On October 9 and 10, 2019, the 100 level students of the Department of Creative Arts, University of Lagos, staged another successful applied Theatre workshop tagged: Applied Theatre Workshop 2019. The two day workshop, which was organized to address issues within Unilag community, includes two short performances: Security Alert at the University of Lagos Security Unit; and A Race for Space at CITS. The workshop deals with the issues of security, bed space balloting, data capturing, and students’ identity in the University of Lagos community. In the post-performance discussion, the issues were discussed and some suggestions were raised in the interest of solving some of the problems. In attendance were the lecturers of the department: Otunba Tunji Sotimirin, Dr. Akomolafe Ayodele, Dr. Toyin Olokodana-James, Mr. Damian Enyaosah and the lecturer-in-Charge Dr. Saheed Bello. The Unilag Security Unit was represented by Mr. Alao Sunday (CSO), Mr. Godwin (Crime Officer), Mr. Jude (Traffic Officer), and other security personnel. The CITS was represented by every member of staff including: Dr. Victor Odumuyiwa (Ag. Director, CITS); Dr. (Mrs) Khadijat Abdusalam (Deputy Director, NET); Dr. Adewale Adekola (Deputy Director, OPS); and Mrs. G.I. Fadahunsi (CEO).
Applied Theatre (THA 162) is a 100 level course in the Department of Creative Arts. It is a study of theatre outside of conventional theatre space. The department introduced applied theatre practices, into the Theatre Arts programme, in the interest of reclaiming theatre for social re-orientation and re-moralization; psychological healing and behavioral change as well as community functions and development. In 2018, the Theatre Arts Students of the department started the applied theatre workshop with three performances: Psychotic Healing at the Neuropsychiatric Hospital Yaba; Traffic Disorder at the St. Agnes Junction; and Health Forum at the Unilag Medical Centre. The feedbacks from the workshop clearly demonstrated that theatre is an effective tool for behavioral and socio-cultural transformation.
