PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF NATIONAL THEATRE AS TOURISM DESTINATION

PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF NATIONAL THEATRE AS TOURISM DESTINATION

ABSTRACT

 

The National Theatre is the primary centre for the performing arts in Nigeria. It was established to refine culture to promote tourism. It is a multi-purpose national monument for the preservation, presentation and promotion of Nigerian arts and culture.  The building is termed the “culture house” which  presents one  of the most identifiable national symbols about Nigerian arts and culture at home and abroad. In Nigeria, we  can hardly boast of theatre as a tourism destination because Nigerian government is yet to harness her resources along this line of entrepreneurship. By the virtue of its functionality, the National Theatre becomes one of the major tourism destinations in Nigeria. However, this edifice which ought to have been replicated in the states for tourism purposes has been utterly neglected. The issue is that if Nigerian government cannot maintain the only theatre destination it has, it is, therefore, doubtful if it can think of building more theatre destinations. In the study, sociological research method, specifically, observation and interviews were used to obtain data. The findings show that, the objectives  of the founding fathers of the National Theatre has been set aside for personal and political gains. The National Theatre organisation is structured into two parts – the artists and the administrative or management staff. There has been clash of interest between these two bodies as both struggle for supremacy. This acrimonious fight or personal animosity made the best talents of Nigerian artists to boycott the edifice. Therefore, the study recommends that, there is need for appointment of arts professionals to manage the theatre and to remove the National Theatre from the grip of civil service bureaucracy.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the study

A national theatre embodies the performing treasures of the nation‘s inheritance for a glorious cause. The theatre brings the best not just to its people but also to the world and further deals with artistic and creative imaginations. It then beholds on Government to encourage the theatre as a body that preserves and promotes the cultural values of the nation rather than see it as a commercial industry. It is to this effect that the Scottish National Theatre idea comes as an art/culture commissioning body and not just one mount of architectural edifice. To preserve a culture then, it must be taken care of and mostly by funding. This may have been implied by Stewart Steven in his closing        remark         at      the English  Equity          Theatre Conference, when he says that ―if you want to destroy a people, the first thing you do is destroy its culture.

A functioning and producing theatre is something that provides a heart to the nature of a nation. This is in terms of identity, focus and sometimes- diverse opinions. It is to this effect that the Social Democratic Government of Sweden in the 1930s initiated the establishment of a nation-wide organization for a touring theatre. A theatre that packages the national identity. This theatre called Riksteatern is the third theatre financed by government funds in Sweden. Riksteatern produces about 1,500 performances of (national) drama, music and dance a year. In addition, it has a special department that produces children‘s theatre called Ungariks. During the 1960s, riksteatern became an important moulder of public opinion through its performance.

The National Theatre of Bulgaria Ivan Vazouis financed by Bulgaria‘s Ministry of Culture. Varying a spectrum of repertoire from classical drama to contemporary plays, the theatre stages about ten major productions yearly. With between 450 and 500 performances presented per season, the theatre company has made an extensive tour of Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America showcasing Bulgaria‘s identity. Recently with King Stag, it received most of the major awards at the Raduga Festival in St. Petersburg in Russia. In each of these cases cited, the country‘s image is marketed. This marketing in the opinion of this paper, is made possible due to a focused managerial body at play.

The desire to develop the Nigerian tourism and hospitality sector to a regionally competitive level by the Federal and other similarly persuaded states, like Adamawa, has been a major policy towards which steps are being taken, with differing degrees of commitment and directional clarity. The passion towards the realisation of tourism advancement in this respect is premised upon the anticipated benefits of the sector to Nigeria; two of which are clearly evident. First, tourism promises to widen the utilitarian value as well as enhance the effective demand made on the abundant natural and cultural assets that are presently underutilised, given the expansion in the streams of tourists that would be attracted by them. Second, tourism being a labour-intensive sector offers a great potential to address much of Nigeria’s present and future employment challenges, given the size of her population and expected future growth.

It is in this context, that the Nigerian government commissioned its Tourism Master Plan for the development of Tourism in Nigeria in 2006 (The Nigeria Tourism Master Plan (2006)). Among others, that Tourism Master Plan (TMP) observed a number of critical challenges facing tourism development that must be addressed with varying degrees of urgency. One of such problems was the poor level of domestic propensity for local destination patronage, as well as the marginal knowledge of the worth of the Nigerian tourism market internationally.

Since the publicity of this Master Plan, governments have taken a number of steps to address its recommendations. The nature of responses and the degree of their intensity have varied. Essentially, responses on infrastructure provision and overhaul, as well as on national image-rebranding and marketing overseas have received much attention. In spite of all the efforts so far, the need as well as the strategy to influence the population towards a tourism-oriented leisure consumption habit locally, is yet to be seriously addressed.

