Organisers are applying ‘finishing touches’ to this year’s edition of Jos Annual Theatre Festival which has been slated for the second week of March.
The theme of the five-day festival is: “Building Connections.”
A number of big sponsors have lined up for the festival which expected to ‘mesmerise’ and enthuse the people of the city. The sponsors are the United State’s Mission in Nigeria, Grand Cereals Limited, the International Performer’s Aid Trust, Jos Business School, and the Czech Embassy.
The festival has fast become a nurturing ground for Nigerian artists to showcase their talents and creativity through a Nigerian and international repertory.
This year’s festival will feature riveting plays, as well as a variety of workshops for the arts community. There will be trainings in acting, dance, film production, and arts management which will take place during the day while theatrical performances take place in the evenings.
Chairman, Jos Business School, Ezekiel Gomos, will lead one of the workshops on artistes and managing their finances during the festival.
The workshops will include facilitators from Lagos, Kaduna and Jos respectively.
Two American classics will feature in the festival. These are Edward Albee’s Who is Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and August Wilson’s Seven Guitars. These plays have earned their place in the history of American Theatre. Who is Afraid of Virginia Woolf? rates as one of the longest running plays on Broadway. Jerry Alagbaoso returns to the festival with his latest play, Let My Husband Be, a satire on households and the machinations of extramarital affairs with a generous dose of religious expectations.
Professor Femi Osofisan’s play, A Restless Run of Locusts, is on the festival playlist with its study of politics, politicians and the extent they go to win elections.
A critically acclaimed playright from Niger state Yahaya Dangana, will also feature in the festival with The Emir’s Secret, a story about betrayal, court secrets and abuse of power.
The 14th Jos Festival of Theatre 2020 is marking the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Jos based Theatre outfit which has performed over 100 plays in its period of existence alongside other activities that have made the organisation to be relevant within the Arts.
