Wole Soyinka’s early 1958 drama, The Swamp Dwellers is returning to the UK stage for the first time since 1975. Opening at Utopia Theatre, Sheffield, from 29 June to 11 July, the production comes on the helm of the company’s founder and artistic director, Dr. Mojisola Kareem. Interestingly, the Nobel Prize winner, Soyinka turns 92 in July, a couple of days after the play winds down.
Soyinka wrote the play at 24, and has not been seen on a UK stage in more than half a century after. Excerpt of a report says the production reflects issues still making headlines today, including migration, environmental degradation, poverty and inequality, while examining the tension between tradition, modernity, as well as the impact of powerful interests on vulnerable communities.
Performances of the one-act, 70-minute revival, features an eight powerful member cast led by Jude Akuwudike as Makuri, Urielle Klein-Mekongo as Alu, Theo Ogundipe as Kadiye and Obi Maduegbuna as the beggar. Also appearing are Joshua Roberts-Mensah, talking drummer “Mr Culture” (Ayanwole Ayantolana) and Sheffield community cast member Omobola Akanbi.
Written in 1958, a year after Soyinka graduated from the University of Leeds, ‘The Swamp Dwellers’ ranks among the playwright’s earliest works. Set in the Niger Delta during the late 1950s, the play centres on an ageing couple struggling to survive in a hut raised above the swamp as relentless rain threatens an already failing harvest.
