Egusi Soup
Touring Project
National Tour: 20th February-5th April 2014
Pilot Tour: 2012
Writer: Janice Okoh
Director: Paul Bourne
Set Designer: Nicky Reynolds
Sound Designer: Paul Bourne
Cast: Lorna Gayle, Gloria Onitiri, Anna-Maria Nabirye, Seun Shote, Richard Pepple
Egusi Soup went on national tour from 20th February-5th April 2014 and visited Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds, Peterborough Key Theatre, Arts Depot, Hull Truck, Derby Theatre, Birmingham REP, The Albany, and Nottingham Playhouse.
As the Anyias, a British-Nigerian family, pack their suitcases and prepare to head home to Lagos for a memorial service in honour of the late Mr Anyia, they soon realise they will need to get rid of some excess baggage first!
A fast, furious and funny new family drama about inter-generational and cross-cultural relationships.
Writer
Janice Okoh is an award winning playwright. Her play Three Birds won the 2011 Bruntwood Prize and was short-listed for the Verity Bargate Award and the Alfred Fagon Award.
Cast
Lorna Gayle (Mrs Anyia) Theatre credits include I Was A Rat (Birmingham Rep), Nation (National Theatre), Carrie’s War (National Tour), Sugar Mummies (Royal Court Theatre), The Crucible (Royal Shakespeare Company), Almost Nothing (Royal Court Theatre) and Blest Be The Tie (Royal Court Theatre). Television credits include Utopia, 30 and Counting, Dancing On The Edge, Doctors, One Night, Silk, This Is England 86’, Ashes To Ashes and Torchwood. Film credits include Superbob (Fyzz Facility), Having You (Holland Park Pictures), One Day (Film Four), Hell’s Pavement (Oopic Films), The Dark Knight (Warner Bros), Fallout (Channel Four), Dangerous Parking (Flaming Pie Films), Love And Other Disasters (Ruby Films) and Run Fat Boy Run (RFBR Ltd).
Gloria Onitiri (Anne) Theatre credits include Rachel Marron in The Bodyguard (The Adelphi Theatre), The Tempest (Bath Theatre Royal), Charlotte’s Web (Polka Theatre), HAIR (Bronowski Productions), Takeaway (Theatre Royal Stratford East), Amphibians (Offstage Theatre), Hurried Steps (New Shoes Theatre), The Lion King (Disney Theatrical). Television credits include Splatatlot (BBC/ ABC/ YTV), The Window (IWC Media, Channel 4), Bad Girls Series 6 (Shed Productions). Film credits include Resurrecting The Street Walker (Scala Films).
Anna-Maria Nabirye (Grace) Theatre credits include Leaving Planet Earth (Grid Iron), Pandora’s Box (Arcola Theatre), 24 Hour Plays (Old Vic New Voices), Just Me, You and the Silence (Old Vic Theatre), Blood Wedding, Fiesco, Three Sisters, (The Faction), Fit for Purpose (Pleasance Theatre), Mad Blud (Theatre Royal Stratford East) and Barbrabas: The Jew of Malta (Hall for Cornwall). Television includes Misfits (E4) and Waterloo Road (BBC). Film credits include Deep State (Film & Video Umbrella) and The Keeping Room (Gilbert Films).
Seun Shote (Dele) Theatre credits include Routes (Royal Court Theatre), One Man Two Guvnors (RNT – International Tour), Twelfth Night (Nottingham Playhouse), Salome, (Headlong Theatre Company), Death & the King’s Horseman,(RNT), The Dilemma of a Ghost (UK Tour), Sizwe Bansi Is Dead (Stephen Joseph Theatre), Generations (RNT), Hoxton Project (The Red Room), The Fortune Club (Tricycle), Master Harold & The Boys / To Kill A Mocking Bird (Leicester), Mother Courage (Nottingham Playhouse & UK Tour). Seun’s television credits include Little Miss Jocelyn (BBC), The Cut (Ch 4), Skins (Ch 4), Little Britain (BBC1), Eastenders (BBC 1), Common As Muck (BBC).
Richard Pepple (Mr Emmanuel) Theatre credits include Mountaintop (Gale Theatre London & Barbados) The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner (Pilot Theatre/York Theatre Royal), Belong (Royal Court/Tiata Fahodzi), Fixer (Oval House Theatre). Television credits include Dates (Channel 4), Eastenders (BBC1), Run (Channel 4). Film credits include The Vintage (Eyeline Entertainment) , 4 Walls (Bete Noir Films).
Egusi Soup Reviews
Reviews for the 2014 tour of Egusi Soup (20 Feb- 5 April)
***** Everything Theatre
**** What’s On Stage
**** Afridiziak
4.5/5 The Public Reviews
“Lorna Gayle’s Mrs Anyia inhabits [the set] with just the right sort of authority; she may once have been just a girl from a village, but she was always just that bit sharper and cannier than the others.” What’s On Stage
“Onitiri is especially good as the American career débâcle comes to light, while Nabirye’s relationship with Seun Shote’s puppyish Dele rings true.” What’s On Stage
“very funny dialogue is cracked with pace and timing by a superb cast” InSuffolk
“an inclusive and genuinely funny piece of work with sharply observed dialogue and engaging characters which any audience will enjoy.” InSuffolk
“brilliant natural family dynamic” Afridiziak
“genius writing and comedic timing…guaranteed to have people from all walks laughing out loud up and down the country.” Afridiziak
“this piece confidently treads the line between almost farcical humour and depths of emotion leaving us more than satisfied with what we are served with” The Public Reviews
“Unmissable… this is one of the best plays I’ve had the pleasure of seeing this year” Everything Theatre
“This is charming, funny, and heart-warming theatre.” Everything Theatre
“If you ever wondered how to capture the African diasporic experience in one evening, ask play writer Janice Okoh. Her play “Egusi soup” is an emotionally charged, funny, and beautiful play that depicts the inner struggles of an African family as they are about to go back to Nigeria.” Gateway for Africa
“Janice Okoh has created a well-rounded and solidly structured piece that shines a light on lives that rarely make it to the British stage” Civilian Theatre