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Playing It Right Print  
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ImageAward-winning playwright and script writer, Ade Solanke, has recently been dazzling audiences in the UK with her award-nominated debut play, ‘Pandora’s Box’.

Solanke has taught scriptwriting in London, Lagos and Los Angeles, and has also written radio scripts for the BBC.

A nominee for Best New Play 2012  for ‘Pandora's Box’ by the Off West End Theatre Awards, she is also the winner of the Best Playwright 2012, Nigerian Entertainment and Lifestyle Awards and winner of the Best Playwright 2011, African Film Awards. Her company, Spora Stories, tells the dynamic stories of the African diaspora.

ReConnect Africa spoke to Ade Solanke about her career and the influence of her Nigerian heritage on her work.

ReConnect Africa:(RCA)  Congratulations on the success of ‘Pandora’s Box’.  What inspired you to write the play?

Ade Solanke:  Thank you! I'm still on a high from the fantastic reception it's had. We were nominated for Best New Play in the Off West End Theatre Awards and Best Playwright in the Nigerian Entertainment and Lifestyle Awards. I keep pinching myself. People keep asking me, 'Ade, when is it coming back?' That's so nice of them.  It's a really nice feeling to know your work has touched people so deeply.

I think it's because the play is entertaining and it deals with an issue that's so close to peoples' hearts: helping diaspora children achieve their full potential. In fact, what inspired me to write the play was seeing so many friends struggle with that very issue, and seeing kids at risk in the UK transformed after a stint in Africa! What do they get there that they're not getting here? That's the question I asked myself, so I just designed the story around that situation, and made the main character a mother who gets cold feet about leaving her son behind in Nigeria.

 

RCA:  When did you realize that playwriting was an area in which you could excel?

Ade Solanke:  Well, again, thank you! I certainly aim for excellence and work hard at writing, so hopefully I'm getting there! But it's not work – it never is when you love what you're doing. I've always been a writer; I think it's what I'm born to do. I always knew I'd be a writer – I have an instinct for how arranging words can create specific effects.

My first job was as a journalist with Concord Weekly, a Nigerian newsmagazine published from London, then I started my own writing and research service and won an award as 'London's Top Youth Entrepreneur.' After that, I went to the University of Southern California Film and TV school and did an MFA in Screenwriting. The emphasis was on storytelling and connecting with the audience and that was the kind of work I wanted to make. It was a wonderful adventure overall.  I worked in Hollywood and got an insight into the African-American experience. Made some great friends too, so did my son. 

 

In fact, what inspired me to write the play was seeing so many friends struggle with that very issue, and seeing kids at risk in the UK transformed after a stint in Africa!  Read more here
 
 
by sporastories

Africa International Film Festival – Calabar, Nov 2013

Had a great time running screenwriting workshops with young talent from across Nigeria at Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF).

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Great gathering,  great ideas, great parties too!  And Calabar is a gorgeous garden city.

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AFRIFF is a world class showcase that presents a complete immersion into the world of film making with participation from local and international filmmakers and professionals, celebrities, actors, directors, film critics, buyers, distributors, visual artists, film students, amateurs, equipment manufacturers, and international press.

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 Maintaining its inaugural theme “Africa Unites”, the vision is to raise awareness in Africa about the vast potential the entertainment industry holds and the impact it can generate in the economy; and to establish bridges for partnership with international counterparts to ensure quality, expertise and global standards access the local industry, accelerating its sustainable development.

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Pandora’s Box in the news

Weekender: Kweku Fleming, 40-something businessman

‘My family aren’t certain about our African heritage, but when I first visited Ghana, I felt at home’
Kweku Flemming
Kweku Fleming: ‘Ghana is booming. So many people from the diaspora are returning.’ Photograph: Emily Stein for the Guardian

I’m carrying fliers on my head for a play at the Arcola Theatre in east London. It’s called Pandora’s Box and was written by my friend Ade Solanke.

I used to be an “imagineer” for Disney – that’s where I met Ade. Imagineers are the people behind the theme parks. It was a unique office – cutting-edge and very secretive. I was looking at how to make rides more accessible, and part of that was travelling to parks all over the US in a wheelchair.

I now live in Ghana. My auntie studied there and sent lots of pictures. I became hooked. My family aren’t certain about our African heritage, but when I first visited Ghana, I felt at home. The way people treat each other and the pattern of life remind me of my old relatives in Macon, Georgia.

I’ve invested in an organic farm. We’re growing moringa – aka the tree of life. It’s considered the most nutrient-rich plant on Earth. It’s already feeding people in Africa; I want to get people eating it in the west.

Ghana is booming. So many people from the diaspora are returning – such as the Ghanaian British couple who run Star Bites cafe in Accra, where I go to watch my favourite singers, Toni “Jazz” Manieson andKojo Osew. Accra is becoming a beautiful melting pot of influences and energy.

by sporastories

PANDORA’S BOX REVIEWS

Here’s what they’re saying about Pandora’s Box:

“I have approximately 500 words in which I can review this play and all I want to write is ‘absolutely brilliant’ 250 times”
Louise Thompson, The Public Reviews

“Pandora’s Box buzzes with life and the tensions of real people struggling to make the best of their lives while dealing with the legacies of the choices made by a previous generation”
Lyn Gardner, The Guardian

“All in all a brilliant play that addresses a pertinent issue not just of education and the role of culture and identity, but of parenthood… bad choices can be made with the best of intentions. GO AND SEE IT!!!”
Gillian Fisher, Afridiziak Theatre News

“Ade Solanke’s new play is firecracker theatre…as touching as it is hilarious. Setting such a provocative story in the Arcola Tent… is also a stroke of genius… Definitely worth the trip”
Jonathan Watson, The Stage

“…Funny, illuminating scenes… hot on the heels of every poignant moment is a belly laugh…
Vicky Ellis, Whatsonstage

by sporastories