Nigerian playwright Onyeka Iwuchukwu wants to write about social issues
Nigerian playwright and professor of literature Onyeka Iwuchukwu will be a visiting professor at Uniarts Helsinki’s Theatre Academy in 2024. She will give a public lecture on 16 January.
“I am excited about going to Finland as it will give me an opportunity to interact with students from different cultural backgrounds. I will come to Uniarts Helsinki and I will empty my cup of African cultural and theatrical experience to the students. Then I will fill up my cup with Finnish theatrical and cultural experience and bring it home with me,” says Professor Onyeka Iwuchukwu.
“The students will get an African perspective of theatre, and it will be a memorable experience for them. I believe, as we say in Igbo culture: A person who travels is wiser than a man with grey hair. It is good to learn from other cultures,” she continues.
Iwuchukwu’s career started at the University of Nigeria in Nsukka, where she studied English Literature and Drama.
“During my bachelor’s studies, we had to produce a short play for a directing course and I decided to write the play myself. I got a lot of positive feedbacks from my fellow students and teachers, and that encouraged me to continue writing plays.”
After Iwuchukwu graduated, she did what the Nigerians call youth service at a school. Even there, she produced her own play with the students.
“I produced a play that I wrote myself and all the students wanted a role in it. This helped me to expand the scope of the play. It was called “An Only Son” but published now as Sons for my Son. It has been produced several times. Over the years, I have been writing and staging my plays because I have a passion for theatre.”
Some of Iwuchukwu’s plays are quite political.
“I believe that writers should be the conscience of their societies. In my plays, I give a voice to the voiceless, criticise the ills that hinder development and progress and call on the people to challenge corrupt, wicked and depraved leadership in the nation. However, while I criticise, for example, the unemployment situation in my country, I also show some positive aspects of our culture,” Iwuchukwu says.
She writes only plays, not prose or poetry.
“I do not possess the talent for vivid description of characters in action, but I am at home with playwriting where everything is subsumed in dialogue. I just add short stage directions where necessary. Playwriting comes naturally for me. Sometimes I hear the characters talking in my head and I write it down. I don’t like prescriptive writing.”
Drama studies empowering women
Iwuchukwu finished her PhD at the University of Lagos. Today, she is a professor in the Department of English Language and Literature at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) where studies are offered off/on-line. The lecturers create on-line learning materials, and the students attend exams in their nearest study centres. Iwuchukwu is currently in Calabar Cross River State as the Director of NOUN’s Calabar Study Centre.
“Our students live all over Nigeria in urban areas and in the countryside. The University is called open because it has no limits in terms of age, gender or social status. It offers a very flexible platform for the acquisition of university education,” Iwuchukwu says.
Her research interests are related to her interests as a playwright.
“Most of my research works are focused on drama, social justice and women’s empowerment issues. I am a woman and a researcher, but I have decided to remain objective in portraying women’s issues. I also want to empower women to be assertive. I have postulated a feminist theory, which is “focu-feminism”, through which I encourage women to focus on themselves, and their own actions.”
Iwuchukwu continues that it is no longer relevant to continue blaming men.
“For instance, I am from Awka in Anambra State and in my cultural heritage, women as Umuokpu (daughters) are highly respected and they have a final say in almost everything in their community, but as wives their position is different. I stand for social justice for everyone and yearn for an egalitarian society.”
Universities offer some support for the Nigerian theatre culture
Iwuchukwu explains that in Nigeria, universities are the most important places to see theatre productions.
“You cannot talk about theatre in Nigeria without talking about colonialism. The colonialists brought with them education and the English language. The dramatists write mainly in English and produce the plays for the Western type of stage. The universities, therefore, house most of the stage production of plays. Students learn to produce plays and the lecturers, who are playwrights, also produce their plays that everyone can come and watch.”
At the National Open University of Nigeria, Iwuchukwu created the NOUN theatre.
“NOUN Theatre performs short, 20–30-minute plays mainly in the afternoons. In the current political situation, insecurity in Nigeria is very high, and many people do not want to go to theatre in the evenings. The play productions are no longer as vibrant as they used to be.”
“There is no democracy in Nigeria. Our leaders do not care for the people. There is only insecurity, instability and people are scared. That has had a severe negative impact on our arts and cultural life,” Iwuchukwu says.
Before the insecurity started, there used to be big cultural festivals in different parts of the country that even attracted tourists from abroad.
“In traditional performances, cultural groups perform in arena-type theatres where the performers are in the centre surrounded by the audience. This allows members of the audience to walk around the performers and get the most out of the entertainment. Hence, the Igbo proverb, which says: “you don’t watch a masquerade from one position”. There also used to be a national festival of arts and culture featuring drama, poetry and other cultural performances with local features,” Iwuchukwu says.
Nigerians do not have easy access to books or theatre
Nigeria is a big, multicultural and multilingual country. The population is about 213 million and there are big cities like Lagos with about 14 million people.
“We are craving for unity in diversity. People who travel in Nigeria say that after every kilometre there is another language. However, in the literary scene, the medium of communication is predominantly English. Some authors write in their indigenous languages, but then it is difficult to access a wide audience. If you write books or plays in a local language, you become a local champion, but if you write in English, you can reach a global audience. I am Igbo and I inject some aspects of my language in my plays, but basically, I write in English,” Iwuchukwu says.
The reading public is very small. The majority of people are illiterate and do not speak English.
“Many Nigerians do not read books. We have a saying: “If you want to keep your money safe, hide it in a book. Nobody will find it”. Our younger generation is not interested in reading books. They are more interested in online engagements. The internet and social media have contributed adversely to the dwindling reading culture. Another issue is that the books are not easily available due to the adverse economic situation. However, we try to encourage reading via book readings, for example, at book clubs by writers associations, and school visits.”
Getting a play published is very difficult.
“If you are not a bestselling writer and if you are not writing for schools, it is very difficult. That is why many playwrights resort to self-publishing. I have also published my plays myself. If you want to be heard, that is what you must do.”
There is of course TV and Nollywood, the popular Nigerian movie industry.
“My latest play Enough is Enough was actually made into a movie titled I Believe, which was a great experience for me. I participated in the screenplay to produce the adapted script, and I learned that it is very different from playwriting. It is more painstaking but more lucrative. I have not had time to study scriptwriting. However, the movie was well received. I even had a cameo role in it – or as we say, a “waka-pass role,” Iwuchukwu smiles.
Professor Onyeka Iwuchukwu will give an open lecture on 16 January at 17.30–19, at White Studio, Mylly, Sörnäinen campus. Read more about the the open lecture.