Terra Kulture Arena opens with fanfare

Arts mogul, Bolanle Austen-Peters, fills a significant void in Nigeria’s theatre industry with the inauguration of the Terra Kulture Arena in Victoria Island, Lagos.

IT was a magical evening last Saturday when Terra Kulture Arena, the world class, state of the art 400-seat theatre built by the enterprising arts mogul and producer, Bolanle Austen-Peters, was inaugurated.

A small space that had hitherto played host to book events, theatrical  productions and served as rehearsals venue for Austen-Peters’ productions, its transformation was as spectacular as the atmosphere on the evening.

Even before compere, Olisa Adibua, told guests to get ready to be “entertained royally” at the theatre he noted that it was “built for the present and future of Nigerian theatre and musical,” they knew it was going to be a fun evening with the breathtaking opening glee. It featured the arresting ‘Saro’ theme song and a parade of gaily costumed artists and dancers. But it was only the tip of the iceberg; more delightful performances were presented before the evening ended.

In a brief address before the night was surrendered to performances, Austen-Peters thanked God for the successful completion of the project but admitted that constructing the theatre wasn’t a piece of cake. “It wasn’t easy putting this together but I must say I had the best team in the world to work with. The band led by Ayo Ajayi and the choreography team have been excellent. It was difficult to do this as I didn’t even have the money,” she said.

The producer of Wakaa added that she succeeded through sheer determination and drawing strength from her pool of young but talented staff members. “I feel good surrounded by young people, their passion and quest to succeed.  I have been fortunate to work with excellent and brilliant young people who are committed to what they do. I get creative energy from interacting with them,” said Austen-Peters, who didn’t fail to acknowledge her mum sat in the audience.

“I also want to thank my mum; she’s strong because she was in the military and she raised us to be strong. I hope everybody will support us; young people need support and all this is to push this country forward,” she said.

A choral presentation, not unlike a Negro spiritual, followed thereafter with the choir expressing gratitude for the successful completion of the edifice. The lead singer who also doubled as a pastor and the choir members did some dances that would have got them into trouble in a real church.

The event flowed on smoothly with a short documentary on Terra Kulture’s positive interventions in Nigeria’s arts scene. It featured mainly testimonials by the likes of art patron Yemisi Shyllon, artist Kolade Osinowo, the architect and designer, Jess Castelotte, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank, Bola Adesola, Professor Wole Soyinka and artists Dolapo Oni, Bimbo Manuel and  A’rese Emokpae, among others on how Terra Kulture has become a game changer.

After this came a scene from ‘Saro’ while guests who didn’t know what went down when ‘Wakaa’ showed in London were shown a scene from the production.  The Ayo Ajayi-led band later did South African number ‘Shosholoza’that featured gumboot dance and Zulu dancers.They capped off the segment with some of their own compositions including ‘EkoMi’.

Guests didn’t leave the inauguration, a two-day affair that also happened on Sunday, without a snippet from ‘Fela and the Kalakuta Queens,’ Austen-Peters’ latest feature that will show throughout December.

Fittingly, it wasn’t only the eyes and ears of guests that were catered for at the inauguration; there were also some gastronomic delights. People were treated to drinks by Scavi and Ray and an exquisite array of canapés in the new ultra-modern lounge before the theatre’s doors were flung opened.