‘Why we need to revive the theatres’ Tyrone E. Terrence

Weekly Magazine: Can you tell us a little about your educational background?Tyrone E. Terrence: My early education was haphazard to say the least. I attended three secondary schools in three countries- Jamaica, Kenya and Ghana before getting admission to study English at the University of Lagos, Nigeria. Since then I have completed courses in Directing […]

Weekly Magazine: Can you tell us a little about your educational background?
Tyrone E. Terrence: My early education was haphazard to say the least. I attended three secondary schools in three countries- Jamaica, Kenya and Ghana before getting admission to study English at the University of Lagos, Nigeria. Since then I have completed courses in Directing from film schools in South Africa and the United Kingdom.
How was growing up like?
Growing up was fun, lots of fun. I remember running around half naked and being up to no good with  my friends on the beaches of Montego Bay, Mombasa, Cape Coast, Accra and Lagos. I have always loved the sea. Sadly Abuja has no sea and my bathtub is a poor substitute. I travelled a lot when I was growing up and I have thoroughly enjoyed every country I have lived in. My first crush was in Kenya, and then there was life in Ghana for a few years and then Lagos. Growing up was definitely a blast.
You are Jamaican but seem to have fallen in love with Nigeria? What is the attraction?
I am also Nigerian. My mother is Yoruba. She was born and bred in Lagos; so yes I can say that Nigeria is also my Motherland. I am passionate about both countries and I love the people.
How did your love for the Arts begin?
I have always loved reading. My mother has been the biggest influence on me. When I was growing up she had a library of thousands of books and she encouraged me to read. And I read anything and everything. Any book that looked remotely interesting I would grab and start reading.  I started with romance novels because she had a lot of those. I read books on a wide range of subjects including medicine which was probably why she thought I should be a doctor. But I had no interest in being a doctor. I read because I loved to read. And I am glad I did because reading opens the mind to endless possibilities. In my adult life the internet has been invaluable. I am always reading or researching about my art. So with reading came my interest in storytelling, then writing and now filmmaking.
Do we see you venturing into full movie production soon?
My first love is definitely the theater. I love plays. I love reading them I love seeing them performed. The rush you get in the theatre watching a fantastic play is like no other. But I also love all forms of Art- Performance Poetry, Music, and of course filmmaking. I have made a few films, mostly documentaries and short films, and by the end of the year my first feature film will be out. I won’t tell you the title but it will definitely be in cinemas across the country. 
Of all your works which has been the most challenging?
Every work of Art is challenging because Art involves tapping into the deeper recesses of your imagination to create something sublime. Sometimes, as an Artiste, you set out not really knowing what you want to create but as you go along your muse takes over and guide the creative process. And that is when you surprise yourself; that’s when you go- how did I do that?
And then again sometimes you know exactly what you want to create and you cannot even explain to people because they cannot see it, it’s only in your head, and until you do it no one will see it. But in an attempt to answer your question I will say that “Reflections In A Red Eye” is my most challenging work so far. It is so challenging that I revisit it every year to edit it or alter it in some way. It is more challenging than most but like I said all true works of art are challenging.
Your recent work “A Husband’s Wife” is one play that is currently trending. What is it about?
I won’t say that “A Husband’s Wife” is just trending, it has always been. Apart from that it is not one of my recent works. “A Husband’s Wife” is actually 10 years old. I wrote it in 2003. I first staged it at the Muson Centre, Lagos and it featured Richard Mofe-Damijo (RMD) and Joke Silva. Since then it has been staged at the Hilton in Abuja, in Accra, London-UK, Atlanta and New York in America over and over again.
The play is a psycho-sociological study of aging in marriage.  Like the heroine says in one of her monologues “Marriage is like a game of musical chairs; when the music stops and another woman is sitting in your chair, what do you do?”
How do you get inspirations for the plays you write?
