Is Nigerian Theatre Ready for Another Pandemic?

Recently, I was chatting with a group of theatre friends online and I brought up this question. What if another pandemic happens this year?

And the reactions were (with different shock emojis):

“Hello, another pandemic?”

“But we just survived one and suffered through it.”

“How can you talk about another pandemic? It must be a joke.”

No, it isn’t. It’s a simple question: are we ready for the next pandemic?

I was studying for my masters in the theatre arts at the University of Lagos, when the COVID-19 pandemic struck Nigeria, and eventually led to a lockdown. During that period, they shut down some productions I was hoping to watch.

Theatre schools across Nigeria struggled with running practical courses that were worth a good mark for the students. The pandemic put so many things about theatre on hold.

But people found new ways to keep theatre alive through virtual productions. The first Lagos Virtual Theatre Festival took place during this period and was a success.

However, the pandemic lockdown has been over for about two years now. We have all forgotten about the uncomfortable but sound health protocols of that period.

To some of my friends in theatre practice, the pandemic is history now, and they are happy they survived.

But…

And it will.

This is not a prediction of doom for the world. Studies have shown that more epidemics will occur and we will experience more lockdowns during this century because of globalization.

One major aspect of globalization is that the more accessible it is to move around the world, the easier it is for diseases to spread.

I found out more about the risk of globalization while researching for my MA thesis on the problems and prospects of theatre practice in Nigeria’s post-pandemic lockdown.

Many theatre practitioners don’t want to talk about it. And it’s not just in Nigeria. Most theatre artistes prefer to enjoy seeing people gather again in theatre halls and hope we never experience such in our lifetime.

But we should think about it, and work out ways to build a theatre practice that can withstand such periods.

We live in a digital age, so pandemic lockdowns should not affect theatre practice as badly as they did during the times of Shakespeare.

Those guys shut down the theatre many times because of the reoccurring black plague even Shakespeare spent that time writing poetry. If only he could stream Romeo and Juliet or King Lear online.

We should take full advantage of technology to provide different avenues to access theatrical performances.

As the Nigerian government began easing lockdown protocols, and theatre venues opened up across the country, it was common to see theatre companies allow audiences to either watch the performance at the venue or online.

Seeing performance flyers with fees for both live and virtual excited me. But once the lockdown was totally over, this practice stopped,

I think it shouldn’t.

Rather, we should keep the practice going and make it part of the Nigerian theatre culture. That way, whenever a lockdown occurs, we can simply switch to virtual mode and keep the practice going.

If the show must go on, no matter the disease ravaging the world, virtual performances are key to making it happen.

And if we allow people access to performance through the internet, then we would have a ready culture whenever a pandemic occurs.

What that means is that theatre companies won’t have to beg people to pay and watch performances online during a lockdown.

Indeed, hosting a virtual performance can be quite expensive, but if we don’t incorporate it into the performance, we may never learn ways to host such performances at a cheaper cost.

It is a situation that benefits everyone involved. If we can build a culture where audiences around the world pay to watch live performances, then Nigerian theatre companies can earn extra money.

In the event of another lockdown, most theatre companies can use virtual performances to meet their financial needs.

If we build and sustain this mix of presenting theatrical performances, we will be one step ahead when another pandemic comes.

And it’s coming, says the guys at the UN, but nobody knows when. So let’s be ready.

Originally published at https://ladipotitiloye.substack.com.