Over Half a Century After, Soyinka’s ‘The Swamp Dwellers’ Returns to UK Stage

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.

Their world is unsettled when one of their twin sons unexpectedly returns from the city, unsettling the fragile balance of their home.  Kareem says the nearly 70-year-old play feels strikingly current.

“On the surface, The Swamp Dwellers appears deceptively simple, but underneath, it asks profound questions about what happens to communities when the world around them begins to shift”.

“Wole Soyinka wrote this play when he was just 24 years old. He is now 91. What strikes me is how little has changed,” Kareem explains. “Almost everything he was writing about is still happening, somewhere in the world. Young people still leave home believing the city will solve everything, only to find disappointment and disillusionment.”

Widely regarded as one of Africa’s most influential literary figures, his body of work spans drama, poetry, essays, memoirs and novels, with many of his plays continuing to be performed around the world. Interest in the play has resurged in recent years, with a Lagos production staged in 2024 and a 2025 run at Theatre for a New Audience in Brooklyn.

The Swamp Dwellers was first published in 1963 by Mbari Publications as part of the collection Three Short Plays, alongside The Strong Breed and The Trials of Brother Jero. The play was last seen in the UK in 1975 at the Keskidee, an African Caribbean arts centre in Islington, North London. Directed by Nigerian playwright and actor Yemi Ajibade, who was then the centre’s artistic director.