October 2 saw the commencement of main festival activities for the fifth edition of the Abuja Literary and Arts Festival (ALITFEST22) with the stage play performance by the Dike Chukwumerije’s Simply Poetry itled “Man-made Gods”.
“It was a very immersive experience for me. I liked that many emotions portrayed made you focus and take everything in,” says Samira, who watched the two-hour-long performance.
Augusta, who was also at the event, said the play evoked different emotions along with an epiphany.
She said, “It was emotional for me; at the beginning of the play, I was laughing, and at some points, I started crying. It dawned on me that we’re all looking for opportunities to leave the country, but we can’t all leave.”
On his part, Chukwumerije’s writing on his Facebook page after the play performance said, “Nothing as draining as a live performance. And nothing as invigorating as a live performance. Nor as rewarding. It is the best step I have ever taken as an artist, to move beyond the comfort zone of standing behind a mic for five minutes reciting one poem to taking on the challenge of occupying an entire stage for one or two hours with performance poetry. “
In an earlier post he described man-made gods as a stand-up poetry show about our modern political culture.
“It is creative, expressive, dramatic and entertaining. I am grateful to the Abuja Literary and Arts Festival (ALITFEST) for the privilege of kicking off this year’s Festival. “
ALITFEST 22, a one-week-long festival with the theme “The ~struggling~ thriving artists”, starts October 2 with a stage play.
You can read about the book jam here.
See details of activities here.
ALITFEST22 External Communication team.