My inspiration comes from everyday life. I pride myself in being a student of human nature. I study human beings very closely- members of my family, my friends, my colleagues, even strangers walking on the street. I try to understand or at least take a peek into the lives of people I meet; what has their journey been like, why are they the way they are; why are they damaged or sometimes I wonder and then try to find out how they have managed to stay strong in spite of their personal tragedies.  Sometimes the human experience can be viewed only as a series of defeats and tragedies. This is what I try to capture in my work the essence of who we are, the good the bad and the ugly. And then of course there’s inspiration from the great writers both old and new. We all learn from one another and I have learnt a lot from all the authors and storytellers and playwrights I’ve read over the years.
Has any personal experience played out in any of your plays?
“A Husband’s Wife” is loosely based on a personal story. My parents are divorced. I was young when it happened but I remember little bits of experiences here and there and that formed the basis for the play.
What are the challenges of being a creative director like you?
I suppose the challenges I face are the same challenges that all creative minds in the industry face. We are so limited by the state of the industry and a society that has very little respect for the arts. This society respects only success, and our definition of success is money. Nobody cares whether you have written five very good books, or you have made award winning films or staged plays to critical acclaim all over the world.  If you have no money you have no respect. People like Wole Soyinka should be loved and honoured like kings but they are not. Chinua Achebe died and only a fraction of this country understood or even appreciated what we had lost.  So yes that is our number one challenge. All other challenges stem from this one.
What has an actor or actress got to have for them to be able to work with you on any of your plays?
The number one ingredient of course is talent. I don’t care for looks. Actors have to be disciplined; they need to understand and constantly strive to hone their craft; they need to be open to taking direction and they need to be proficient in the language they want to perform in. An actor’s tools are, first his body, and then his words. He needs to respect these like any other craftsman would respect his tools. I’ve seen actors tattoo themselves up; some just let their bodies go. Consequently the tools become blunt and the actor loses his skill. That’s indiscipline. I don’t care for actors like that.
Are Nigerians really into Plays?
Since the late 90s when this theater renaissance began, I believe we have made a few converts. But don’t forget that before the advent of home videos and soap operas Nigerians have enjoyed theater.  Long before the 90s great Nigerian playwrights had written and produced great plays at home and abroad. The national theater used to play host to some of the most brilliant and ingenious stage performances this continent has seen. Most, if not all the cultures of this country, have theater performances as part of the fabric of their cultures. So yes Nigerians love the theater. Our responsibility as theater practitioners is to take theater out of the 20th and into the 21st Century. Where are our weather machines, creative lights, realistic sets and our custom designed theater stage? Let’s find new ways to produce The Lion and The Jewel, The Gods Are Not To Blame; look at the fantastic spectacle of The Lion King. Let’s catch up with South Africa and the rest of the world.  Let’s find new ways to tell our African stories.
If you hadn’t been into the Arts, what would you have been doing?
I would have been an unhappy lawyer (my mum wrote law on my jamb form but I changed it to English before I submitted it), or yet still just another wage slave earning just enough to live a borderline decent life.
What are the challenges faced with staging a play in the Nigerian entertainment industry?
Only one challenge basically- sponsorship. The government does not support Theater like it supports the Home Video industry, and Corporate Bodies and the larger private sector don’t either.  Since 2002, I have staged over forty performances in and outside Nigeria. And ninety percent of the plays I staged in Nigeria I funded myself. It takes about 5 million to stage a small cast play. Without sponsorship, where are Theater Producers going to get that kind of money to stage plays?
 How many plays have you written so far?
I have written fourteen plays. The most popular ones that have been stages in Nigeria and elsewhere in the world are A Husband’s Wife, Private Lies, A Pound Of Flesh, Yoruba Romance, God Is An Orphan, A Very Little Sin, The Trial Of Delilah, Why Is There No Black In The Rainbow, How To Kill Your Husband And Get Away With It and a few others. A couple of years ago my laptop was stolen and it went with some works I had not backed up so I won’t count those plays I lost.
As a playwright, what actors or actresses do you always look forward to working with?
Joke Silva, Richard Mofe Damijo and Kate Henshaw are actors I have worked with in the past and I look forward to working with them again and again. They bring so much to the table.