As the news that we are completely sold out in Asaba hit me this morning, the above statement made to me by my brother, Ken Etete, resonated with me.
He had looked at me very intently after transferring a bumper amount for one of my plays and said those magical words.
I already knew it, so it was not shocking to me.
Theatre, as it is presently configured, will not make me a billionaire; it can, however, put me in the low-level millionaire category, which I had already achieved by coming into that space. But a billionaire, which most of my friends are? I doubt
The only way that can happen is if I go into the infrastructure side of it.
This means building and owning theatre infrastructure like rehearsal venues, auditoriums, equipment, etc
But plain vanilla selling tickets and pursuing sponsors up and down will not make it
The figures for Asaba and Obey have come in, and I must say that they are the best in the industry in my estimation
On a budget of N60m, we have spent N62m so far and are expected to reach approximately N65 by the time we are through. We have sold only N1m at the box office for Obey. Asaba is free.
Even if I manage to sell all the seats for the two plays, I will still not hit 50% of the expenditure
During the week, I had a conversation with a producer who is working on a novel immersive production, and he told me with pride that his budget was N30 million. I just smiled, and walked away.
So why do I keep pulling in such huge funds and keep throwing them at productions and coming out with N2k all of the time
Even I don’tt understand it again. If you see my turnover, you will run.
It’s bigger than a small micro finance bank, making the tax man come at me before they now look at the books and realise that it’s just in and out and dem come dey pity me
All my plays outside Lagos are free of charge. Everything except London, that is, outside Lagos, is free. So why
It’s simple. I tell stories that need to be told.
When we did Sardauna in Abuja, we paid N10m for the Hall for one day – this was when the huge Eko Hotel was still charging N5 m, and we put a gate fee of N5k
I noticed that there was a huge crowd outside, and one young Northerner walked up to me
Sir, I am from the Northern Youth something. Is it possible to allow my members to enter for free, as they can’t afford this amount, but need to see this story?
I said – Why not, and in a jiffy, the Hall was filled to capacity with a spill over
It dawned on me at that point that that was one of my missions in life – collecting money from my friends to tell these stories to a new crop of Nigerians
Asaba falls into this category. The story is so compelling and sad, and the urge to tell it in the way we are going to tell it cannot be overemphasised.
No Nigerian must be refused to see this play on the account of the gate fee, and this is why it is free, and Nigerians have responded by filling up the seats in record time
So in the last 8 years, we have generated billions, worked with over 2,000 thespians and told over 41 stories in a way that we have curated a market of over 10,000 who follow us very succinctly
With or without institutional support, we will continue to tell these stories in the way only we know how to for the betterment of Nigeria
My prayer is for my friends like Ken to continue to make the billions and continue to fund us so that we continue on this mission
Don’t worry about me. When the time comes, I’ll go back to my village and feast on fufu, afang and bathe naked in the village stream
Asaba opens today at the Agip Recital Hall of The Muson Centre and will run for two days.
Show me a billionaire, and I’ll show u me
Thanks
Duke of Shomolu
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