With Our Uniform, Irantiola mirrors societal injustice, other ills

To showcase societal decadence and ruthless use of force by uniformed men, With our Uniform, a satirical stage drama written by Olutayo Irantiola came alive at the Lagos Fringe Festival, which held at Freedom Park, Lagos Island.

Directed by Lanre Quadri, the play tells the story of how men in uniform extort innocent and unsuspecting citizens of their hard-earned income, just to augment their poor remuneration and feed their greed.

Speaking on the inspiration behind the production, Irantiola, revealed his passion for using art to reform the society whilst instilling quality value. “The response of the law enforcement officers to the spate of protests in Nigeria is quite disturbing and disheartening to say the least. My concerns are particularly about the injustice experienced by majority of our young and vibrant youths in the country. I am committed to telling the Nigerian story through plays. My art seeks to explore topical issues that affect the everyday Nigerian. The drama is an imitation of life and I am thrilled that it captures important facts in a subtle but entertaining way.”

Quadri said, “I am delighted we were able to bring our ideas to life and people were able to connect to it. We were able to get talented crew and so rehearsals were done within a short time. I have always wanted to work on a project that addresses societal issues and I believe this drama would spur the change we desire. It also serves as a reminder of what was and what could be.”

The cast includes, Damilola Adebayo, Ismaila Adeshina, Agnes Olayemi, Ogunse Tosin, Akintunde Tosin and Osho Olowu Micheal. Others are, Adeniyi Oluwafemi, Christiana Ndukwe, Friday Onyenankeya, Lawrence Babatunde and Damilola Adeyinka.

Irantiola is well known within the art and literary circles and is the convener of the Literary Reading Group and Atokun of Yoruba Lakotun.