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ON THE JOS REPERTORY THEATRE

The Jos Repertory Theatre was founded in 1997 as a Not-for-profit, independent theatre organization which seeks to use the theatre as a means of confronting and challenging crucial issues that affect our daily existence.

Under the artistic directorship of Patrick-Jude Oteh who holds a Diploma in Theatre Arts (1984), Bachelor of Arts (Theatre Arts) – 2nd Class Upper (1987) and a Master of Arts, Theatre Arts (2005) all from the University of Ibadan as well as a Master of Arts in International Law and Diplomacy (1990) from the University of Jos, we are engaged in activities ranging from play / poetry readings, production of formal (scripted) plays and the creation of informal (Theatre-For-Development) plays.

Backed by experiences from over a decade of theatre practice, (having taken part in theatre related activities in Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Italy, United States of America, United Kingdom), the Jos Repertory Theatre has been involved in training programs for artistes including amateurs, the creation of Theatre-For-Development plays which include Valley Cry (2001), with which we toured four states – Plateau, Nasarawa, Niger, Kaduna states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. This was closely followed by Community Call (2002) which also toured the above states and the FCT, Abuja. All of these projects were sponsored by the Ford Foundation. Muzu (2002) which was also showcased in Abuja under the auspices of ACTIONAID and Oh My Home (2002), a youth project on citizenship and civic rights awareness sponsored by the British Council.

We have also toured rural communities with Tsaka Nin Mu (Amongst Us), a HIV and AIDS Education / Awareness sketch which was funded by the National Project Team (NPT) on HIV/AIDS Programme Development Project of the National Action Committee on AIDS (NACA) to tour Plateau and Nasarawa states and we have also received funding from the Ford Foundation to tour schools with a sketch(es) on HIV and AIDS and Drug Abuse, this sketch was titled A Dream Deferred.

We have also presented formal theatre plays like Ola Rotimi’s The Gods Are Not To Blame, Wale Ogunyemi’s Queen Amina of Zazzau, Biyi Bandele’s adaptation of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, Peter Luke’s Hadrian The Seventh and Wole Soyinka’s The Lion And The Jewel and Death And The King’s Horseman amongst others.
We were involved in the cultural component of the All Africa Games – COJA-ABUJA 2003- with a presentation of Yahaya Dangana’s The Royal Chamber.

We have also been invited to the formative meetings of the Arab-African Centre For Theatrical Training and Research which will be based at the El-Hamra Theatre in Tunisia.
We presently have a youth library / archives with titles ranging from theatre to medicine which is basically a space for our artistes to read or write their thoughts when they are not involved in any production. These archives have also been used by research students. This is also backed by the screening of films every weekend for our artistes.

With the support of the Ford Foundation and following the dearth of theatre festivals in Nigeria, we have founded and hosted the JOS FESTIVAL OF THEATRE (2004) which idea is to feature various plays with as much diversity as possible in five weekends of performances during the months of March/April. The first edition featured four plays and a dance drama including the premiere of OUR HOUSE which was part of the British Council’s Connecting Futures program. OUR HOUSE successfully toured the UK in 2005.

The second JOS FESTIVAL OF THEATRE (2006) was devoted to new plays, new playwrights and new directors and featured the participation of the Glasgow based Clyde Unity Theatre as well as the participation of Project Phakama the youth project arm of the London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT).
The third JOS FESTIVAL OF THEATRE (2007) will open in Jos, Plateau State in April 2007 with a combination of new plays, new playwrights with new directors and will include a revival of Jean Anouilh’s ANTIGONE in association with the French Cultural Centre.