THE SCENE SHOP IN NIGERIAN UNIVERSITY THEATRES

Abstract

Theatre Arts is essentially a visual-based discipline in which scene shop facilities and equipment need to be put in place to meet the demands of productions in order to engender the development of theatrical aesthetics. But, to our utter dismay, the area of theatre technology concerning scenery design and construction has suffered neglect in Nigerian Theatre scholarship, whereby set design students in the Departments of Theatre Arts practically operate in an environment that is not technically-friendly due to the paucity of basic facilities and equipment. Yet, the fact remains that the role of scene design cannot be underplayed in contemporary theatre practice. Against this background, this paper attempts a critical evaluation of the scene shop facilities and equipment for set design and construction in Nigerian University Theatres as witnessed in three University Theatres which fall into the first, second and third generations, respectively, of Theatre Arts Departments established in Nigeria. These are: the University of Ibadan, University of Port-Harcourt and Delta State University, Abraka. Findings from the study of these University Theatres reveal that, despite their many years of existence, they are still grappling, in varying degrees, with inadequate facilities and equipment for students of set design and construction to train with. Hence, urgent steps need to be taken to upgrade University Theatres in Nigeria technologically to aid visual designs and the training of students in the important and indispensable discipline of Technical Theatre.