Inua Ellams’s play explores slavery and upheaval in pre-colonial Sokoto
Inua Ellams's new play Once Upon A Time In Sokoto chronicles pre-colonial West African history across 24 scenes from 1865 to 1903, centring on the Sokoto Caliphate and its emirates. The production uses traditional storytelling techniques and Hausa language to explore themes of intra-African slavery, feminism, and colonial disruption, with the audience learning alongside two central characters—Zinari, an upper-class entrepreneur, and Nafisa, her former enslaved woman seeking greater agency. This work extends Ellams's decade-long tradition of turning complex historical and political topics into inventive, accessible theatre.
The play examines slavery's economics with particular clarity, illustrating how cowrie shells served as currency and how British imports caused market collapse through inflation and competition. It also explores linguistic change, religious law limiting women's choices, and cultural transformation under colonialism, scattering incidental details like the introduction of the lip kiss or Millwall FC shorts' colonial significance. Director Roy Alexander Weise orchestrates both tragedy and comedy with pace and grace, allowing the cast to move fluidly between tones and emotional registers, making complex historical material both educational and thoroughly engaging.
- Ellams's play traces pre-colonial West Africa through slavery, economics and feminism.
- Cowrie-shell currency economics reveal slavery's brutal financial logic and disruption.
- Educational play touring after Northampton run, performed with grace and comedic pace.
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Inua Ellams is a playwright who explores historical and political subjects through theatre. His new production focuses on life in the Sokoto Caliphate—a West African state in what is now Nigeria—during the late 19th century, when colonialism began to reshape local societies.
The play centres on two women: Zinari, an upper-class businesswoman, and Nafisa, a formerly enslaved woman seeking greater autonomy. Through their stories, it examines slavery as it existed within pre-colonial West African societies, alongside broader themes of cultural transformation and women's agency in a changing world.
The production uses traditional storytelling techniques and the Hausa language to present the material. The 24-scene narrative spans 38 years, following the two main characters as their world shifts under the impact of colonialism.
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Originally published by The Guardian as “Once Upon A Time In Sokoto review – exuberant history lesson on intra-African slavery”.