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Death and the Kings Horseman
by Wole Soyinka
A Travelex £10 Tickets production: almost half the seats for every performance are £10.
Nigeria, 1943. The King is dead, and tonight his Horseman must escort him to the Ancestors.
I am the master of my fate.
When the hour comes watch me dance
along the narrowing path...
My soul is eager. I shall not turn aside.
As Elesin Oba dances through the closing marketplace, flirting with the women, pursued by his praise-singer and an entourage of drummers, he promises to honour the ancient Yoruba custom of ritual suicide and so accompany his ruler on the final journey. But a life so rich is hard to leave, and this is a British colony where such customs are not tolerated, no matter how sacred.
Set against the conflict of indigenous and invader, Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka’s extraordinary play uses Elesin’s transition from the living to the dead to examine the essence of corruption and the power of the human will.
You white races know how to survive; I’ve seen proof of that… But at least have the humility to let others survive in their own way.
Read about the play on Wikipedia
Cast credits:
: to be announced
Production credits:
Director: Rufus Norris
Designer: Katrina Lindsay
Lighting Designer: Paule Constable
Choreographer/Movement Director: Javier de Frutos
Sound Designer: Ian Dickinson
photo © Corbis
