Joseph Edgar, is an investment banker, theatre producer, playwright, and the brain behind The Duke of Shomolu Production, arguably, the fastest-growing theatre franchise in Nigeria.
With blockbuster productions such as 'Awo', 'Aremo', 'Baba Kekere', 'Our Duke Has Gone Mad Again', etc., to his credit, Edgar is taking a step further by venturing into politics in his quest for a better country.
For starters, many have wondered why he decided to abandon a business as lucrative as investment banking to immerse himself into the unpredictable world of live theatre production. He has this to say.
"The truth is that I have not really left the investment banking business. About 70% of my work is in investment banking. But going into investment banking is confidential. It is a profession that deals with a lot of sensitive things. So, it can't really be in the public space like that. But theatre production is more of a public thing. That's why any time you see me in public, theatre is in my head. Recently, I was on my investment banking business throughout, but because of its very nature, you can't hear a lot about that. That's why it appears that I have abandoned it."
Running Duke of Shomolu productions for years and entertaining/educating the public through avant-garde plays, have been challenging but Edgar says he's been motivated by the need to tell our African stories as well as help to enthrone quality leadership in the country. "I believe very seriously that leadership has failed in this country. We've tried leadership since 1960 till date, and it has failed. So, it is time for us to try followership, and in doing that we must educate, enlighten and sensitise people. That's why we decided to use theatre to sell these stories - stories about leadership, the history of our people, our past and present leaders - so that people would begin to understand where we are coming from as a people, in preparation for us to enter politics and push a different narrative.
"For example, when we did 'Baba Kekere', which is a play about Alhaji Lateef Jakande, it dawned on me that 'Baba Kekere' died about three years ago, and my social media person didn't know who he was. About 60% of the cast and crew didn't know who he was. They know Lateef Jakande Road; they know Jakande Estate, but they don't know why they were named Lateef Jakande Road or Lateef Jakande Estate. So, these stories that we're telling now are beginning to bring back our culture and our history to a new set of Nigerians, who ordinarily would not have had access to these stories because history is no longer being taught in schools, and because of the internet and all of that. I've seen young people come to watch plays, and they are so excited, because of what the story is about and how it has enlightened them. So, it's a dual thing - to tell these stories, enlighten people and prepare them for a new crop of leadership."
Theatre as best choice to tell our story
Asked why he prefers making a change through stage productions he said, "I tell these stories through theatre because the stories are very powerful. People ask me, Edgar, why are you not putting it on television or in movies? You know, when you watch a movie it is different from theatre experience; and theatre is cost-effective. Putting a production together is quite expensive; it is more expensive than producing most movies. I could be wrong. This one that we've just finished cost us N46m; enough for me to do three movies. I shot a documentary with N6m. But getting the distribution outlet for the movie is where the problem is. There's also publicity, media, marketing and so on. But for us with theatre, once you've gotten your budget right for that production, you have done it. So, that for me, was the low-hanging fruit, coming from investment banking. I have friends who left banking, tried to shoot movies, and entered serious trouble, because, for movies, the loose ends are plenty.
The essence of history in nation building
A lot of people have been calling on the government to bring back history into the school curriculum. As a Nigerian, Creative and as an investment banker, Edgar thinks it's long overdue. "It's very right. History is very key. A nation without its history is a lost nation. The thing is, what the government has not realised is that the atmosphere, the environment has changed. When I was growing up, the government controlled us because then we had only the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), so they controlled our thoughts then. Now we have Google, various social media platforms and so on. So, one can get information easily, whether they bring history back or not. Government removing history was a way of control. As Nigerians, we should begin to put more energy into serious things by understanding where we are today in terms of technology, in terms of the new economy, because at the end of the day, we might spend all of our time fighting government to bring history back to the school curriculum and utilising scarce resources in that pursuit, which to me is meaningless.
"Our challenge in Duke of Shomolu Production now is how to raise the followership to push what we're trying to do without losing the essence of theatre. So, for us in Duke of Shomolu Production, history is very key. That is why we are doing this as our own contribution, and that's why most of our shows are 70% non-ticket. We don't charge a gate fee outside Lagos. Every play we did outside Lagos has been free. We don't sell tickets."
Of all the productions done so far, Edgar shares the one that speaks to him the most; particularly about why he is in the theatre business? "It is 'Our Duke Has Gone Mad Again'. It is, for me, the most important of our productions. Most of our productions speak to history, politics, and leadership. But in the foundation of the home, if society is not right, you can't get it right. 'Our Duke Has Gone Mad Again' speaks to life, speaks to real-life issues that we face as Nigerians on a daily basis, at home and at the workplace. For example, this year, we are talking about prostate cancer. Two out of 10 Nigerians will have prostate cancer by the time they are 40; and by the time they are above the age of 60, six out of 10 will have prostate cancer. So, as you can see, it is an epidemic, and we don't know that the thing has a cure if detected early. Very few people will come out and say my thing is not standing again. That was what Charly Boy did, he wrote about it and put it as a play.
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"So, 'Our Duke Has Gone Mad Again' addresses critical issues people don't want to discuss; things like divorce, pre-marital sex, adultery, and DNA issues. These are strong issues. I will give you an example, my son who is in America went to an exhibition, he had a beautiful outing. In his speech, he thanked his mother, he thanked Fela, but he didn't thank me. That is the issue in most homes, but most fathers would not talk about it. So, you'll find out that most fathers are neglected which leads to early death."
Why he is venturing into politics
"I have politics in my blood. When I was as young as six years old, my father used to buy Sunday Times for me. So, I used to read Sunday Times as early as when I was six years old, and by the time I was 10 years old I had my favourite columnist. I was already reading Dele Giwa, I was reading Eskor Toyo. As early as nine years old, I used to sit down in Shomolu and discuss politics. I wanted to join the Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP) in 1979 because of Zik. I love Zik, because he was more colourful, more flamboyant. I used to tell my father to take me to rallies, so I used to stand behind and watch what was happening. I read Political Science up to Master's degree level. And when I was in University of Ibadan, two years before they annulled the June 12 presidential election I had already written in the paper that they would annul the election, because I had seen the trajectory."
