VINCENT O. DIAKPOMRERE

The African continent is characterized by several traditional dramatic performances. These traditional dramatic performances which help distinguish several tribes and their culture take place during periodic events like naming ceremonies, initiation ceremonies, cleansing ceremonies, marriage ceremonies, and festivals etc. Among several African countries, Nigeria happens to be one with arguably the most number of festivals annually. This is due largely to the fact that Nigeria has over three hundred indigenous tribes, all with their peculiar art and festivals. Some of these festivals are the Igue masquerade festival of Ubulubu community in Delta State, Eyo festival of the Eko people of Lagos state, Calabar carnival, Ijele masquerade festival, the Ogiesoba festival of Benin City etc. However the main focus of this project is the Igue masquerade festival of Ubulubu town in the Aniocha North local government of Delta State.

In the reality of an economic recession and increasing competition in all sectors of the economy, companies strive to find more effective and efficient ways to increase brand awareness and market their services. This research looks at the role of social media in theatre productions marketing. Developing an effective viral marketing strategy within the social media landscape requires being aware of the current usage of social media by theatre arts in their attempt to market the services to their target audiences. There is a growing interest in social media marketing research with only modest research available in the arts field. The questions that form the basis for this research are: To what extent can Facebook be applied as a good social media for marketing theatre productions in our modern day society? How does marketing on Facebook influence audience patronage for theatre productions? What are the benefits when marketing theatre productions via Facebook. However, deduction from this study has shown that Social media was seen as most effective in increasing brand awareness and building strong fan community.