Photos: Inside Rehearsals for THE SWAMP DWELLERS at Utopia Theatre
Jude Akuwudike and Urielle Klein-Mekongo star in Wole Soyinka's 1958 play, directed by Mojisola Kareem.
You can now get a first look inside rehearsals for The Swamp Dwellers at Utopia Theatre Creative Hub in Sheffield, UK.
Performed up close and in the round at Utopia Theatre's Sheffield city centre home, just 50 tickets are available for each of 14 performances of The Swamp Dwellers.
The production is directed by Mojisola Kareem, and features Jude Akuwudike as Makuri, Urielle Klein-Mekongo as Alu, Theo Ogundipe as Kadiye, Obi Maduegbuna as the beggar, Mr Culture as the drummer and Joshua Roberts-Mensah as Igwezu.
Kareem (Crown of Blood, Death and The King’s Horseman) has thoughtfully resurrected Nigerian Nobel laureate writer and activist Wole Soyinka’s early play, bringing it back to the UK stage for the first time in over half a century.
The one act play will be performed 29 June-11 July 2026 at the Utopia Theatre Creative Hub, just off Moor Street in the centre of Sheffield.
The Swamp Dwellers was last staged in the UK in 1975 at African Caribbean arts centre Keskidee in Islington, north London.

Joshua Roberts-Mensah and Obi Maduegbuna

Joshua Roberts-Mensah and Theo Ogundipe

Jude Akuwudike and Urielle Klein-Mekongo

Mr Culture

Obi Maduegbuna and Jude Akuwudike

Obi Maduegbuna

Theo Ogundipe and Jude Akuwudike

Urielle Klein-Mekongo

Urielle Klein-Mekongo, Obi Maduegbuna and Jude Akuwudike

Urielle Klein-Mekongo

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