TO USC

Members of the African diaspora transformed USC’s Bing Theatre into a showcase of traditional Nigerian music, culture and folklore as they gathered to watch Wedlock of the Gods, directed by Bayo Akinfemi, assistant professor of theater practice.

The October production featured a nearly allBlack cast of students from the USC School of Dramatic Arts, eager to bring to life the work of celebrated playwright Zulu Sofola.

TV appearances. The group was the featured act on NBC’s regional show California Live during Hispanic Heritage Month. Days later, the band was on NBC News Los Angeles affiliate KNBC-TV.

“Mariachi is the most beautiful music in the world, and being in the heart of Los Angeles — such a diverse space, Latino-centered — it’s important to find a way for students to express themselves culturally and creatively,” says Eduardo Cardenas, the group’s president and a mechanical engineering student at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. “We bring a lot of fun, a sense of inclusiveness, and we’re all professionals, so we bring great music.”

The play tells the tale of Ogwoma, who defies the law of the land by reconnecting with her true love following the death of the husband she was forced to marry.

Bringing Sofola’s play to the USC stage had special significance for Akinfemi. Sofola, Africa’s first female professor of theater arts and Nigeria’s first female published playwright and dramatist, served as a mentor to Akinfemi, who was part of the last cohort of theater students Sofola taught at the University of Ilorin in Nigeria before her death in 1995.

Says Akinfemi, “My personal connection with this woman makes me really proud and hungry to put her work here in this space for everybody to see.”