Performing arts need sustainable business models – National Theatre GM

The General Manager of the National Theatre, now renamed the Wole Soyinka Centre, Tola Akerele, has called on stakeholders in Nigeria’s performing arts industry to look beyond one-off sponsorships and develop sustainable business models to keep the sector afloat.

She disclosed this during her opening provocation at a session titled “Building Sustainable Business Models in the Performing Arts” at the Creative Africa Nexus Weekend on Thursday.

The GM said the industry could not continue to rely largely on personal relationships and occasional corporate sponsorships, stressing the need for long-term partnerships, alternative revenue streams and viable business structures.

Speaking during the session at the Wole Soyinka Centre in Lagos, Akerele said that despite the abundance of talent, stories and audiences in the country, the sector continued to struggle with inadequate funding.

She noted that the industry had survived largely through the passion and commitment of practitioners, many of whom continued to invest their time and resources despite the limited financial returns.

“We do see success stories. We see people doing well here and there. But we need to look beyond these one-off successes. They are not enough to establish a sustainable model for the performing arts.

“A lot of the time, we rely heavily on sponsors, particularly brands. I think that, in this environment, sponsorship is often linked to friendships or personal connections. As a result, the sponsor’s vision is not always aligned with that of the organisation.

“So what happens when a sponsor decides not to support you the following year, and you are left looking around for new sponsorship opportunities? I want us to examine how we can become truly sustainable in this environment and hear from those who are already making it work,” the GM said.

Akerele also identified the cost of operating and maintaining performance venues as another challenge facing the industry, noting that the sustainability of venues was crucial to the survival of production companies and performances.

Describing the Wole Soyinka Centre as an edifice built for the Festival of Arts and Culture almost 50 years ago, she said its original vision included multiple performance spaces and cinemas.

However, she noted that operating and maintaining such a facility was expensive, raising questions about how venues could support the long-term sustainability of the performing arts.

The GM also called for greater attention to earned income, long-term partnerships, production management, programming and the development of creative works beyond their initial performances.

She said creative works should be positioned to reach wider audiences within Nigeria, across Africa and internationally, rather than being limited to their initial presentations.

Also speaking during the session, a producer, writer and arts manager, Lydia Idakula, urged practitioners to explore alternative revenue streams, including merchandising and the adaptation of stage productions into films.

Idakula said practitioners often devoted considerable time and resources to creating productions but paid less attention to developing viable businesses around them.

She cited the Broadway and West End productions of The Lion King as examples of how theatre productions could generate revenue beyond ticket sales through merchandising.

“The day I watched The Lion King in 2019, I left the theatre with a blanket, a T-shirt, a key ring, a mug and a sippy cup. And that was just me. So imagine what you can achieve when you think outside the box with a live production.

“When you consider merchandising, for example, what could that look like for your production? I can’t speak for other African countries, but I know that in Nigeria, merchandising is not something we really embrace or promote as a business or culture.

“It is something we can really explore,” she said.

Idakula also pointed to productions such as In the Heights and Hamilton, which were adapted into films, as examples of how creative works could reach audiences beyond the theatre.

She said practitioners needed to be intentional about building businesses around their productions and developing loyal audiences who would continue to support their works across different platforms.

“There is so much more we can achieve when we are intentional about the business side of the products we create. It is not just about ticket sales. It is about building an audience that can follow you, remain loyal to you and continue to support your work when it evolves from a live production into something else.

“So, there is sustainability in building an audience that follows your production or product,” she added.

She further observed that while musicians and practitioners in other art forms had embraced merchandising, theatre practitioners in Nigeria had yet to fully explore its commercial potential.

Idakula urged stakeholders to pay greater attention to developing business models around creative productions to improve the industry’s financial sustainability.