AMVCA: Why Broda Shaggi’s Theatre-backed Brilliance in Dwindle Deserved Win

By Emmanuel Daraloye

Before Broda Shaggi, born Samuel Perry, rose to become a multi-platform entertainer, live comedy and stage acting had always been his backbone. And, for all intent and purposes, it’s essentially become his cheat code to stellar award-winning performances, signalling a broader-but-pertinent question: is traditional theatre education the missing link in contemporary Nollywood’s evolution?

Nollywood’s founding fathers who trailed the path of comedic acting, including Baba Suwe, Mr Ibu, Hafiz Oyetoro, Nkem Owoh, among others, already laid the blueprint for others like Shaggi to follow. It’s no gainsaying that their screen performance structures, from timing, to rhythm, persona archetype, and improvisation, benefited heavily from their theatrical backgrounds as well.

Pre-Nollywood, travelling theatre, community drama troupes and university theatre workshops required intense intentionality and expertise from the actors in distinguishing their performances. And in today’s era of screen acting, professional brands like Broda Shaggi can soar across diverse formats because they have mastered these core ingredients that gives comedic acting its rich flavour. And that is partly why one should not be surprised that Shaggi clinched the Best Actor in a Comedy (2021) for his role in the Kayode Kasum flick, Dwindle. The film, which follows the story of two best friends who helped rescue a kidnapped state governor from his assailants, reflects Shaggi’s devotion to the necessary rudiments of live theatre as it applies to screen acting.

In Dwindle, Shaggi maintains his signature persona archetype of the funny street tout who speaks ‘fluent’ broken English and is street smart. He extends this persona to his character BUTA, who plays the lead alongside Jidekene Achufusi as CHINEDU, embellishing his performance with a lot of rigorous rhythmic pacing, obvious improvisations, and vocal control. Several times throughout the entire screen play he interpreted his comedic persona as either the caring friend; the troublesome truant; and the opportunist survivalist. In each case, his timing was impeccable. For instance, when CHINEDU lost his job as a dispatcher motorcyclist, BUTA’s reminder that their present homelessness was more pertinent than every other problem; however, in the wake of CHINEDU’s mother’s urgent need for medical care, he rouses hope in CHINEDU as he suggests they borrow a car to hustle as cabbies. For some reason, BUTA steals the car keys from the car owner, afraid that they’d be denied permission; and, he later returns to steal the car owner’s phone to use for internet ride-hailing. His mischief and clumsiness take centrestage in his expressions, while his visual and spoken motifs of a cigarette clutched behind his ear and his spontaneous bursts of ‘Hello!” “Wossss!” and “Are you Ok?” adorn each scene, leaving his acting both memorable and deeply hilarious.

Also, when it comes to timing, Shaggi’s delivery flows naturally, while still retaining accurate plot interpretation. For instance, when he returns home to find a street tout packing his belongings outside with his Landlord supervising the evacuation, he instantly switches to pleasantries upon recognising the tout as a neighbourhood pal. In the wake of even the most dramatically intense moments, he swivels through with diligent unseriousness, the kind that makes him burst into signature handshakes and hugs with the same person helping to evacuate him. In another scene, during the final moments where himself and CHINEDU attempt to fake the governor’s death to help rescue him from the assailants and also claim the assasination fee from the governor’s wicked son, his solution of using hard drugs to knock the governor out might be the best expression of his multifaceted comedic genius throughout the screenplay.

Understanding when to induce comedic relief; switch characters between ‘serious and supportive friend’ to ‘mindlessly clumsy truant’; exaggerate mannerisms, especially when sycophanting, bantering or begging; dramatic improvisations; and also how to dominate the screen with blockings that help reduce excessive shot variety are some of the hallmarks that Broda Shaggi scored in Dwindle. They are obviously fruits of a theatre background, but more importantly, they are well executed devices that spotlight Shaggi aka Samuel Perry’s prowess as a professional screen actor worthy of his laurels.