Once Upon a Time in Sokoto - in Leeds
- Alan Hulme
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Updated: 2 hours ago
Former joint artistic director of Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre, Roy Alexander Weise, will direct internationally-celebrated poet and playwright Inua Ellams’ awarding-winning family drama, Once Upon a Time in Sokoto at Leeds Playhouse November 11-14 - the only regional date on a short national tour.
Adeola Yemitan (Elektra, Much Ado About Nothing) plays Nafisa, Antonia Layiwola (Is Dat U Yh?, Silkworm) is Zinari, Bayo Gbadamosi (The Great, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) plays Hadiru and Will Atiomo (Blitz, The Sandman) appears as Yusef.
Ellams (Barber Shop Chronicles, Three Sisters) explained: “At its core is an extremely unlikely friendship between an enslaved woman and her former mistress; a relationship forged as personal and political worlds collide. It explores power, faith, heritage and culture."
The play is a period drama set in pre-colonial Nigeria in the mid to late 1800s: "I’ve always been fascinated by how the legacy of this time still influences and resonates with global perceptions and politics today," Williams said.
Alexander Weise said: “It's an unexpected period drama, unveiling the hidden history of a complex pre-colonial African Islamic civilisation (the Sokoto Caliphate – located in the northern region of modern-day Nigeria) which I didn’t know about before reading a draft of the play.
"It’s big and theatrical, witty and funny, brutal, bold, beautiful, and plays with time in a stunning way. I’m always curious about how history and time work in stories, and how time works on us as humans. At its heart are the stories of two very different fictional women, but these characters feel familiar."
This is the inaugural production from Touring Together, a new national initiative committed to taking new theatre works on tour, led by producers Fuel and China Plate with the Leeds theatre, Brighton Dome, Oxford Playhouse, Royal & Derngate, Northampton, and Warwick Arts Centre in Coventry.
More info and tickets here
