THE 10th edition of the Jos Festival of Theatre will happen in the Tin City from March 7 to 12, at the premises of the Alliance Francaise. Organised annually by the Jos Repertory Theatre (JRT), the theme this year is A Decade of Telling Stories.
It will feature six plays – August Wilson’s ‘Fences], Federico Garcia Lorca’s ‘Yerma’ (with the Embassy of Spain), Bode Sowande’s ‘The Night Before’, Jaromir Erben’s ‘Kytice’ (with the Czech Embassy), Wole Soyinka’s ‘Childe Internationale’ and Aime Cesaire’s ‘The Tragedy of King Christophe’, which is making its debut in the festival.
There will be a series of workshops, with the highlight being the acting / play creating workshop which will be facilitated by Segun Adefila of the Crown Troupe of Africa; filmmaking workshops, which will be done in collaboration with Watershed Entertainment, Arts Management and Dance classes. All workshops will hold during the day, with performances taking place in the evenings.
This year’s festival is made possible by the US Mission, Nigeria alongside other supporters like ICAF, IPAT, (who are supporting three of the actors); Grand Cereals Limited, Jos Business School, and other individuals.
The plays deal with a variety, of issues aimed at encouraging dialogue and communication.
Jos Repertory Theatre was founded in 1997 as a not-for-profit independent theatre organisation. Full programme implementation began in 2000. Engaged in activities ranging from play/poetry readings, production of scripted plays, JRT also produces theatre-for-development plays.