Oladipo Agboluaje: Plays One
Delegates are invited to purchase a collection of plays by Oladipo Agboluaje, keynote speaker at ASAUK 2026. Agboluaje will deliver the keynote address "Staging Africa in Diaspora: Representation, Identity, and the Imagination" on Thursday 10 September, 11:30–13:00, in TLC042.
This is the first collection of Agboluaje's plays, gathering five works that move between Nigerian and British settings and concerns. Early Morning is a satirical comedy in which three Nigerian office cleaners plot to install "Blackocracy" in Great Britain; the Spectator called it "witty, astute and sublimely irresponsible". The Estate traces the conflicts within the wealthy Adeyemi family as they arrange the funeral of their late patriarch, Chief Adeyemi, offering along the way a study of class conflict in Nigeria; the Guardian noted that "Agboluaje writes with a sharp, satiric eye". Iyale (The First Wife), a prequel to The Estate, follows Helen Adeyemi's path from servant to matriarch; the Times described it as "satirical yet sympathetic, brutal yet beautifully observed". The Christ of Coldharbour Lane follows Omo, who believes himself the son of God, as he preaches to the people of Brixton against what the play calls the "wilful peace" that is holding them down; the Stage called it "an often hilarious, and often profound, snapshot of modern London...[a] thought-provoking piece of original theatre". The Hounding of David Oluwale, adapted from Kester Aspden's award-winning book, reworks the story of David Oluwale, hounded to his death by two police officers in 1960s Leeds, and of the man who pursued justice on his behalf; the Financial Times described it as "a shocking and engrossing story...a kind of In Cold Blood set in Leeds".
Oladipo Agboluaje is a leading figure in Black British drama, winner of the Alfred Fagon Prize for playwriting and a nominee for an Olivier Award and a Writers' Guild Award.
