Africa takes the stage in London

Africa is providing a lot of fine material for the London theatre these days.
A rare outing for Wole Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman was a highlight at the National last year. This was followed, also at the National, by Matt Charman’s The Observer,  which unpicked preparations for an election in an unnamed African nation.

More recently, Lynn Nottage’s excellent Ruined, which dealt with tough themes relating to women’s lives in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has just finished an acclaimed run at the Almeida in Islington.


Last night saw the press preview of Moira Buffini’s Welcome to Thebes, which transposes ancient Greek myths to another unidentified African country (Liberia?) emerging from years of war.
I haven’t yet seen many reviews of Richard Eyre’s fine-looking production at the National, but the Guardian’s Michael Billington gives it a reasonably respectful nod.

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