THE FLOW OF COMMUNICATION USING MIDNIGHT HOTEL'S PERFORMANCE

AT THE UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS MAIN AUDITORIUM.

The Plot and Synopsis of the Performance

Midnight Hotel is a satirical comic opera. It makes lighthearted fun of society deterioration,

religious hypocrisy, and governmental corruption. Parliamentarian Awero intends to woo

dishonest contractor Pastor Suru at the immoral Midnight Hotel. Her efforts are hindered,

though, by runs-ins with family friends, such as Alatise and his kids, and interruptions from hotel

personnel. The drama, which features characters like the conceited hotel attendant Jimoh,

exposes the moral decay and thirst for power in Nigerian culture. The failure of Alatise's

campaign for office and the prostitution of his daughters are examples of the widespread

corruption and moral decline. Alatise considers suicide, yet she lives, demonstrating the fortitude

required to oppose social ills.

Having provided the plot of the play above, it is imperative to analyse the performance of the

play as performed in the University of Lagos Main Auditorium for the 56th convocation

ceremony.

Firstly, the performance does not feature rich scenographic elements as the set is not standard.

The doors for each room to the are built with wooden frames that are not standard enough, do not

close when closed and sometimes get stuck when an actor tries to open it. Although, the actors

were able to properly embody the characters and the acting was good to some extent. The

costuming wasn’t that bad too but was definitely not excellent. The main fault of the

performance is the band. The play is tagged as a musical performance which should basically

feature more of melodic progression, music with dialogues or dialogues in form of a lyrical

pattern, but this wasn’t so for the performance. The director did make use of an on-stage band to
make up for this but this isn’t sufficient as the band is idle for most part of the play. It is only

when the character “Songmaster” has to sing that the band comes to life. The worse part is the

fact that the band had to even subconsciously become spectators to the action on the main stage

due to their idleness. There were songs that synced with the socio-political and sociocultural

issues in the play but not in a musical style. The lighting served a primary purpose of

illumination and was also changed into different colour when some certain songs were

performed. The acting is the main good part of the performance but the other elements like the

musical; idleness of the band, costume, light idleness, etc. made the performance weak and lived

below the standard of the script itself.

SENDER AND RECEIVER

In this context, the senders of the message are the actors, along with the elements of the

performance such as music, costume, lighting, and set design. The receivers are the audience

members who attended the performance during the Convocation ceremony. The actors

effectively portrayed the characters and themes of Midnight Hotel, including political corruption,

moral depravity, and religious charlatanism. Their performances served as the primary means of

communication between the senders (actors) and receivers (audience). Despite shortcomings in

execution, music was intended to serve as a significant means of communication in the

performance. It was expected to enhance the storytelling, synchronize with the socio-political

themes, and evoke emotional responses from the audience. Costumes contributed to character

portrayal and the setting of the play, helping the audience understand the societal context and the

personalities of the characters. While the set design faced technical issues, it still played a role in

creating the atmosphere of Midnight Hotel. Lighting served both practical and thematic

purposes, illuminating the stage and enhancing certain scenes.

Despite limitations, the actors effectively communicated the themes and messages of the play

through their performances. They portrayed characters entangled in political corruption, moral

decay, and societal hypocrisy, engaging the audience with the narrative. However, the

performance fell short in utilizing music as a means of communication. The band's idleness and

lack of integration with the action on stage hindered the effectiveness of music in enhancing the

storytelling and evoking emotional responses. Costumes, while not exceptional, still contributed

to the communication of the play's themes and characters, aiding the audience's understanding of

the societal context and character motivations. Despite technical issues, set design and lighting

served their basic functions and added to the atmosphere of the play, though they did not reach

the standard expected for a production of this calibre.

The play's general impact was diminished by stage design flaws, band idleness and inadequate

musical execution, even if the actors did a good job of expressing the play's themes and

messages. The mismatch between the planned and actual uses of music hindered communication,

as did technological problems that detracted from the audience's engagement and participation.

The fact that the performance fell short of the expectations set by the script itself emphasises

how crucial it is to use every aspect of the production to best communicate the desired ideas and

messages to the audience.