BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - IT was a night of fun and laughter at the Sir Cecil Jacobs Auditorium on Friday (Mar. 30) as hundreds of persons went out to witness the staging of IBUZA - The Land of Plenty.
African Pride Productions of the Windsor University School of Medicine and the St. Kitts Tourism and Culture Department had joined forces to present that epic African play.
With students from Africa and St. Kitts as well as other parts of the world, the 25-member cast showcased their various skills and talents through the theatre production which comprised dance, drama and song.
The play was a short one, but the storyline and characters had the audience seconds away from rolling on the floor with laughter.
The production opened with Ibuza Land's Palace Harvest Festival where the villagers went to award gifts in the form of produce to King Ike in the presence of Prince Ikemefuna and the king's chiefs.
After the festival, the elders had a discussion and one of the king's chiefs, Azugwo, was given a promotion.
Chief Azugwo becomes very pompous and was encouraged by his cowardly brother to use his newfound position to take advantage of the villagers.
When King Ike travelled, Chief Azugwo would go into the village and raise their taxes and harass them physically.
One day, upon the king's return to Ibuza Land, an inquisitive palace maid, Seki, told King Ike of the chief's mischievousness to which the king decided to investigate.
After his investigations, King Ike found the maid's complaints to be true and he stripped Chief Azugwo of his ranks and banished him from Ibuza Land.
On the other hand, Prince Ikemefuna was in love with Uloma, a fatherless young lady who was frowned upon because her mother was a prostitute.
Prince Ikemefuna regularly sneaked away from the palace to spend time with the love of his life, who was always concerned about what would happen if they were caught.
Meanwhile, the now former Chief Azugwo declared war on Ibuza Land and Prince Ikemefuna had volunteered to lead the fight against him.
When the war ended Prince Ikemefuna was nowhere to be found, and although Ibuza Land won the battle victory was a bitter sweet one as the Prince was thought to be dead.
The Prince however returned a few days later and announced that Ibuza Land was protected and the villagers no longer had to worry about Azugwo.
King Ike expressed how proud he was of his son's accomplishment and offered him the opportunity to have anything he wanted, to which Prince Ikemefuna expressed his desire to be married to Uloma.
After a long consideration, King Ike granted Prince Ikemefuna his request and he and Uloma were joined in marriage.
The play ended with a palace harvest festival.
All proceeds from the show were given to the Tucker Clarke Primary School towards the repairing of the learning institution's play area.
Speaking with SKNVibes, the Director of African Pride Productions, Sunmisola Oyesiku, explained the motivation behind the staging of this epic play.
“A group of students of the Christian Students Fellowship decided to form a group (African Pride) and we were thinking of a way in which we can give back to society. Many of us, as students, have been on this island for a while and some of us have gotten to the point where we are about to leave and we just wanted to do something that would leave an imprint. We felt that one of the ways we can contribute to society and make a positive statement about ourselves was through drama.”
This very successful show portrayed the talents and comedic skills of the actors in their various roles which captured the audience’s attention throughout the entire show.
The actors did an outstanding job at delivering the intended messages while keeping a convincing comedic image.
