It was a much sought after refuge from the deluge of afrobeat, juju and all of that, that comes with the Yoruba culture headlining our cultural renaissance
Yibo’s Cardinal took the audience down memory lane pulling out the very beauty that was highlife in those days
Nostalgia filled the exciting ambience that was Tera Kulture this evening as the cast belted out eveegreen tunes like Angelina and other such immortal sounds that got our patents horny.
Just this morning, I was speaking to Prof Ufford-Azorbo and I mentioned that I was thinking of hitting the lagos audience with such quintessential Akwa/cross highlife from the portfolio of such greats like Etubom Rex Williams and Inyang Henshaw and Yibo hits me with Inyang Henshaw this night
The pulsating rhythm throws me back to my youth seeing my mother flutter her big backside in a joyous flotation as the sweet melody of Inyang Henshaw distracts her from the afang leaves she was slithering
The Play started slow with no real energy but quickly packed a punch when the landlord came out to reminisce
His stage presence, height, charisma stole the show as in my estimation he was the star
His deep guttural voice, commanding appearance lifted the sleepy cast around and tossed them around leaving them struggling to catch up with his pace.
The costumes were magic as their colours complemented the brilliant lighting that lit up the stage
Yibo didnt show the confidence of Seki in this production as I felt he was struggling too hard to make a statement
I didn’t see him having fun with this production as his lead actor tried so hard to make punchy statements around music giving him a life but failed so spectacularly
Luckily the gifted musicians jumped in most times to rescue the situation to call up the spirit of Rex Lawson and other such highlife greats
My great take home was his brilliant use of Screen. It was magical as I immediately took a picture and sent to my team in London
Do you guys see that there is no set? Loose the fucking set, I screamed on the phone
The images on the screen took me back to my Shomolu upbringing
I loved the slum showed on the screen and could almost smell the putried odour of poverty and I closed my eyes and transported myself back to that era
Yibo confused me with the era surfing. We are wearing James Brown era costunes and we are talking streaming and holding mobile phones
That did not however remove from the robust energy of about 30 people on stage wriggling to the pulsating sound of glory
Yibo wasnt angry enough in this production and played safe like he didn’t want to upturn the cart
Was this strong enough to push aside the tsunami that is Afrobeat and give highlife space, I doubt but if for nothing else it would push itself to the very forefront of iconic musicals
His latching to safety didnt allow him look at the lives of this greats. No history just a young mans quest to leverage their works to make a living
Younger audiences will leave the hall with that hole not filled – who was rex lawson?
We saw three climaxes. The show could have ended three scenes earlier but it seeems that Yibo got carried away with the flow and kept stretching it to the admiration of the crowd though
Lastly, the lead actor failed again in landing the big bang exhortation that would have situated the Play as a theatrical statement
In Yibos shoes, I would have given that speech to the landlord and he would have dropped a tsunami that would reverbrate through the land and grant the Cardinal theatrical immortality
In conclusion I loved the enthusiasm of the young cast, their energy was palbable and you could see their enthusiasm at working with a master like Yibo and this pushed them beyond the limits of restrictive natural talent
The Musicians and Singers would knock Michael Jackson abd his brothers off their perch.
For this I give Yibo 100% as those boys killed it.
Yibo was too afraid to say what he wanted to say with this play and so he hid behind brilliant music, stupendously beautiful screen, wonderful costumes and a blocking from heaven
What he succeded in doing this night however, was to show us his extreme talent as an artist but was tepid in the messaging which we saw but didn’t feel
In all, Cardinal is a four star outing that has tremendous promise with a little tweek here and there to be one of the most iconic productions of all time
I hereby endorse and recommend it as a must watch if for nothing else for the beautiful renditions of those extremely wondrous highlife classics.
Nobody shd come and beat me o
Thanks
Duke of Shomolu
Last modified: July 20, 2026
