Tuesday, 28 April 2015

The Return of Saro Gladdens the Stage

Saro the Musical2 hits the stage of Lagos with the finest and most electrifying performance from 100 casts in sharing the lifestyles of the Lagosians before and after the colonial era evoked a sounding and irresistible standing ovation from the spectators…Rebecca Ejifoma writes

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Saro on Stage
Dressed like the Egyptian women in colourfully patterned silk apparel, they trickled on to the stage and displayed how in Lagos, SARO came about. This entertaining and inspiring opening paved the way for SARO2 the Musical.
First, it gave Nigerians a memorable Christmas when it staged at the Shell Hall of Muson Centre, Onikan Lagos in December 2014. It is, indeed, a play to remember for spectators, who saw it from Wednesday April 1 to Monday 6 as an Easter Entertainment.
Its plot begins with four ambitious young men in their early 20s, who sojourn to Lagos for greener pastures having heard of the milk and honey flowing on her soil. Of coure, Lagos the multi-ethnic state, they have heard countless times, is full of varying opportunities and liberty. Even while in jail they didn’t allow their talent to waste. They open their destiny and sing to the hearing of all; that which became a breakthrough for them.
So, for these dreamers (Obaro, Efe, Laitan and Azeez), their ultimate goal was to “blow” through their music career. Hence, they strive to make a success of their stories with their mellifluous voices fused into one! And, their hilarious performances simply keep the show on the move.
Swiftly, there comes the excitement on their faces when they enter the land of Excellence, Eko oni baje on the heels of ‘Welcome to Lagos’! At that moment, the glare of the never-ending gridlock, the hustling and the rugged street life of her citizens stares at these young men like movie. And, gladly they embrace her lifestyle without anxiety.
 
So, they make their way to Lagos, where they count the storey-buildings and admire the aesthetics of the land. Soon they are welcomed by the loads of touts, who not only tasked them of ‘looking-fee’ but also carted away with their luggage and all they came with.
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Neatly woven into the present day society, Saro tells the history of the Nigerian culture and her love for music. It entails Nigeria’s rich musical history, her spruce attire couple with some Nigerian hits of the 80s and 90s, while also delivering its own composed music with fine lyrics as a side flavour for the play.
 
Interestingly, Saro2 is able to blend Fuji and contemporary music alongside awesomely choreographed dance styles and breath-taking stunts from the casts who displayed such attractive dexterity. The choice of costume is extra-ordinary.
Musically built on about 21 acts with 100 casts, the settings is in Lagos and Delta state. There is use of the English Language, the Nigerian English and a few vernacular including Yourba and Urhobo but its style of dancing cut across the most beautiful cultural aesthetic of Nigeria. There were the Yoruba attire, the Hausa, the Niger Delta, the Igbos among others.
 
Tightly seated for about three hours, the mood lightning sedated the atmosphere warmly. And, with the acts and scenic view of the backdrops, both romantic and struggles, it only reminds one of the events that happened before and after the advent of the Colonial Lords. It did not only reel a Fela’s music to the spectators but also pinned them with Davido’s latest Aye, which of course, they sang along.
 
Saro2 the musical demonstrated such piercing and emotional songs that as Laitan (Patrick Diabuah) sings sonorously to Oghenebrume not to forget him, “Magba gbe mi”, lovers and couples glued to themselves like a Night of rekindling passion under the mood lightning of the hall. It was an emotional scene and act of social imbalance that has come to disrupt the two lovers.
 
In all, there is no gainsaying then that Bolanle Austen-Peters, the producer, is truly the Royal Highness of theatre. She is the founder of Terra Kulture Art Gallery sited on the hamlet of Victoria Island; it is known for promoting African culture and heritage. This play gave Lagosians a memorable Easter to ease the tension of silence that had beleaguered the Lagos city after the 2015 general elections across the country.
Prolific actors like Gideon Okeke, Dolapo Oni and movie veteran Bimbo Manuel are among the casts.
No doubt, it was a show of music of many types and sounds such as jazz, afro-beat, hip-hop, highlife, juju, apala and such other contemporary Nigerian music genres alongside well-choreographed dance steps. Songs like “Guitar Boy”, “Water no get enemy”, “Wherever I go”, “This na temptation”, “Wo ju” and “Sina Peter’s o fe se juju” among countless others.
For the less than three hours it lasted, spectators were amused as they pinned to their seats without perturbing, sipping their cans of drinks and taking quick shots with their mobile phones. Even their expression at the drawing of the curtain reminds one of Oliver Twist. It was their sigh for more Saro the Musical! “This will continue. Come alongside your friends and watch Saro the Musical,” she urged
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