Yoruba Heroine “Moremi” Goes Musical

The legendary Yoruba heroine, Queen Moremi Ajasoro will be livening up on stage as the House of Oduduwa in conjunction with Bolanle Austen Peters is set to stun, thrill and waoh theater lovers and especially cultural enthusiasts with the presentation of ‘Moremi the Musical.’

With all the sensational media buzz surrounding the immortalization of the legendary amazon, the musical drama is another milestone to strongly imprint the heroine’s deeds in the anal of history.

This is also coming as another huge effort invested on global promotion of the Yoruba cultural heritage by the Arole Ooduwa, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, the Ooni of Ife.

The stage play is an adaptation of a victorious feat by one woman who sacrificed her selfless being to save her people from oppression and marauding invaders.

It is laced with dance, enchantment, magic, sacrificial and war gimmicks all in a theatrical maneuvering.

Recall that other Amazon abound in the history of Nigeria, but Queen Moremi Ajasoro stood out as one heroine who applied wit, con, courage and wisdom to achieve a sterling feat.

With several cultural programmes and events drawn to celebrate her matchless deeds by the Ooni’s palace and House of Oduduwa Foundation to immortalise her, such as the Edi/Moremi festival, the Queen Moremi Ajasoro cultural pageant, the latest being the ‘Moremi the Musical beckons in furtherance of the cultural awakening initiative.

The historical musical drama billed to go public, showing at Terrakulture Arena, Victoria Island from December 21 till January 2, 2019 was made known to the media in a briefing last Tuesday in Lagos by the production team comprising Bolanle Austen-Peters Production (BAP);

members of House of Oduduwa Foundation led by the Chief Executive Officer, Prince Jide Fadairo; the palace of Ooni of Ife led by the representatives of the Ooni of Ife,

His Royal Majesties, Oba Adebisi Layole, Alaraodaye of Ara-Ife and Oba Fayemi Johnson Olumayowa, Elerefe of Erefe-Ife and the initiator of the project Princess Ronke Ademiluyi – Queen Moremi Ajasoro Global cultural Ambassador.
Also at the briefing were some members of the cast.

The epic drama will be featuring seasoned and upcoming Nollywood acts such as Bimbo Manuel, Bambam of Big Brother Nigeria, veteran Nollywood star Femi Branch, Deyemi Okanlawon and Kehinde Bankole among others.

The Queen Moremi Ajasoro stage play produced by the House of Oduduwa Foundation and Bolanle Austin-Peters Production is coming in line with other theatrical success recorded by BAP production that include Saro the Musical 1 & 2, Wakaa the Musical

and Fela and the Kalakuta Queens all produced by Bolanle Austen-Peters Production and this December, BAP Productions and House of Oduduwa will present “QUEEN MOREMI THE MUSICAL” described by cultural experts as a unique and authentic African super hero story, that brings to life the rich and colorful ancestral Yoruba heritage through the deeds of the Amazon, Queen Moremi Ajasoro.

Queen Moremi was daughter to an Offa hunter-warrior married to one of the Kings in Ile Ife. Having groomed under palace tutelage guarded by warrior instinct, she loathed and reacted to injustice melted on her people of Ile Ife.

While trying to find solution to the invaders’ menace against her people, she wittingly consulted the Ricer goddess for solution.

However, this did not go without a price as she sacrificed the life of her only son to save the entire race from extinction.

The story of Queen Moremi, the courageous woman is pivotal to the history and liberation of the entire Yoruba race.

Prince Jide Fadairo, the CEO, House of Oduduwa Foundation at the briefing disclosed that producing the musical drama is one of the foremost core foundations of the house and the objective is the preservation of of the Yoruba cultural heritage.

“I am glad that Bolanle Austen-Peters is partnering in this project to revitalize our ailing culture. His imperial Majesty, Ooni of Ife has done so well within the short period he has been on the throne in propagating and supporting the spirit of Yoruba cultural heritage across the globe.

With all the programmes the House of Oduduwa Foundation is handling, the core objective is to rewrite and reawake the spirit to tell our stories before someone else distort it,” Fadairo added.

Bolanle Austen-Peters also speaking in the strength of the production stated: “It is essential for us to know our roots; and celebrate our history and heritage.

It is therefore our desire to develop the Queen Moremi legacy into a musical drama that will preserve and promote history in the face of modernity.

The purpose and aim of this project is to keep our identity, values, history and culture alive especially amongst the youths, our upcoming next generation, starting from within Nigeria and progressing on to those in the Diaspora,” she said.

Austen-Peters also reiterated, “What we have is a historical piece, ‘Moremi the Musical.’ She was a heroine of the Yoruba race.

With these, we are trying to preach to our children that it is not always that about what Moremi did but about what she stands for in the anal of history. She put herself in critical situation to save mankind.

“My impression and outcome of the rehearsals is a very happy one because I am learning a lot about our culture. It is important for our children who do not know much about our cultural values to be aware through stage dramas like this.

There is something about knowing where you are coming from that will always have some grounding in the future. It is also important that we tell our own story.

Austen-Peters lamented that removal of history studies from the school curriculum in the country at some point has adversely affected children’s knowledge of their culture.

On the side talk, Deyemi Okalawon playing the role of ‘Obalufen’ said that having called to be part of Moremi the Musical is an amazing one, “It is an opportunity for me to come back to stage play after a while” says Okalawon.

“The role I am playing is strategic one because Obalufen is strong character and very aggressive. He has a warrior persona.

For me, I think it is a wonderful experience because what the film does is give you that special technique that you will not get on stage. On a stage drama, you get different vibrantaggvibrant colours than what you feel on film.