Experts ask FG to revamp National Arts Theatre complex

Experts in the Arts and Culture sector has called on federal government to give the National Arts Theatre a facelift in an efforts to keep it alive, urging, the theatre current state requires government’s urgent attention, while expecting tourism practitioners to widen the scope of art.

They experts who spoke exclusively to Daily Times during the visit at the Artists Village, yesterday, said, the theatre problem is lack of attention, as that was a glaring negative impact on Arts and Culture sector in Nigeria, as they warned of further deterioration of the theatre without appropriate action by government.

Earlier, veteran Nollywood Actor Larry Williams, pointed out that National Arts Theatre main bowl has been unexploited for two decades. “They started complaining that it needed minor repairs, major repairs became major general repairs and it has been like that since that time.”

Explaining further, Williams noted, governments were using unsuitable people to man the theatre from the onset, stressing, it resulted to the inestimable damage of the theatre. “The major problem about the national theatre is the running of the theatre. They were putting square peg in a round hole. “They had people who know their onions as playwright and lecturers from the universities. They are intellectuals but they were not able to run the theatre as people who knows theatre. Knowing theatre means the psychological approach to running a theatre.”

Responding, an artist, Clement Ojong, who had just released his fourth album tittled, “Thank You” said that the theatre was not really serving its purpose.

“I do not know why a big place like the national theatre that attracted people and celebrated by the whole world would just be neglected just like that.”

Williams who applauded efforts of the Lagos government to renovate the theatre, therefore, advised governments to engage expert to man the edifes.

He added, they should equally create theatre orientation. “Theatre tradition is what we really need so that people can feel they can go to the theatre, watch play, relax and amuse themselves.”

“We need to choose the right personnel to run the theatre. From the beginning it was not run right,” the actor noted.

Expressing his resentment of the state of Nigeria’s entertainment industry, Williams requested that government should build a house of fame in Nigeria to encourage the industry, again, advising leaders to encourage the present practitioners, explaining, that would also attract more people in the future into art.

The experts who largely express gloom about the current state of the National Arts Theatre, they also agreed that government could put the dilapidated structure on track by imbibing proactive maintenance culture.