“1960” Review: A Nation Takes Shape

On 1 October 2025, as Nigeria marked another Independence Day, 1960 took to the stage at the MUSON Centre, offering audiences an opportunity to revisit the events, struggles and personalities that have shaped the nation. Rather than focusing solely on the moment Nigeria gained independence, the production explored a much wider stretch of the country’s history, bringing together different periods and defining events in a single theatrical experience. From the Berlin Conference and the 1914 amalgamation to the Aba Women’s Riot, Fela Kuti and the struggle for independence, the play attempted to connect different chapters of Nigeria’s past within a two-hour performance. It was an ambitious undertaking, and the effort to bring such a broad range of history together on stage was commendable.

The significance of the production was heightened by the date on which it was staged. Independence Day provides an opportunity to celebrate Nigeria’s journey as a nation, but it also invites reflection on the events that shaped that journey.

Bringing these different events into one play presents a considerable challenge. They belong to different periods, involve different people and reflect different struggles but the achievement lies in the scale of that ambition and the effort required to make such a wide historical scope work within the limits of live theatre.

The production also benefited from a wide cast, including Audu Israel, Abimbola Praise, Danjuma Tosin and Omolola Oyebade, among others. Beyond the performances, the production raises an important question about how history is remembered and communicated. Theatre offers a distinctive way of approaching the past because it allows audiences to encounter historical events through live action, character and visual storytelling. Rather than simply listing dates and explaining what happened, a stage production can create an experience through which people engage with the meaning of those events.

An important part of making that journey across time convincing is the visual world of the production. This is where the production design by Barakat Omolara Rasaki becomes especially significant. When a play moves through different historical periods, the stage must do more than provide a space for the actors. It must help establish the worlds in which the events unfold, supporting the transitions between different times, places and circumstances.

Production design can communicate a great deal before a character even speaks. The arrangement of a space, the furniture, the objects within it and the overall visual atmosphere can help establish a sense of time and place. In a production such as 1960, where the historical scope stretches across multiple periods, these choices become particularly important.

The challenge is not simply to make a setting look appropriate to a particular period, but to ensure that the visual elements serve the production as a whole. With so much history to cover in two hours, the design worked alongside the performances and direction to help maintain a sense of continuity.

Rasaki’s contribution sits within this larger creative effort. By shaping the visual environment in which the action takes place, production design helps give physical expression to the history being explored. It supports the audience’s understanding of the world on stage and contributes to the task of making historical storytelling feel immediate.

Ultimately, 1960 was an ambitious way to mark Nigeria’s Independence Day, bringing together a wide range of historical events, social struggles and influential figures within a two-hour theatrical experience. The contributions of the cast and creative team, including Barakat Omolara Rasaki, form part of that undertaking. Through production design, history gains a physical setting in which audiences can encounter, question and reconsider the events that continue to influence Nigeria’s national story.