Details

Nigeria, 1943. The King is dead, and tonight his Horseman must escort him to the Ancestors. I am the master of my fate. When the hour comes watch me dance along the narrowing path... My soul is eager. I shall not turn aside. As Elesin Oba dances through the closing marketplace, flirting with the women, pursued by his praise-singer and an entourage of drummers, he promises to honour the ancient Yoruba custom of ritual suicide and so accompany his ruler on the final journey. But a life so rich is hard to leave, and this is a British colony where such customs are not tolerated, no matter how sacred. Set against the conflict of indigenous and invader, Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka's extraordinary play uses Elesin's transition from the living to the dead to examine the essence of corruption and the power of the human will. You white races know how to survive; I've seen proof of that... But at least have the humility to let others survive in their own way.

Cast/Performers

Nonso Anozie (Elesin), David Ajala (HRH The Prince), Medina Ajikawo (Bride), Sarah Amankwah (Ensemble), Claire Benedict (Iyaloja), Robert Eugene (Ensemble), Derek Ezanagu (Sergeant Amusa), Karlina Grace (Ensemble), Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Olunde), Hazel Holder (Ensemble), Gbemisola Ikumelo (Ensemble), Tony James-Andersson (Ensemble), Jenny Jules (Jane Pikings), Gemma McFarlane-Edmond (Ensemble), Coral Messam (Ensemble), Lucian Msamati (Simon Pikings), Rex Obano (Ensemble), Anthony Ofoegbu (The Resident), Demi Oyediran (Ensemble), Daniel Poyser (Joseph), Jason Rowe (Ensemble), Seun Shote (Ensemble), Giles Terera (Praise Singer), David Webber (Aide de Camp)

Creatives/Company

Author: Wole Soyinka
Producer: National Theatre
Director: Rufus Norris
Design: Katrina Lindsay
Lighting: Paule Constable
Sound: Ian Dickinson