RECONSTRUCTING ROBUST AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION IN LIVE THEATRE IN NIGERIA IS THE BUSINESS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS (original) (raw)

As a matter of fact, theatre practice in Nigeria has not been really vibrant over the years. This is the position live theatre and other live performances have found themselves; a platform where they have lost their patronage. The challenge may not be that the Nigerian theatre has failed to reform itself or has remained stagnant. Indeed, the Nigerian theatre has gone through transformation and innovations over the years. The issue remains that live theatre has not enjoyed a wide patronage from the audience especially with the popularity of home videos, films, cable television and social media. Enendu (2012) cited in Edet (2015) juxtaposes and assesses theatre over the years in terms of content and he concludes that: " A close look at and assessment of Nigerian theatre in the twenty-first century perhaps shows convincing indications of developmental trends when compared with the theatre of the pre-independence era.... Without doubt, there has been considerable development in Nigerian theatre practice over the years. " However, the bone of contention and cause for concern still remains the dwindling turnout of audiences to live theatre productions. One may wonder why live theatre and perhaps other live performances are very significant. If the audiences merely gloss over and do not patronize them, why not maintain the status quo? The answer can readily be obtained in the fact that in this era of globalization, it is necessary for a people to assert themselves and announce their presence in the global space or they go into obscurity and oblivion. One potent avenue of achieving this feat is through live performances including theatre. Through live theatre and other live performances, the world view, perceptions, wishes, aspirations and indeed the culture of the people are reflected and transmitted to the benefit of the local and foreign concerns, who imbibe and perhaps practice same. All these are part and parcel of culture and parameters of delineating between one people and another. Live theatre and other live performances are constituents of culture, desire and demand expression and exhibition, else they are lost. Johnson (2014) indicates that " A people without culture are a people without identity and a people without identity are those with a predictable destiny called extinction ". So without the exhibition of our culture; the totality of our ways of life, we may go into extinction. Live theatre is a constituent and an acclaimed veritable vehicle in the task of exhibiting cultures. To this end, the role of live theatre performance in political, economic, educational, social development of a nation cannot be overemphasized. Live theatre is also a veritable tool of socializing young ones from one generation to another. It can be used to teach the history of Nigeria to young people in schools and other places. Suffice it to say that one technique to reconstruct robust audience in live theatre in Nigeria is through public relations activities.