The reviews are in for Once Upon a Time in Sokoto, Inua Ellams’s Alfred Fagon Award-winning play about the birth of Nigeria, which had its world premiere at Royal & Derngate in Northampton before a UK tour. Directed by Roy Alexander Weise for Fuel, it follows the friendship between Zinari (Antonia Layiwola), a free woman of the Sokoto Caliphate, and Nafisa (Adeola Yemitan), the woman she once owned, from 1865 to the British conquest of 1903. The critics agree that it tells an important and seldom-staged story and that the four-strong cast serves it well. Where they differ is on the drama: the Guardian and What’s Good To Do are carried along by it, while The Reviews Hub feels the sheer weight of history keeps the characters at arm’s length, and Northants Uncovered warns that the exposition is demanding.
The verdict: six reviews of the premiere run so far. Five carry a rating: two four-star notices, one three-and-a-half and two three-star reviews, an average of 3.5 out of 5, while East Midlands Theatre gives no score. Every critic praises the company and the ambition of the story; the reservations are about how much history the play asks its audience to absorb.
What are critics saying about ONCE UPON A TIME IN SOKOTO?
The Guardian
"Exuberant history lesson on intra-African slavery"
Reviewer: Mark Lawson
Mark Lawson places the play alongside Ellams’s earlier Nigerian work and admires the way its 24 scenes compress four decades of pre-colonial history, from the economics of slavery to rival alphabets.
"For many, the play will be a history lesson, though more exuberant and engaging than most schools."
He compares Ellams’s relish for packing complex ideas into enjoyable theatre to Stoppard and Frayn, and credits a cast equally at home in tragedy and comedy.
What’s Good To Do
Reviewer: Janine Rumble
Janine Rumble describes an emotional rollercoaster, with a poetic script focused on its characters’ passions and anger, and finds the moments of audience participation draw the house into the story.
"The four actors who told this story, were absolutely incredible."
She notes the length, two and a half hours plus an interval, but would recommend it without hesitation.
Northants Uncovered
"Fresh Insight, Painterly Poetry, and Challenging History"
Reviewer: Sarah Becker
Sarah Becker singles out Adeola Yemitan as Nafisa and finds the relationship between the two women gives the audience room to breathe amid a dense historical narrative.
"Writer Inua Ellams’ poetic script is a major highlight, punctuating the stage with striking, painterly imagery."
Her caution is that the exposition is heavy going for anyone new to the history of the Caliphate, though she feels its message about women’s struggles lingers.
The Reviews Hub
Reviewer: James Garrington
James Garrington respects the pedigree and scale of the piece but thinks the constant switching between narration and character stops the audience getting close to any of the four central figures.
"It’s an essential story, and one British theatre doesn’t tell often enough."
He absolves the cast, who he says work hard with what they are given, and likes Amelia Jane Hankin’s set, but feels the writing has further to travel.
East Midlands Theatre
East Midlands Theatre’s critic arrived worried that a lack of knowledge of Nigerian history would be a barrier, and found the storytelling and fourth-wall breaks made it easy to follow.
"I came away understanding more – and wanting to know even more."
The review praises Will Atiomo’s Yusef and the inventive set, and draws out the play’s point that women are still fighting for their rights today.
Production photographs by Tristram Kenton.
Also reviewed by: The Stage (Holly O’Mahony, three stars, “ambitious”), whose review sits behind a registration wall.
See our earlier piece with the first production photographs from the tour, and for more from the critics, read our roundups of The Brown Suite at Richmond Theatre and Flock at the Jack Studio Theatre.
Once Upon a Time in Sokoto runs at Royal & Derngate, Northampton, until 10 October 2026, then tours to Oxford Playhouse (13-17 October), Nottingham Playhouse (29-31 October), Warwick Arts Centre (5-7 November), Leeds Playhouse (11-14 November) and Brighton Dome (17-21 November), with Bristol Old Vic to follow on 2-13 February 2027.
