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By Damiete Braide
The Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Lagos State Chapter, in collaboration with the Department of Theatre Arts and Film Studies, University of Lagos (UNILAG), has celebrated veteran playwright and literary icon, Professor Femi Osofisan, at 80 with a stage performance of Lass Lass, a satirical play that examines the desperate lengths people go to in their quest for survival, wealth and social recognition.
The performance, staged by 100-level students of the department, was one of the activities organised in honour of Osofisan, whose contributions to Nigerian theatre and literature have spanned several decades. The students were divided into two groups, with each group presenting its interpretation of the play to the delight of the audience.
Written by Dr Olatunbosun Taofeek, Lass Lass uses comedy, absurdity, ritual, superstition, gender performance and poverty to interrogate contemporary society’s obsession with quick wealth and survival. Beneath its humour, the play raises serious questions about morality and the sacrifices people are willing to make when survival becomes their overriding concern.
According to Olatunbosun, the central idea of the play is that the struggle to survive has become so compelling that people are increasingly prepared to sacrifice morality, reason and common sense in the process.
He explained that in a society where poverty is often treated as a personal failure while wealth is regarded as the ultimate measure of success, Lass Lass presents a humorous but disturbing picture of people desperately seeking shortcuts to prosperity.
The story revolves around three troubled seekers, Odumo, Bob and Koko, who arrive at the mysterious God Holding Limited in search of what is described as “cut soap,” a ritualistic promise of wealth, fame and transformation.
Odumo, a struggling musician haunted by the memory of his late wife and the consequences of his past actions, believes that Master, the mysterious owner of God Holding Limited, can deliver him from poverty. Bob, his companion, adopts an unusual strategy by dressing as a woman, believing that the unconventional act could help him attract wealth.
At the same time, they encounter Philo, a strange woman who repeatedly washes her hair with black soap because she believes the ritual will remove bad luck and prepare her for success.
Their encounters create a comic world filled with contradictions, as each character seeks transformation without fully understanding what must be sacrificed to achieve it. Koko, another ambitious but barely talented musician, visits Master hoping to obtain a soap that will supposedly turn him into a Grammy-winning artist.
The characters’ desperation eventually exposes the greed, deception and contradictions within their society. Master presents himself as an all-powerful problem solver, selling mysterious soaps and making extravagant promises to people desperate for a better life.
As the drama unfolds, the boundary between faith and fraud, sanity and madness, and survival and self-destruction becomes increasingly blurred. A violent confrontation involving charms and ritual objects eventually turns against Master, exposing the absurdity of a man who claims supernatural powers but is unable to protect himself from the forces he invokes.
Yet, even after Master appears to have been defeated, the struggle for survival continues. In the final irony, Master rises and declares that survival remains the key to society.
For Olatunbosun, Lass Lass is, therefore, not merely a comedy but a reflection of the realities of contemporary Nigerian society. Through caricature, fast-paced dialogue, pidgin-inflected expressions and theatrical absurdity, the play satirises the culture of quick wealth, spiritual manipulation, celebrity obsession, social hypocrisy and the desperation to escape poverty.
The Artistic Director of the production, Dr Wole Balogun, said he adopted an experimental and democratic approach to directing the play, allowing the 100-level students to contribute their creativity to the performance.
Balogun explained that he introduced the students to the play as a social drama dealing with several problems in society, particularly the curious ways Nigerians, and especially Lagos residents, seek survival.
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He said the storyline depicted people seeking the assistance of a prophet who claims that his soaps can bring fortune and luck to those who purchase them. According to him, the characters eventually exposed the prophet as a fraud who had devised clever ways to deceive desperate people.
Balogun said the cross-dressing character, the woman washing her hair and the other characters represented different survival strategies employed by people in the streets of Lagos.
He noted that the relevance of the play lies in the fact that widespread corruption and poor leadership have pushed many people to devise questionable means of survival.
His message to Nigerians, however, was that, while being smart in order to survive might be understandable, such smartness should not involve cheating or harming others.
Rather, he urged citizens to demand responsible leadership from the government instead of turning against one another in the struggle for survival.
Balogun also explained that the collaboration between the Theatre Arts and Film Studies Department of UNILAG and ANA Lagos was designed to strengthen the relationship between the university and the wider community.
He said the collaboration was part of the department’s commitment to community service and its efforts to promote greater interaction between academia and society.
Prof Bisi Ademakinwa praised the students for their performance, saying their first outing had already demonstrated their potential. She encouraged them to work harder and continue improving their craft.
Similarly, Dr Titilayo Adebayo, a lecturer in the Department of Creative Arts, expressed pride in the students, describing them as talented and capable of making significant contributions to Nigeria’s entertainment industry.
One of the students, Arowoshegbe David, who played the transgender character, said he was selected for the role because his classmates believed he could convincingly embody the character.
David explained that growing up with five sisters made it easier for him to understand the mannerisms required for the role. He said he occasionally dressed as a woman at home as part of playful entertainment with his sisters.
He described his participation in Lass Lass as an auspicious experience and said his passion for theatre and film motivated him to give his best.
Olatunbosun also encouraged the students to remain committed to theatre, describing their performance as evidence of their promising potential. He urged them to take advantage of the opportunities available at the university, noting that many accomplished theatre practitioners began their careers from similar stages.
He reminded the students that theatre could be demanding but encouraged them not to give up, stressing that continuous learning, discipline and exposure would help them build successful careers.
Ultimately, Lass Lass combined laughter with social criticism, using the absurdity of its characters to hold up a mirror to a society where poverty, corruption and the pursuit of wealth continue to influence human behaviour. Its message was clear: survival may be necessary, but when the struggle to survive becomes an excuse to deceive, exploit or destroy others, the line between survival and madness becomes dangerously thin.
