3 months ago
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British Nigeria stage and screen actor, Tayo Elesin, is in Lagos to feature in a stage play written and directed by Professor Ahmed Yerima, titled, Gowon. The play, a production of Joseph Edgar’s Duke of Somolu Foundation, is a tale of leadership, resilience and nation building, which depicts the life of retired Gen. Yakubu Gowon, former Nigeria’s military head of state. Currently in rehearsals at the National Troupe of Nigeria temporary camp at the National theatre under the direction of Yerima who was at a time Director General of the National Troupe/National Theatre and currently Deputy Vice Chancellor of the Redeemers University, the play is to be staged in Lagos, from August 24 to 25. An earlier statement by the Duke of Shomolu Foundation, producers of the play, said the play would focus on Gowon’s service to Nigeria and also take a deep and cursory look at his tribe – Angas, in Plateau.
“It will run with the theme of unity and lean heavily on the Gowon era policy of Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Reorientation put in place at the end of the civil war to heal wounds,” the statement said. MoviedomExtra gathered that Elesin, best known for screen and stage hits including, Jujuman (2022), Honeymoon (2019) by Amy Aniobi, Overnight (2018), The Gatehouse (2016), The Journey of Alfred Small (2015), Amazing Grace by Jesse Lawrence, Race by Steve Macaulay and Our Husbands have Gone Made Again by Lookman Sanusi, will play Mrs. Gowon in this bio-drama by Duke of Somolu Foundation.
Elesin, a trained lawyer, also runs a charitable organisation, Elesin Foundation. Although she is a Briton of Nigeria descent, Elesin has lived in London all her life. The pretty and amiable actress studied Law at the University of Cambridge and trained at Greenwich Musical Theatre (Trinity College of Music) and Drama Centre, London. The last time she came hom was a year ago to network and seek sponsorship and collaborators for a film project inspired by Sarah Forbes Bonetta’s life. “The film is big budget, which is cost at £10 million. It’s inspired by Sarah Forbes Bonetta’s life. God gave me the vision seven to eight years ago, when I saw a picture of the woman. God told me to do it. I was initially looking for a writer but God used a BAFTA winning director to tell me to write it. I wrote it: Wrote two versions in fact.
I want creative control and I now also believe God wants me to direct it – so I want to put majority of the money down. Where possible, I want majority of the money to come from Nigeria, or Africa,” she told Moviedom the last time she was ‘home’. “I have put so much of my money, time and effort into getting it as far as I can. I am looking for serious investors now so we can go into production. I believe this film will be the greatest English period drama and it will be led by me. I want to work with the finest of English actors and Nigerian actors as this period drama is an amalgamation of both worlds. It is a story of forgiveness, love, betrayal and hope,” the actress who looks forward to more work on screen and on stage in Nigeria surmised.
English (US) ·