Management of Departmental Theatrical Productions in Selected Nigerian Universities

Abstract

Every aspect of the theatre requires coordination, supervision, and organisation. These attributes resonate as  management. Management is very expedient to any organisation that wants to succeed, be it profit making or non- profit making. Management is the coordination of human, financial and material resources of an organisation for the  purpose of achieving desired objectives. The purpose of this study is to assess the processes and challenges of  producing departmental theatrical productions in selected Nigerian universities. The research methodologies applied in  this research include the sociological and literary methods. The sociological method includes the interview technique. A  sample size of (5) universities were selected. This includes two (2) federal and two (2) state universities and one (1)  private university. Interviews were conducted with the various heads of departments and business managers. The study  discovered that almost all the universities surveyed apart from Redeemer’s University, Ede (RUN) have the  problem of inadequate funding and facilities. Also, all the universities studied produce Theatre workshops and only  University of Benin, Benin City (UNIBEN), Imo State University, Owerri (IMSU) and RUN produce departmental  sponsored productions. The study concludes that if the funding of Theatre Arts Departments in Nigeria is not improved  upon, departmental sponsored productions may go moribund. It is recommended that the university authorities in  Nigeria should improve drastically the funding and provision of facilities for Theatre Arts Departments. To augment the  authorities’ funding, the Theatre Arts Departments should endeavour to establish a marketing unit that will seek for  external support from well meaning individuals, government agencies, corporate organisations and NGOs.