JOS

The Jos Repertory Theatre was founded in 1997 in the ancient tin mining city of Jos, Plateau State in North Central Nigeria.

The Jos Repertory Theatre at inception started taking drama in the school curriculum to schools in and around the city of Jos but with registration and the commencement of formal theatre work in 2000, our work was extended to include the creation of theatre-for-development sketches to communities in Jos and neighbouring states.

The sketches that we have created have included life enhancing sketches on HIV and Aids related issues, health, agriculture, water and sanitation and civic education sketches ranging from good governance and accountability to election best practices.

The sketches to communities which have basically provided information, education and entertainment has over the years existed side by side with our formal theatre work which involves the presentation of scripted plays from the Nigerian theatre repertory and the best plays from around the world. This aspect of our work was to translate into the Jos Festival of Theatre which had its first edition in 2004 and has subsequently grown to include the production of new plays and the discovery of new directors for the stage in Nigeria. We have had participants in the festival from within Nigeria and the United Kingdom.

Over the years we have received support form the Ford Foundation, the British Council, the French Cultural Centre, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the National Action Committee on Aids (NACA), the Plateau State Aids Control Agency (PLACA), United States Agency for International Development-International Foundation for Education and Self Help (USAID-IFESH), International Committee on Artistes Freedom (ICAF) and the International Performers Aid Trust (IPAT).

Our relationship with IPAT dates back a few years ago when after a one year grant of creative work to rural communities in two states in Nigeria, the grant came to an end and we were faced with the lack of financial support of our troupe members who were involved in the project and who were HIV positive. The dilemma we faced was two fold – how to cater for them post the grant year so that they could continue on their drugs regimen and be able to feed well and adequately to withstand the rigours of the drugs.

IPAT assisted us in this by providing a grant to the four (4) actors so that every month they would have access to funds to enable them to feed properly and still be able to take their drugs while being able to continue to work.

IPAT has provided this subsistence funding without fail since 2006 and the four (4) actors have remained healthy – they have continued to work and they have continued to live!