ENGAGING THEME-BASED THEATRICAL PERFORMANCES; AN EXAMPLE OF THE PLAY ADAPTATION, TRANSGRESSION

Abstract

Beyond the ambience created by good lighting, the flamboyance of costumes and the mood created by sound; the director of a play production and his crew must also grapple with the central idea or the quality of the message that members of the audience would take home with them when they leave the Theatre. The craving for Theatre/Cinema managers and show promoters to sacrifice content at the altar of aesthetics creates a vacuum that must be filled if the Theatre and indeed the entertainment industry must continue to play its role of mirroring society. The art of Adaptation, thus allows for the ‘transportation’ of content-laden themes into new mediums such that veritable experiences and lessons are not lost and altogether serve as motivations for new ways of thinking and practice. Linda Seger’s theory of Condensation and Expansion is engaged as an approach in modifying original materials to induce new artistic perspectives while illuminating emerging societal concerns. The Unizik Theatre production, Transgression as put up by 2020/2021 300-level Adaptation students was evaluated as the primary source of data. Findings show that the creative exploration and delivery of themebased art forms through the instrumentality of adaptation portends far-reaching positive outcomes in the entertainment industry, especially in addressing socio-economic challenges and the question of leadership in Nigeria.