Winner of the prestigious Alfred Fagon Award for Best New Play, Once Upon a Time in Sokoto is written by internationally renowned British-Nigerian playwright Inua Ellams, best known for National Theatre’s acclaimed Barber Shop Chronicles. Set in the Sokoto Caliphate at the turn of the 20th century, the play explores the bonds that can transcend cultural and social divisions as differences in heritage, culture, and religion are overcome in the face of new enemies. At the heart of the story are Zinari, a Muslim-Fulani woman who inherits her merchant father's business and Nafisa, one of the enslaved people that he owned. Opposing in their backgrounds, cultures and perspectives, these women are nevertheless thrown together by external forces. Led by a cast "adept at tragedy and comedy" (The Guardian) Zinari and Nafisa's intertwined stories explore the complexities of freedom, faith, marriage and power.
Ellams says that the play is "a historical period drama set in pre-colonial northern Nigeria; it’s about the fall of an empire and the rise of another".
The play begins six decades after the founding of the Sokoto Caliphate. Even though I was born in the region, I wasn’t familiar with it until I started researching it, so I don't think audiences will be either.
I tell this story through the lens of four main characters: Zinari, an upper-middle-class Muslim Fulani woman; Nafisa, a woman who Zinari’s family enslaved; Hadiru, a man Zinari employed; and Yusef, who returns home from what is now southern Nigeria with an understanding of the British forces making their way to the north and hoping to alleviate the suffering that he knows is about to come."
Director Roy Alexander Weise (National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company) brings "characteristic grace and pace" (The Guardian) to Ellams' ambitious storytelling. A long admirer of his work, Weise is delighted to be working with Inua Ellams in their first professional collaboration. When asked what particularly drew him to Ellams, Weise said it was his "distinct humour, the epic-ness of his stories, his astute microscopic lens on nuggets of the human experience". Lose yourself in the sumptuous indigos of lighting design by Neill Brinkworth, and thoughtful fluidity of movement co-ordinated by Coral Messam. A stunning original soundscape by Femi Temowo captures the rich textures of space and time to create a production that is, in Weise's words, "big and theatrical, witty and funny, bold, beautiful, and plays with time in a stunning way".
Once Upon a Time in Sokoto is the first production from Touring Together, a brand-new nationwide touring initiative lead by the theatre companies Fuel and China Plate. The partnership is dedicated to producing and touring exceptional new theatre at iconic venues across the UK. By working with outstanding artists, and championing diverse stories, Touring Together brings fresh perspectives to audiences across the country, creating opportunities for audiences to experience ambitious new work.