“PAWPAW PALAVA” IBADAN THESPIANS MUST BE BOLD

The play PawPaw Palava was performed at the New Culture Studio on the 23rd of December 2023. The play is directed by Olawumi Ayodele & Emmanuel Orisumibare. 

I get uneasy anytime I’m about to see a stage play. I always hope nothing embarrassing happens. As an actor myself, I tend to put myself in the performer’s place. So, I took a look around the audience and saw that many were having more fun with their phones than with the performance. I observed this some minutes into the play and I started to sweat. 

I attended the play with my friend and colleague Moses Ipadeola. We had both experienced directing several plays as students in our theatre days at the University of Ibadan, and this would be our first time after many years seeing a play together. At the entrance, our tickets were checked by a lady who I soon realized was a guy when he spoke. His thick pretty voice shocked me a bit, I must confess. He picked out a stick-sweet,  a Yale Wafer Choc biscuit tucked inside a small red cup, and a bottle of water to go. 

I sat down to watch this play, sweating inside. Within minutes, it became clear that I was not enjoying myself. The play felt familiar and reminded me of Ola Rotimi’s “Grip Am” where God sends an angel to grant one wish to Ise, a troubled farmer and husband. But Ise’s only wish is that if anyone or anything climbs his orange tree and he says “Grip Am” the tree will grab the climber and not release its grip until he tells the tree to let go. Like “Grip Am” where the tree is the object of conflict, the Pawpaw tree in Ibironke Shalom’s “PawPaw Palava” is at the center of the play’s conflict. Two neighbours Papa Johnny (Atilola Omotehinse) and Papa Ejima (Elijah Adebayo) lay claim to the ownership of the tree’s fruit. The tree has its root in Papa Ejima’s side of the house and its stem pushes ripe pawpaw fruit into Papa Johnny’s compound. 

As they quarreled from one end of the stage to the other, dialogue veered into talks about dogs, humanity, infidelity, gardening, and a reference to Papa Johnny as “a man who keeps a fertile garden which is every woman’s dream”- quoting a female character (Temitope Agoro). 

You see, I knew all the actors – they are all acquaintances and colleagues. I’ve seen them in many plays and seen the wonders they perform on stage. But here I was, sweating, typing the thoughts of this review on my phone, half-listening. Had I given up on the play? Should I give it a chance…people were laughing now, but the reception faded as fast as it came, like a tired whistle. 

The turnout slowly rose and I caught an actor, while performing his lines, stealing glances at the faces trickling in. He was distracted. He started struggling with his delivery, and when that struggle starts, an actor tries harder and harder to find some footing. Desperately, he seeks help from his co-actors. If that help doesn’t come, a new problem emerges –  the lines become repetitive and the tempo & rhythm of the play is butchered. I watched the actors struggle among themselves, wondering who would save the play. I wondered if one actor contemplated leaving the stage, to perhaps run backstage to peep the script. That would be fun, I guess. 

Gradually, as the play progressed, the actors’ movements shifted into the audience. This movement always works because the audience feels attacked, and uncomfortable, so they usually drop their phones and pay attention, asking themselves why the actors are intruding. The newly manufactured intimacy helped sustain some tempo but, again, it didn’t last.

Emmanuel “Emmylyskillz” Orisumibare, the creator of Stage Alive, has written, produced, and directed over 10 plays. He is a passionate theater practitioner and has contributed immensely to the growth of theatre in Ibadan. He has introduced the theatre to new audiences and new audiences to theatre.

Performing in the historic New Culture Theatre requires actors with enough presence to bend the audience to their will, to make them evoke large emotions, keep them away from their phones, away from their trouble, and help them escape into the drama they have come to experience. Any director bringing their play here must know this. 

The play ended while I was munching my Yale Waferchoc biscuit. The audience clapped to encourage the actors but it was clear they wanted more. They stayed polite and kind but clearly, it wasn’t worth the end of the year/ Christmas experience. They will have to find the release somewhere else. 

It’s been a while since I saw or wrote about a play. But one thing is sure, theatre in Ibadan is going to be explosive soon, and playmakers must be bold and ready.