By Prisca Sam-Duru

Result-driven with over 10 years working experience as a manager, administrator and arts consultant, Bukola Sanu, has made tremendous impact in the art, culture and entertainment industries.

As a thespian who sees art as her place of solace, Sanu holds a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Arts (Theatre Arts), and Master of Arts in Theatre Arts, from the University of Lagos, Nigeria.

In an online chat, Sanu relives her journey into the world of creativity. According to her, it all began way back in both primary and secondary schools where she took part in every dance, drama or poetry presentation. While in the University of Lagos studying Creative Arts, she got cast for a role in the production of ‘Roberto Zucco’, produced by the French Cultural Centre and directed by Felix Okolo, during her first year. “That marked the beginning of my involvement in numerous professional productions. I was a key member of Segun Adefila’s very vibrant ‘Crown Troupe of Africa’, and we were creating and performing relevant, thought-provoking and empowering works for social re-engineering. Every month, we presented several performances – traditional dances, dance drama, poetry, etc. If I remember accurately, we never went a week without a performance.

“While in the university, I was involved in a number of professional productions by notable directors. I was a member of the Guild of Nigerian Dancers attending workshops and training, and had been in a production with the National Troupe of Nigeria for the commemoration of World Aids Day by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). And by God’s grace, I just kept going on. I can say that I’m a product of what we call the ‘Gown and Town’ having undergone formal and informal tutelage in the Creative Arts Department of the University of Lagos and under exceedingly talented directors and performers,” she explained.

Sanu has worked on a number of festivals – theatre and film festivals. Lagos Theatre Festival is one project she is always proud to talk about. She joined the team as a Customer and Production Associate when the festival was launched by the British Council in 2013 and has worked in different roles over the years – Co-Producer, Front of House Manager, Box Office Manager. She has been the Festival Coordinator since 2017 till now.

Sanu was also the Box Office Manager for Lagos Fringe Festival from 2018 – 2020 and a Strategy and Administration consultant for Eko Theatre Carnival for a few years. In 2020, she was Festival Director for Quramo Festival of Words (QFest).She has also been a College member of the Africa Academy Movie Awards (AMAA) College of Screeners member at different levels over the years.

As an actress with years of experience, Sanu’s most challenging and memorable role was when she played the main male character as Balogun in a stage play, ‘Olu-Aiye’. She said, “It was not easy to achieve but I worked very hard on the characterisation and delivery of the lines. I did enjoy playing that role.”

Balancing dancing and singing with her job as an actress comes effortlessly as according to her, “These are all related and are key components of the African Total Theatre which is the aesthetical basis of most of our theatre productions, combining various art forms to create explosive experiences for the audience. Training and practice make the transitions easy. It might take a while to smoothen and make perfect but then that is the essence of the

rehearsal process. I believe that part of the test of a good performer is in their ability to combine their acting, dancing, singing and other aspects successfully. When the art of combining these various performance arts is perfected, it becomes a lot easier when you have to do just one of them.”

On how her various roles intersect with each other and contribute to her overall artistic expression and vision, Sanu stated, “I have found each role influences the other. Nothing exists in isolation, really. The power of creativity cannot be undermined as it is the foundation upon which a lot can be built, regardless of the industry. Arts (or creativity) is a very broad parlance which involves various aspects and inputs to bring it to life. I find the Arts as a platform to be myself and express my intrinsic thoughts – as a performer, writer or Producer.

My hands-on experience with performing arts is an additional leverage when I work in any managerial or administrative capacity on a creative project. My experience in other industries also provides me further experience and knowledge in administration, marketing and programme management which I have been able to channel back to my roles in the creative industry.”

The process of transferring any sort of knowledge as much as she loves learning, for the actress who also teaches African arts and culture, is one she relishes. “Every time I get the opportunity to do something structured, I put my all into it. The most satisfying part for me is the finished work – when everything is put together and you can see what the participants have learnt either when they do a presentation or on a feedback survey. I worked with Lufodo Productions on a project to teach acting and dance as after-school activities and I worked in a number of schools at the time including Corona Schools, Vivian Fowler school for girls and Meadow Hall.

 I also work with Osun Arts Foundation in Liverpool, coaching African traditional and contemporary arts and cultural practices in schools and community centres across the UK and Europe. These projects are not aimed at imparting knowledge alone but, focuses also on the physical, mental and social wellbeing of the participants,” she stated.

For the future, Sanu plans to work on the documentation of Nigerian traditional arts and cultural practices. The reason being that she is “Worried about how much and how well they have been documented for reference now and for the later generations. I’m concerned that a time might come when we will no longer be able to see unadulterated traditional performances from the various tribes. And people may no longer know or understand the background of some of our cultural practices. I think we need to pay more attention to the content we have in the archives already and to figure out how to get more materials that can be added. Go through the existing archives, brush them up and beef them up. If nothing, a good starting point might be figuring out what state the existing archives are in and work towards improving on the content as well as how they are stored. Posterity will be glad we did it.”

She relives her experience as a vibrant member of the Crown Troupe of Africa. “Being part of Segun Adefila’s Crown Troupe of Africa at the time was a joy. I joined right from when I was a student in the university and we were creating scores of good theatres – traditional, modern, social and impactful. We were more purpose-driven than finance driven and all we really wanted to do at the time was to perform every opportunity we got. And, I did! We performed traditional dances from the different parts of Nigeria like Bata, Apepe, Akoto; and also created dance-theatre performances like Aluta, Exodus and so many others, and drama productions such as Wole Soyika’s ‘Death and the King’s Horseman’ and ‘Lion and the Jewel’, Bode Osanyin’s Omo Odo amongst others.  I was also a member of Isioma Williams Gongbeat Productions at some point, learning and performing more traditional dances and percussion from Mr. Isioma Williams.”

Her career as a multifaceted creative has not been without certain hurdles which she has crossed through hard work and persistence. She explains more. “There have been loads of challenges along the way but there was never a time when I wasn’t involved in the creative industry and practicing the Arts in some form or the other – as a performer, trainer or a manager. Once I am involved in anything, I make sure to put my very best into it and no matter how difficult it might be, I get things done even if I have to overextend myself. There were times when I was engaged in other industries and it was not easy to manage my schedule between my creative responsibilities and other activities. But the art finds me all the time and pulls me in. I am very passionate about the arts and it is my place of solace.”