This study therefore, tries to explore the theatre as an art institution saddled with the responsibility of marketing a culture using the National Art Theatre, Lagos and MUSON centre as focus points. Though the MUSON centre is a private art centre, its management is a pointer in the opinion of this study.

1.2 Statement of the problem

Culture, as the totality of identity factors, natural endowments, not excluding people in whom and through whom a nation is presented, is harnessed, preserved and exported through distinct and defined institution(s). Developing country in the context of this paper denotes a country whose cultural institutions do not, to a reasonable extent, contribute to national development. It could be due to inability of the country to make the cultural institutions function or refusal of the institutions to optimally live up to designated tasks. Nigeria, as a country, is in this case classified as a developing country.

Theatre is chosen here because it is not just drama, dance or music. It also embraces all arts that have to do with human experience. Soyinka (1997:13) re-echoes this fact when he posits that ―theatre, despite its many masks, is the unending rendition of the human experience, in totality, and its excitement lies indeed in its very unpredictability. Theatre is in a cultural sense,the coming together of human beings who have agreed in a place, a time, a story and who take roles and wear costumes in order to act for one another tales from and of existence (Tansi, 1997:46).Theatre management becomes then, not just a blending touch, but a tool to grease and make the theatre achieve the desired objectives. It is against this background that the present study examines the problems and prospects of national theatre as tourist destination.

1.3 Objective of the study

The main objective of this study is to examine the problems and prospects of national theatre as tourist destination. Specifically, this study aims:

1. To investigate the challenges facing the national theatre as tourist destination
2. To investigate also the causes of these problems found in the national theatre as tourist destination
3. To suggest a possible means of minimizing or stopping the challenges faced by national theatre as tourist destination
4. To examine the level of development of tourism in Lagos state.

1.4 significance of the study

It is the expectation of the researcher that this project work will be of great importance to the state government, the country and the students. The state government and the country is expected to benefit from this study since the study will throw light on the problems facing the national theatre as tourist destination and the possible ways of alleviating the problems for the benefit of developing the sector. It will be of immense benefit to student of tourism and hospitality department since it will broaden their perception of tourism its challenges and the possible ways of tackling such challenges.

1.5 Research Question

The following research questions will be answered in order to achieve the research objectives

1. What are the challenges facing the national theatre as tourist destination ?
2. What are the causes of these challenges found in the national theatre as tourist destination ?
3. What are the possible means of curbing the challenges faced by national theatre as tourist destination ?
4. what is the level of development of tourism in Lagos state ?

1.6 Scope of the study

The project work is sectioned in such a way that chapter one examines the introductory rudiments of the research, chapter two introduces the literature review of the study, chapter three projects the methodology utilized by the researcher in conducting the research work and all other necessary facts needed. Chapter four presents the result of the methodology used and evaluation of the research hypothesis. Chapter five gives the summary, conclusion and recommendation of the research work. Geographically, the study will be carried out with National theatre, Lagos and MUSON as the case study

1.7 Limitation of the study

In the process of carrying out this study, the following problems were encountered by the researcher, this includes:

– Time Factor:– The time within which this work must be completed and submitted for appraisal stood as an impediment to this project work.

– Financial Resources:– Due to lack of finance at the disposal of the researcher, affected the quality of this work, cause my sponsor(parents) prefers to spend money on my younger once admission into the University recently (2019/2020) academic session) rather than devoting huge financial resources on this study that will be of economic and academic importance in years to come.

1.8 Definition of terms

For the clarity of this study, some basic terms have to be defined in the context, they are used in this study, they are:

National Theatre: The National Arts Theatre is the primary centre for the performing arts in Nigeria. The monument is located in Iganmu, Surulere, Lagos state.

Tourism: Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours.

Tourist: A tourist is a person who is visiting a place for pleasure and interest, especially when they are on holiday. … foreign tourists. It is a top tourist attraction that is visited by thousands of people each day.

Tourist Destination: A tourist destination is a city, town, or other area that is significantly dependent on revenues from tourism, or “a country, state, region, city, or town which is marketed or markets itself as a place for tourists to visit”.

Problem: A matter or situation regarded as unwelcome or harmful and needing to be dealt with and overcome.

Prospect: A prospect is the possibility that something fabulous will happen. Prospect is from the Latin word prospectus which means a “view or outlook.” A prospect is still a way of looking ahead and expecting good things.

PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF NATIONAL THEATRE AS TOURISM DESTINATION

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