When it comes to love affairs, marital issues and friendship, the words of Friedrich Nietzsche, the late German philologist comes to the fore. One of the man’s of dictum is: “It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages.” This axiom resonates in the stage play, titled, After ‘I Do’, performed at Studio 18Hub, Lagos, during the valentine season to celebrate valentine; perk up existing relationships and rekindle love in a waning friendship.

Written by Davies and directed by the thespian Ifeanyi Eziukwu, the play opens with Amara (May Okanigbe) searching for her wedding ring. The husband, Daniel (Awesome Duru), soon joins in the search.

As the couple continues the search, Amara tensed up with anger, discovers that her husband does not know the minutest details about her.

She becomes infuriated the more, when she finds out that her husband knows his secretary’s phone numbers off the cuff, but cannot tell her favourite colour and birthday. It is not surprising then, she concludes, that Daniel bought for her an oversized-wedding ring.

These discoveries creates a great gully; a missing connection that makes Amara to wonder if Daniel truly loves her, or if he married her to fulfill a purpose.

Daniel, a shrewd businessman, has no room for romance. He is much concerned about building his business empire and providing for the needs of his wife and his children to be.
To achieve his goal, he unconsciously aligns with those, including his secretary that would spike him to achieve his goal. He knows the details of his secretary and could tell her whereabouts. This does not sit well with Amara, whose thoughts run riot.

Amara before long discovers that Daniel is not involved in any premarital relationship, but married her as a symbol. A symbol to tell the implementers of his father’s will and his family that their boy has come of age to inherit his father’s company and to make his own decisions like a man.

Daniel’s father had willed his company to Daniel with a proviso that he should be allowed to run the company when he is married. Marriage, according to him, will make Daniel a responsible person.

Put together by JT Play Hub and Studio18Hub, but produced by Adrian, Pastol Nnochiri, the play gradually takes its audience from a simple beginning to its crescendo, where the couple engaged in a heated argument that exposes their persons and what they both expect in the union. While the wife wants the husband to be romantic and understand her love language, as well as every detail about her, the husbands focuses his attention on money making; thinking it is the only way to make the wife and family happy.

The argument makes them to redefine their essence and brings to the front burner the main theme of family and sub-themes that include, diligent, romance, openness and the import of communication in a relationship. Here, Daniel in a soliloquy asks himself: “Am I a good husband?” A rhetorical question that begins the empathy for Amara.

The duo’s interpretation of the script was in the superlative. Their body languages, tonal expressions, eye contacts and gesticulations brought out the beauty and meaning of the play. These attributes held the audience spellbound.

Presented in an unconventional space, the producer, Nnochiri, skillfully set the stage at a vintage position where the audience were able to see the cast, hear them clearly and relate with them first-hand. These elements enabled the audience to relate and breathe into the performance; inform of call and response.

The space on its own puts pressure on the cast to exhibit their gifting, as there was no need for light to give visual direction and to tell the lewd part of the story. A situation, indeed, came and the cast improvised in a scene, as it was seen when a child strayed into the stage. They seemingly adapted the child as part of the script. This skill was a plus and also boosted their audience engagement.

The play coming at this time when the news of lovers and couples mowing their partners make the play apt. The messages spur couples to engage in dialogue in place of violence to resolve any conflict in their relationship and eschew the intrusion of third parties.