Olu's ghosts revisits stage!!

Feelings of spiritual reunion with ancestors filled the hall. Memebers of the audience held their breadths watching the performance. Indeed, for every descendant of Itsekiri that thronged the Brownhill Events Centre, Ogunu, to watch this, the ghost of Olu Akengbuwa, the celebrated 16th Olu of Warri who reigned between 1795 and 1848 AD, is being re-evoked on stage as the new Olu of Warri, Ogiame Ikenwoli, marks his one year on the throne. Olu Akengbuwa (the 16th) was the last Warri monarch before the 88 years interregnum in Warri Kingdom. He was the longest occupier of the Warri throne and the wealthiest of all the Olus of his time. The historical play, written and produced by Comrade Alex Eyengho, was first staged two years ago as part of activities that marked the 28th anniversary of the coronation of the late Warri monarch, His Majesty, Ogiame Atuwatse II. The performance reconnected the people with their past. Particularly, the monarch could not hide his excitement after watching the play as he right away endorsed it as part of the integral activities that will be lined up for the yearly anniversary of his coronation. For him, it was a historical play that took him on a dramatic journey into the past, reliving memories of the time past. •The producer of the play, Alex Eyengho, with the cast on stage The play is about the intriguing incidents that created a lacuna in the historical trajectory of the Warri Monarchical system, when for 88 years the Kingdom had no King. Historians link two of such incidents as immediate cause of the 88 years interregnum in Warri Kingdom: A curse placed on the Kingdom by a certain herbalist from Ife, Oyo Empire, and a pronouncement by Olu Akengbuwa against his son, Prince Omateye. Recall that Ejike Asiegbu, who played the role of Olu Akengbuwa, when it was first staged about two years ago, got a royal blessing from the late Majesty, Ogiame Atuwatse II who fell in love with his role interpretation skills. But late last year, when the play was staged again, every member of the cast got a pat on the back, an indication that the play was well received by the audience. As explained by Eyengho, Olu Akengbuwa is actually a project titled ‘Warri Monarchs’ Play Series’. “The concept is that every year, during the annual anniversary of the coronation of the Olu of Warri, we will stage a world-class play about the story of any of the past 18 Olus of Warri with a view to informing, educating and entertaining the teeming guests at the annual event about the historical trajectory of the Itsekiri people and their monarchical system. The first in the series is the story of Olu Akengbuwa, the 16th Olu of Warri who reigned between 1795 and 1848 AD,” Eyengho stated. It is believed that the people called Itsekiri today are descendants of a collection of different groups who settled in the vicinity of the Benin, Forcados and Escravos Rivers in present day Nigeria. With the arrival of Prince Ginuwa from Benin Kingdom in the late fourteenth century, a monarchy was superimposed on these groups, thus giving birth to the now pristine Warri Kingdom with Prince Ginuwa as the first Olu of Warri. According to Eyengho, “the monarch was very excited at the performance. He supported the project and endorsed it as an integral part of his annual anniversary as Warri monarch. The Warri monarch play series is not about telling the story of a particular past Olu of Warri, but also, it is about the story of some of the late legends in Warri kingdom apart from the Olus. There are a lot of legends in Warri, for instance, the Nana of Niger Delta and others. We are already looking forward this year to the staging of Nana of Niger Delta, being one of the many legends. We are going to project the story of Nana of Niger Delta. His story is very intriguing. This is a man who stood up against British imperialism of which many scholars have done a lot of research. “Now, live theatre is creeping back into Delta State because it was virtually dead before we started this project last year. It is to bring people back to the consciousness that the creative industry does not start and end with Nollywood or soap opera on TV. The creative industry, as far as acting is concern, also extends to stage performances. Before now, stage culture was dead in Delta State.” The play features the likes of Ejike Asiegbu, Nobert Young, Raphael-Niyi Stevens, Victoria Ajomeyinje and others. ***prbxselfnetwork***