Lagos Theatre Festival to return for fifth edition

The fifth edition of the Lagos Theatre Festival is set to hold from February 27 to March 4, 2018.

The festival which will hold across various centres in Lagos is organised by British Council, the United Kingdom’s cultural organisation.

“We want to encourage more experimental works in unconventional spaces and foster more inclusion with this edition of the festival which will feature performances, a carnival, workshops and variety evening shows in 6 days,” Kenneth Uphopho, director of Lagos Theatre Festival, said in a statement.

“Our series of build-up activities to engage audiences and stakeholders towards the delivery of the festival have already commenced, so the festival has already started.”

The 2017 edition featured over 80 events at 16 venues across Lagos.

According to the statement, most of the works presented at the festival received commendable reviews and referrals to participate in other projects and festivals across the world.

“One of such is ‘Strelitzia’, an experiential poetry and art installation project which was produced by Poedio Productions and premiered at the last edition of the festival.”

Ojoma Ochai, British Council’s head of arts in West Africa, expressed hopes that stories entered in the 2018 edition will record success.

“From inception, one major vision of the Lagos Theatre Festival has been to enable an experimental platform of expression for theatre producers and performers, and companies and individuals who participated in past editions of the festival have been giving success testimonials. We hope to make more of such stories in 2018.”

Application for participation in the fringe stand of the festival will close by midnight, Monday, September 18 and shortlisted applications will receive responses on Monday, October 6.