Nigerian Women Challenged to Unlock Full Potential with ‘No More Shrinking’ Play

Sunday Okobi

Dr. Abiola Salami, a renowned performance strategist and author, has stated that through his book ‘No More Shrinking’, and its stage adaptation, he wants to empower Nigerian women as well as challenge them to unlock their potential.

 Speaking at a media briefing held yesterday in  Lagos, Salami said the initiative goes beyond celebrating women, adding that it is designed to drive leadership development and economic growth.

The stage play, Salami said, is to commemorate International Women’s Day.

The story, which explores subtle ways women are conditioned to reduce their visibility and ambition, also captured the emotional ways of shrinking in professional and public spaces.

According to him, the stage play, ‘No More Shrinking – The Stage Experience’, is aimed at humanising the book further, using the combination of theatre, music, and dance to raise awareness among women about the unconscious compromises they make.

The actors and organisers explain that the play stays close to the spirit of the book, using dialog and character-driven scenes to portray the tension between fear and self-assertion.

The stage production will take place on March 28 at Terra Kulture in Lagos, featuring actors like Imoh Eboh, Chinonso Young Umesiobi, Tosin Adeyemi, Uche Elumelu, Miriam Peters, and Joy Nmezi, and directed by Austine Onuoha.

According to Dr. Salami, the inspiration behind the book and stage play stems from his experience coaching senior women executives across various industries, where he noticed a common trend of women compromising their potential due to cultural conditioning, leading to “shrinking”, and affecting their performance and growth.

He disclosed that: “Over the past 13 plus years, I’ve had the privilege of coaching senior executives, C-level women across different industries, financial services, technology, and even some in the government. And I’ve noticed a common trend that the woman, yes, she is powerful and she is occupying that kind of position, but there are moments when, because of culture, because of conditioning, she makes certain compromises that make her shrink, and when she shrinks, it affects her performance and her growth.”

Dr. Salami continued: “It’s not because they lack competence or intelligence but because of culture, conditioning, and compromise that is normalised, so they are playing small. And when women shrink, organisations lose innovation, families lose confidence, and nations lose economic power.”

He stressed that the initiative should not be mistaken for a women’s event, adding: “This is not a women’s event. It is a leadership and economic growth platform. Because when women operate at full capacity, companies perform better. When women lead boldly, institutions grow stronger. When women stop shrinking, economies expand.”

Describing the production, he said: “It is a stage experience, a fusion of drama, music, and dance. It is not powered by ideas alone. It is powered by voices, stories, characters, and courage.”

Also speaking at the briefing, the Director of the stage play, Austine Onuoha, said the project is a visual and entertainment-driven interpretation of the book.

He said: “Until you see it, you cannot understand. So, you probably read the book. Now you’re about to see everything on a different platform. And as Dr. Salami said, it is a mixture of a lot of things. When you see the visual, they are usually different from what you read, but it still remains the same. It is just that this time around, there is going to be entertainment, and that is part of what we are offering with this stage experience.”

On her part, Eboh said: “First of all, I was reading the book (the entire book) and looking at the lives of different Nigerian women. I thought about taking it just for the entertainment, but it goes beyond that.”

Young also stated that: “When I first got the book, I wanted to wait for the script to come out, but the director insisted that all actors must read the book. We all read the book. When I started reading it, I was like, ‘Okay, some women go through this. But then I got to a chapter that literally pulled me, like I was almost to tears. That is to tell you how intense, how emotionally provoking the book is. You can literally relate to the book.”