Conclusively, TSA is built with the objective to promote African arts and culture, encourage creativity and talent and also offer professional development and networking opportunities.
The (4th) edition of The Theatre Students Awards, for year 2022, would hold on December 3rd, at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto Abeokuta in Ogun State with the theme ‘EVERGEEN OAK’ and as usual, top celebrities as well as highly celebrated theatre practitioners would be in their numbers. The tension amongst nominated awardees in high as everyone believes in their dreams and crave to emerge winners. Nevertheless, it is a free and fair selection left to the judges, some of which are: Mr Charles Inoje, Mr Segun Adefila, Mr Bimbo Manuel, Chief. Femi Branch, Ms Joke Muyiwa, Ms Judith Audu, Mr Rogers Ofime, Mr Shaibu Husseini, and Mr Muyiwa Osinaike.
The year’s award is going to be exploding with lots of theatrical performances, exhibitions of dexterity, fun, music, and media coverage from various TV and media stations.
