Open Access Peer-reviewed Research Article

Nigerian theatre in a digital era and environment

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Submitted   Aug 3, 2022
Published   Aug 29, 2022
Issue    Vol 3 No 1 (2022)
DOI   10.25082/IJAH.2022.01.002

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Aghogho Lucky Imiti corresponding author
Department of Theatre Arts, Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria

Abstract

Theatre, the earliest form of entertainment and enlightenment in Nigeria, is becoming a ghost of itself as a result of its inability to take on the colouration of the times. Some scholars are of the view that there should be a revival of the theatre by establishing more theatre while it remains bonded to its functional root, the live stage, because of its uniqueness. This study examined the likelihood of this renaissance and its survival in the face of the deluge of other media of entertainment in a digitally advanced era and environment. The study relied on the Media Displacement Theory, MDT, which explains a paradigm shift in an individual's use of new media by discarding the preceding one. Using in-depth interviews and Focus Group Discussions, FGD, the study revealed that live theatre-going culture has become unpopular with the Nigerian audience as a result of digital technology and sundry circumstances in recent times, which include insecurity and the COVID-19 outbreak that negates public gathering. The paper advanced that Nigerian theatre cannot afford to remain glued to its roots in a technologically digitalised environment or society, but has to evolve.

Keywords
entertainment, Nigeria, theatre, theatre-going culture, digitisation

Article Details

How to Cite
Imiti, A. L. (2022). Nigerian theatre in a digital era and environment. International Journal of Arts and Humanities, 3(1), 93-100. https://doi.org/10.25082/IJAH.2022.01.002
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