The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi has unveiled plans for the December edition of Moremi the musical: Reloaded, which boasts of more cultural spectacle. Yinka Olatunbosun reports
House of Oduduwa is ready to present the third edition of Moremi the musical during the Christmas holidays. That was gathered during a recent meet and greet with the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi at Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The musical which is based on the story of a heroine who made a personal sacrifice for her race in the face of vicious attacks has paraded faces of Nollywood alongside some other theatre artists in its previous editions. This time, Moremi the Musical will be performed at the Lagos Continental Hotel,Victoria Island with a cast that is a mix of the old and new.
Oba Ogunwusi spoke on the need to bring back the story to the theatre audience.
“Moremi speaks for the stronger gender- the female. I decided to put my weight behind women empowerment and leadership. I want to use stories like this in form of theatre, movies and man-power development to encourage the girl-child to appreciate the strength of a woman. Moremi is a movement not just a theatre,” Ooni declared.
He added that although the international community is anxious to receive the musical, the production team is keen on refining the production. He observed that women are still discriminated against in the society and at the workplaces.
“They call them all sort of names and that they belong to a particular room. But they are very strong. Moremi is a liberty heroine. Other heroines came after her,” Ooni remarked.
Asides the reloaded costumes, the musical will have more folkloric songs that are rich in oral history of the Yoruba race, originally referred to as the “Ife” people.
“Based on experience when I go abroad, I realise that the foreigners are used to contemporary music. But when you play our traditional music, they are very happy. The reason is to prepare us for a marketable export; to make Moremi the musical an exportable product. It is will be a proudly Nigerian production that will travel around the world,” he revealed.
Oba Ogunwusi looks forward to the time when arts in Nigeria will earmn that prestigious status that is obtainable in many developed economies.
The cultural ambassador, Princess Ronke Ademiluyi has explained that the reloaded edition of Moremi the musical, produced by the House of Oduduwa will be staged for the first time at an unconventional stage to adapt the material for any theatre space. She was in company of a handful of the cast who were warmly received by the Ooni. They include Rotimi At eleven, Chidi Okeke, Julius Obende and Joshua Alabi.
