Prof Binebai’s Drama, Ogirijoga To Hit NDU As Convocation Drama On Friday  In Bayelsa

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By Binebai Princewill

As Niger Delta University, NDU in Bayelsa State prepares for its 5th convocation ceremony, the Department of Theatre Arts of the institution has concluded arrangements to stage a novelty drama, titled Ogirijoga, written by one of Niger Delta finest literary genius Prof. Benedict Binebai.

According to information made available to newsmen in Yenagoa, capital of Bayelsa State by authorities within the institution but preferred not to be mentioned in print, a copy of which was sent to The Liberator Newspaper, noted that the drama will be staged on Friday 24th of January 2020 at the department of Theatre Arts.

It would be recalled that the historically and culturally rooted drama about Iduwini Kingdom in Bayelsa State will be directed by the playwright, Prof. Benedict Binebai.

Prof. Benedict Binebai is a professor of Drama, Dramatic Theory and Criticism.

However, Prof. Binebai, the Niger Delta University Orator had also invited members of the general public, particularly Niger Deltans to massively show up for the drama presentation, stressing that the play is well positioned to keep audience entertained.

According to the playwright, the drama is rich in history, language, culture and indeed a huge contribution to knowledge in the literary world, stressing that there is never a dull moment in each of the scenes or movements of the play.

A note about the play by the playwright reads in full below:

FROM THE PLAYWRIGHT/ DIRECTOR

The eponymous title, Ogirijoga, a special aesthetic agency of communication dramatises the ancient 15th century king of Iduwini kingdom in Bayelsa State. In the direction of the play, the history of the hosting of Prince Ginuwa and significance in the evolutionary history of the Itsekiri ethnic nation is put into consideration.

Ogirijoga brings to the audience an aesthetic appeal by combining the performative and non performative arts of the theatre for its full realization on stage. It is essentially, a record of Iduwini memory of historical past and presents a theatre of historical and cultural specific with the rhythmic flow of spectacle, language and movement, deeply rooted in the cultural foundations of Iduwini kingdom.

We act as writers and actors, as costumiers, as light and set designers, as make-up artists, as sound managers and music directors, this time, from below, deploying the speaking back energy to spread the history of Ijaw nation, precisely Bayelsa and particularly Iduwini Kingdom in Ekeremor Local Government area of Bayelsa State on the creative table of our theatre today. Through the high voltage enchanted dynamo of the theatre we invoke the roaring sound of the sea and wind, storm and thunder, and the animist power of mortal kings, to the stage through sight and sound of technical and technological maneuvers in artistry, not to destroy humanity, but to build and regenerate an action packed semiotised bold and long forgotten story along the lane of historicism.

As audience you will experience an endless link between the emotions of the characters with your emotions. You will experience through cerebral activism, this drama as an artistic province where historical veracity and reality reside. Through its glaring and strong subtleties of aesthetics, you will encounter unvoiced messages and meta-messages and even be prompted to asked voiced and unvoiced intra-personal or inter-personal questions. In this performance the true meaning of the play bubbles beneath verses, actions, narration and insinuations provided by the totality of the direction, performance and performativity consequences of the production.

The production of Ogirijoga as 5TH Convocation Ceremony drama of Niger Delta University does not only contribute to the preservation of history and the celebration of intersection between theatre arts, History, Culture, Archeology, Anthropology Science and Technology but also adds value to the deeper indulgence of the humanistic ingress of historical drama in the Niger Delta.

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