Iya-Ile (The First Wife)

Synopsis

Lust. Power. Deceit. The Adeyemi family is back in business. It's 1989 in Lagos. Political hysteria and social change are sweeping Nigeria. Chief Adeyemi's wife Toyin is turning 40 and, behind the mansion walls, the household is preparing for her party. But there are other distractions. Their troublesome sons, returning from college, are more interested in seduction and starting revolutions than their parents' disintegrating marriage. Meanwhile Helen, the ambitious house girl, is waiting for her chance...

Our Review:

22 May 2009

Oladipo Agboluaje's new play, a prequel to his 2006 critical hit The Estate (which also premiered at the Soho), covers similar thematic territory, as a Nigerian dynasty implodes over the course of a birthday brouhaha.

The Adeyemi family gathers in Lagos for the 40th birthday of the 'first wife' of its head, Chief Adeyemi (whose funeral is the focal point of The Estate, set nearly 20 years later). But as his infedility becomes increasingly indiscreet and his sons (or at least one of them) talk of justice for the poor - in sharp contrast to the preachings of corrupt local evangelist Archbishop Billy Robertson - it doesn't take long for the house of cards to begin tumbling.

Set in 1989 Lagos, the play shows Nigeria in a state of post-colonial aftershock. What's fascinating is the way that Agboluaje clearly highlights extremes of social status - something of a colonial hangover - as being ...

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