Review: Once Upon A Time in Sokoto (Oxford Playhouse)
Once Upon A Time in Sokoto by Inua Ellam is currently on tour and I was invited to review it at Oxford Playhouse. Directed by Roy Alexander Weise, the narrative focusses on the Sokoto Caliphate between 1865 and 1903, before British colonisation. Interestingly, the show includes discussion of slavery within Africa, a topic unlikely to be addressed in typical history lessons.
The music (Femi Temowo) playing when we entered the auditorium, along with the set (Amelia Jane Hankin), transported us to Africa before the performers even came on stage. Once they did, the actors introduced themselves and taught the audience a traditional Hausa “call and response”. As the title would suggest, Once Upon A Time in Sokoto is performed using traditional storytelling techniques, so there were frequent switches between drama, speaking to the audience to explain changes in times, location and situations, and audience involvement.
The focus of the story is on Zinari, a wealthy, Muslim noblewoman (Antonia Layiwola), and Nafisa (Adeola Yemitan) who was formerly enslaved. Hadiru (Bayo Gbadamosi), was originally selected by Zinari’s father (Will Atiomo) to protect her, but later became Zinari’s husband who eventually made choices that highlight the societal and religious beliefs, and limited women’s rights that were present at the time. With all of the actors playing multiple roles, and doing so incredibly well, movement direction by Coral Messam must be commended for the contrasting movements between the various characters played by each of the cast members. The casting – by Heather Basten – was faultless, and the four actors on stage created a world full of many more characters than their numbers would suggest.
The costumes (Jessica Cabassa), set and lighting design (Neill Brinkworth) created a very pleasing visual, with the combination of fabric choices and style for the costumes working particularly well, and the colours in the set and lighting design being hugely effective when Zinari’s fabric business was discussed and also during the depiction of conflict encroaching on the home the characters lived in.
With the depth of information shared during the show it felt insightful and educational, and a fascinating introduction to a part of history that I had limited knowledge of beforehand. I did feel the amount of information shared was a little too much to take in 2.5 hours. I wished it had been possible to focus in on certain situations in more depth rather than going through so much detail at such a fast pace it was impossible to absorb it all.
I personally also found the switch between performance, narration and audience involvement pulled me away from the characters, and while I fully understand why this was done – to follow traditional storytelling methods – for me personally it did reduce my engagement slightly. However, this is a personal reflection which obviously will not apply to everyone, and it was still interesting to see a production using different techniques in this way.
I came away from this theatre visit feeling like there is so much history that I am completely unaware of and I feel like this production created a window into multiple topics that I would like to discover more about. For me though, I feel I would have enjoyed the show even more if I had been allowed to get to know the characters better without the frequent breaking of the fourth wall.
Once Upon A Time in Sokoto is not the sort of show you’d easily forget about, and it will likely inspire a lot of viewers to find out more about the history behind it too.
⭐⭐⭐1/2
Once Upon A Time in Sokoto is at Oxford Playhouse until Saturday 17 October. It then continues on tour.
If you would like to see more of my curtain call photographs from this and other shows, please visit my Instagram.
I was gifted tickets for this show in exchange for an honest review.
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