Fuel with Touring Together are delighted to announce casting for the world premiere of Once Upon a Time in Sokoto, a gripping family drama from internationally celebrated poet and playwright Inua Ellams(Barber Shop Chronicles, Three Sisters, An Evening with an Immigrant).  

Once Upon a Time in Sokoto is the inaugural Touring Together production, bringing Oxford Playhouse and partner venues together for a nationwide touring initiative led by China Plate and Fuel. It will play in Oxford from Tuesday 13 to Saturday 17 October.  

Roy Alexander Weise directs the production, following his recent work on ROBOTA at Oxford’s Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, co-produced by Playhouse Associate Partner, Headlong. 

The production stars Adeola Yemitan (Elektra, Much Ado About Nothing) playing Nafisa, Antonia Layiwola (Is Dat U Yh?, Silkworm) playing Zinari, Bayo Gbadamosi (The Great, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) playing Hadiru and Will Atiomo (Blitz, The Sandman) playing Yusef. 

Commissioned by Fuel, the Alfred Fagon Award-winning Once Upon a Time in Sokoto tells the epic story of a beautiful but unlikely friendship. Differences in faith, culture and heritage are overcome in the face of new enemies, in a gripping family drama set against the backdrop of events leading to the creation of Nigeria. 

Inua Ellams, Writer, said: “At its core, Once Upon a Time in Sokoto is the story of an extremely unlikely friendship between an enslaved woman and her former mistress; a relationship forged as personal and political worlds tragically collide. It explores power, faith, heritage and culture. It’s a period drama set in the mid-late 1800s pre-colonial Nigeria, and I’ve always been fascinated by how the legacy of this time still influences and resonates with global perceptions and politics today. I'm delighted to be reuniting with Fuel following Barber Shop Chronicles and Three Sisters, to be working with Roy, and a brilliant cast to take this story across the country in the very first production with Touring Together.” 

Roy Alexander Weise, Director, said: “I'm thrilled to be working with Fuel again and to be staging and supporting the development of Inua’s extraordinary new award-winning play; I have wanted to work with him for a long time and long admired his work; the distinct humour, the epic-ness of his stories, his astute microscopic lens on nuggets of human experience. Set in the 1800s, 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 the heart are the stories of two very different fictional women but these characters feel familiar. I’m excited to work with this brilliant team of artists and minds to tell their stories and land this world for an audience today. I’m delighted to be working with Touring Together and can't wait to bring this to audiences across the UK.” 

The creative team is formed of Writer Inua Ellams, Director Roy Alexander Weise, Set Designer Amelia Jane Hankin, Composer Femi Temowo, Movement Director Coral Messam, Costume Designer Jessica Cabassa, Casting Director Heather Basten, Associate Director Brigitte Adela and Production Manager Helen Mugridge. 

Touring Together represents a strategic partnership for producing and touring new midscale theatre that will bring bold new plays to audiences, creating a robust network of touring venues who will collectively make, present and partner on the work. The venues collaborating alongside The Playhouse on this initiative are Brighton Dome, Leeds Playhouse, Royal & Derngate, Northampton and Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry.  

Katy Snelling, Director of Programmes at Oxford Playhouse said: "This announcement is an exciting next step for Touring Together, as our collaborative approach serves to address the decline in new writing on stages around the UK. This way of working allows us to present new, relevant and pivotal work to the diverse communities that make up our city and county, inspiring conversations and connections in a way that only theatre can.” 

Touring Together will present the new show at each partner venue and beyond from this October. The next production, produced by China Plate, will be staged in autumn 2027. The initiative is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.