World Premiere of COPPERBELT to Debut at Soulpepper Theatre in February

Soulpepper Theatre Company and the National Arts Centre English Theatre will partner on the World Premiere of COPPERBELT written by Natasha Mumba and directed by NAC English Theatre Artistic Director Nina Lee Aquino. 

On stage now in Ottawa, this drama centering on the headstrong daughter of a powerful African family runs at Soulpepper Theatre from February 7th to March 1st, 2026. (Media night: February 10th).

COPPERBELT follows Eden, who has left her wealthy family in Zambia to build an independent life for herself in Canada.  Eden now works as an operations manager at a prestigious international mining firm in Toronto, but when her estranged father falls ill, she is forced to return home and confront the very problems she has been trying to escape. Taking audiences from The Big Smoke to Zambia's Copperbelt region, Mumba's playwriting debut (Mumba was born in Zambia) unravels the secrets and power struggles within the Kasuba family, as Eden grapples with the tension between her personal ambitions, her family's expectations, and the steep price some must pay for success.

Developed over five years, in January of 2025 Mumba, Aquino, movement director Tawiah M'Carthy, and dramaturge Ric Knowles travelled to Lusaka, Zambia to work alongside a team of Zambian artists to deepen the play's roots in in Mumba's homeland.  From that workshop, Zambian actors Kapembwa Wanjelani and Kondwani Elliott Zulu were cast alongside Canadian actors Eric Miracle, Rick Roberts, Warona Setshwaelo, Makambe K. Simamba, and Mumba herself. 

"We're thrilled to present this play in partnership with the National Arts Centre and to support such an ambitious, no-holds-barred debut. Natasha was last seen in our season-opening production of The Welkin and she is an extraordinary performer,” says Soulpepper Theatre Artistic Director Paolo Santalucia. “This powerful new work examines how our everyday lives are tied to global industry—and to the families whose hopes and aspirations are shaped by forces far beyond their control. It's a story of ambition, wealth, and the fragility of the systems we rely on when power and private crisis collide. We're proud to premiere this remarkable debut in Toronto.

“We're also deeply honoured to work alongside performers from Zambia and to help facilitate this special intercultural collaboration."

Mumba --widely known for her work on Canadian stages and screens, including a starring role opposite Stephan James in AMC's Beacon 23—began developing her debut play in 2020. What started as a love story deepened into a sharper, more expansive portrait of a woman caught between self-determination in Toronto and the gravitational pull of her powerful family in Zambia. Reflecting her strong desire to see the lesser-told story of a wealthy African family on stage, Mumba draws from her own experience growing up in Zambia and from the responsibilities she's felt as a child of the diaspora.

Joining Aquino and Mumba on the creative team are Set and Costume Designer Rachel Forbes, Lighting Designer Michelle Ramsay, Sound and Music Composer Romeo Candido, Cultural Consultant, Dialect Coach, and Bemba Translator Chiluba Katongo Nsofu, Fight Director Richard Lee, Assistant Set and Costume Designer Nikki Mabias; Associate Lighting Designer Nathan Bruce; Associate Sound Designer Christine Lee; Stage Manager Tamara Protić; Assistant Stage Manager Neha Ross, Co-Bemba Translator Austin Kaluba.