Lagos Theatre Festival 2017

Application Deadline: 26 January 2017

British Council Nigeria in partnership with the International Association of Theatre Critics (IATC) and Guardian Newspapers Nigeria has developed a Young Critics Programme as part of Lagos Theatre Festival. In 2017, the programme will train and mentor twenty (20) young writers and journalists (aged 18 -35) in theatre criticism. The 20 participants trained will subsequently be inducted into IATC.

The 2017 workshop will hold from 1 – 4 March 2017 alongside Lagos Theatre Festival. The workshop will include classroom teaching from IATC members from Europe and Nigeria and fieldwork in the form of review writing by the participants during the festival with mentoring from the IATC facilitators. The training will be certified by IATC.

Reviews produced by the participants will be published online by Guardian Newspapers and syndicated by other media platforms.

Guardian Newspapers Nigeria will also publish a selection of the reviews by project participants in print. The workshop is free of charge to all participants

Criteria

Selected participants will

Have demonstrated interest in the performing arts or have experience working as a journalist
Be aged between 18 – 35 years of age
Reside in Nigeria or any country in West Africa
Preference shall be given to applicants with some experience in theatre criticism or journalism

Workshop Information

Workshop Dates: 1 – 4 March 2017
Participants within Lagos will get a daily transport stipend of N2, 500 per day; participants from outside Lagos will be put in accommodation provided by British Council and transported to the workshop venue each day.
Lunch and dinner will be provided for all participants from 1- 4 March.

Workshop Methodology

First there will be workshops by the mentors who will explain the basic skills of theatre criticism and show the participants different examples of writings as well as encourage them to participate in analysing written texts. Thereafter, the participants will be divided into groups of five people each and required to watch and review designated performances daily.
Each day the participants will attend workshops for approximately five hours with their mentors who will discuss, edit and publish good reviews of theatre productions written and submitted by the participants.
The workshop will be delivered in English only.

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the British Council Nigeria Young Critics Programme 2017

Application Deadline: August 15th 2016

The British Council Annual Playwriting Competition is seeking submissions from playwrights for plays to be produced at the Lagos Theatre Festival 2017 with the theme ‘Rhythm of the City’. Lagos Theatre Festival (LTF) is the largest performing arts festival in Nigeria and indeed West Africa. It was created to promote theatre in unconventional spaces. Through the festival, theatre makers and producers are supported to expand their practice beyond traditional theatre spaces by creating work that responds to any given space. LTF has commissioned 8 plays since 2014 through similar playwriting competitions.

In 2017, the Lagos Theatre Festival theme is ‘Rhythm of the City’ and the festival will run from Tuesday 28 February to 05 March 2017 in various venues around Lagos with two festival hubs, one each on the island and mainland.

The theme ‘Rhythm of the City’ was selected to capture through performance, the sounds of Lagos expressed in the comings and goings, the repetitive activities and the music of the city. We hope to see work created that reflects specific auditory perspectives like noises, rhythm, beats, language, etc. from a range of socio economic and geographic groupings across Lagos.

GUIDELINES

Plays must be written for the stage for more than one actor but not more than 6 actors with a running time of between 45 and 60 minutes.
By entering the competition the writer affirms that their entry is original and they have sole rights to all matters contained within the play.
Please number all pages
The first page of the script should include a completed play synopsis of no more than 100 words, a list of characters, a description of setting and the contact details of the writer i.e name, phone number, physical address and email address.
The LTF/British Council decision is final.

The competition is open to all, but plays must be written in English and unpublished for the duration of the competition.
Play submissions that do not comply with all competition rules will be disqualified.

Conditions

10 shortlisted playwrights will be selected to attend a playwriting workshop facilitated by Prof Ahmed Yerima
Attendance of the workshop on Friday 19 and Saturday 20 August is mandatory to be considered for the prize.
At the workshop, the scripts will be read and the playwrights assessed.
Following the workshop, the 10 shortlisted playwrights will submit the final draft of the script along with a signed release form to allow the plays to be commissioned by the festival.
Up to 5 plays will be selected following the workshop, to be produced for the festival
Each selected playwright will receive a cash prize of N100, 000.

TIMELINES

Closing date for applications is by midnight on 15 August 2016
Following the workshop, shortlisted playwrights will submit final scripts by 12 September 2016

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the British Council Lagos Theatre Festival Playwriting Competition 2017

British Council Nigeria Young Critics Programme 2017 for Young Writers & Journalists.

British Council Lagos Theatre Festival Playwriting Competition 2017 ( N100, 000 Prize)