The joy of theatre

IT was positively surreal to experience tranquility of the heart, relaxation of the mind, and to see refreshing candour and grit in the attitudes of a segment of Nigerians for just three hours on Sunday, October 22 when the Minna Choral Society gave a public concert to mark its ninth anniversary at the U.K. Bello Arts Theatre.

The three-hour spell in the bowl of a crumbling edifice left one with what the meaning of the admonition to Christians to carry on in the face of adversities meant.

Though times are hard and Minna is not a town with a particular flourish, Christian theatre-goers who had each paid N300 for a ticket began filling the hall before 4p.m.

What impressed me the most was that these theatre-goers considered this Sunday afternoon affair a family thing and came with their wives and boisterous kids, all ready to be entertained by a wonderful choir whose repertoire was a song list in Nigeria’s native languages.

For a moment, as the programmes wound on and we all did hearty cheers for the performers on stage, I momentarily lapsed into the sweet fantasy that this was a dream and I could not be in Minna enjoying myself and finding satisfaction in the fact that others were also enjoying themselves in the midst of hardships and threats to life and property.

My bountiful joy was the happiness that all the kids exuded and the strong family bond that a one-wife union creates.

No man who had more than one wife would ever walk in there with his family in tow and expect all his kids to sit on his lap and rest on his bosom and drift in and out of chatter, cheers and laughter.

The only pain I felt was that some Nigerians, because of religious restrictions and injunctions, would not be able to enjoy a fun-filled family outing like this one.