The Bite Magazine - Autmn/Winter 2020 - Issue 28

bitetheatre A three-actor play, the main charac- ters of Agbeke, Omotola and Ara- mide tell a story of four generations of strong-willed women as mothers and daughters, spanning across seven decades living in both Nigeria and the United Kingdom as Nigerians, using narration, monologues, dance, cultural poetry, song and movement. Intertwined are their stories as we witness how the complicated familial relationships of Nige- rian and first-generation British-borns become when faced with challenges that are unique to the immigration movements and see where tra- dition and culture clash with Western nuances and ideals. Mixed into that are certain oppressions, wom- en of yesteryear have had to endure in cultural stances of polygamy, feminist prejudices due to natural inabilities, and having to be forced to endure the sins of the father past. Stories that re- main unfortunately relatable to those that have undergone the same or similar emigrational ex- periences as women; stories that still bear a re- flection on today’s society, though, one could ar- gue, not by as much; and stories that some may roll their eyes at and chuckle as they reminisce old-school cultures and typicalities of Western Nigeria, if not indeed, of Africa. The stage opens to a starkly scene of house and tree, where we are introduced to 11-year-old Agbeke during the late 1950s (played by Ayo- Dele Edwards) who lives in an Ibadan village, West Nigeria, and who both narrates and acts her story interspersed with action from the other characters in the form of Agbeke’s moth- er, Bishop (Agbeke’s father) and an Iya-alasho (cloth-woman/seller and grandmother to Ag- beke) visiting from Ilesha, played out by the other two actresses. Throughout the entire play, all supporting char- acters of each story are played by each of the other two actresses. As this is quite a few peo- ple (thirty-five in total), I don my hat to each Theatre Review Here’sWhatS

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