The Swamp Dwellers review – This rare drama from Wole Soyinka is a complete discovery | stage

ShTobia is the smallest of the theatres, and its 50-seat space is made more intimate thanks to a raffia ceiling and curtain-lined walls. However, this downtown unit houses the biggest characters on stage, a wooden platform designed by Sarah Louise Cole that floats above the ground as if avoiding the floodwaters of the Niger Delta.

And it is big, in part because of Wole Soyinka, whose 1958 play, which has not been performed in this country for more than 50 years, is exemplary with ferocity. In one work, he invokes fundamental forces: twin brothers who leave the family home for the big city; The blind stranger who arrives without warning and is late in announcing his intention; A bribed holy man exploits his position for personal gain.

It is simple and strange at the same time, and is set in a 21st century atmosphere of environmental doom. There is drought and invasion in the north, economic hardship in the dog-eating city, and the destruction of crops here in the wetlands where the encroaching swamp is eliminating livelihoods. This is a land in transition, where ancient ties of spiritual beliefs and family ties are more of a curse than a help. The scale of change is beyond human.

What makes these numbers seem even greater is director Mojisola Karim, whose excellent production makes no concessions to the small space. She creates bold, sharply defined performances.

At its heart are the two retarded parents, Alo and Makori. Urielle Klein-Mekongo expertly portrays a relationship that is equal parts angry and loving, concerned about their absent son, while Jude Akuwudike returns as the confident husband. Neither is as fragile or confident as he would like to be.

Theirs is a domestic world, albeit one centered around the barber chair in which McCurry plies his trade. But with the arrival of their unexpected procession of visitors – Obi Maduegbonna, the blind beggar; Theo Ogundipe, flamboyant and imperious as the priest; and Joshua Roberts-Mensah, driven by a frighteningly rational rage like a disappointed son – their simple shack becomes a crucible for greater forces. It makes a play full of foreboding seem unsettling and intense.