It is with no doubt that at one point in our lives, be male or female, through history books or word of mouth, we have all heard of the famous August Meeting and, the Aba Women’s Riot.
Written by Paul Ugbede, directed by Kenneth Uphopho, and produced by Chioma Onyenwe, the stage play, August Meeting, brought itself to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and ushered us into the events that occupied the aftermath of the 1929 Aba Women’s Riot.
It is with no doubt that at one point in our lives, be male or female, through history books or word of mouth, we have all heard of the famous August Meeting and, the Aba Women’s Riot but nothing for sure prepared the students for the powerful and electrifying performance seen on stage.
The play opens with an Igbo war song, and we find Ikonnia (Inna Erizia) and Nwugo (Ijeoma Aniebo) on stage preparing for the arrival of Nwanyewura (Gloria Anozie-Young) - the woman who led the riot and was imprisoned for 3 months. Instantly, we see that there is a bigger riot waiting for these women at home, that despite the fact that they have conquered the white man and tax laws, there were certain customs and laws that have conquered them for years, a classic case of winning the battle but not the war.
Nwakaego (BellaRose Iyere-Okojie) is denied access to her late husband’s mansion on account of ‘her barrenness’ which truthfully, is as a result of his impotence. The play further broadens itself with dialogue, humor, wit, and sarcasm as each woman tells her story and touches everything ranging from, leadership, feminism, patriarchy, female gentile mutilation, suppressed sexual urges, and ultimately, the grief of a woman in her own home.
Through these scenes and the brilliant use of flashback, we see the strong character of Mgbeke (Odera Orji), a woman who represents the society with caustic tongue and judgment. Who when faced with abuse, advises the woman to “stay calm” and turn to the gods with hope. But despite the show of strength and make believe pride, like the society, Mgbeke has fears, cries at night and is unsure of her womanhood as she considers herself half woman.
The locked mansion becomes the symbol for the way women are held under ‘lock and key’ not just by traditions but by the women themselves who put these traditions in place and executes them. For instance, shaving of a woman’s hair after the death of her husband, circumcising a woman, reminding a woman she is nothing without a child especially a male child, and the generational transfer of telling the woman her place is silence.
Through this journey, it is reinforced that there is indeed strength in the multitude of women as Nwayewura wisely puts; if we put our tears together, we can water our future.
And with that, the August Meeting was born, a yearly reminder that what makes a woman half ‘is what she has refused to give herself.’ And there is a need to reinforce her strength and defeat the enemy she knows with more than just one riot.