Inua Ellams's premiere tour plays Warwick Arts Centre from Thursday 5 to Saturday 7 November before London. Tickets £29.50 to £36, under-26s £9.50.
Once Upon a Time in Sokoto, the new play by Inua Ellams, reaches Warwick Arts Centre next week on its premiere tour. It runs in the centre’s Theatre from Thursday 5 to Saturday 7 November, opening at 7.30pm on the Thursday, and the arts centre’s press office told us the show “will transfer to London in the New Year”.
Tickets are on the arts centre’s event page or from the box office on 024 7649 6000.
What the play is
The arts centre’s listing describes “the epic story of a beautiful but unlikely friendship forged between an enslaved woman and her former master”, a family drama “set against the backdrop of events leading to the creation of Nigeria”. Differences in faith, culture and heritage, it says, “are overcome in the face of new enemies”.
Roy Alexander Weise directs. Ellams, who was born in Nigeria, won the 2024 Alfred Fagon Award for the play, and his earlier work includes Barber Shop Chronicles, which toured with Fuel and the National Theatre. Fuel commissioned Sokoto and presents it with Touring Together, a national touring programme in which Warwick Arts Centre is one of six partner venues alongside Brighton Dome, Leeds Playhouse, Oxford Playhouse and Royal and Derngate in Northampton, funded through Arts Council England.
The Guardian reviewed it at Royal and Derngate in Northampton on 4 October. The arts centre’s page carries that paper’s four-star verdict, “exuberant and engaging”, alongside a five-star review from East Midlands Theatre (“beautiful and tragic”) and The Stage’s line “an ambitious fly-through of 40 years of Nigerian history”.
The running time is 2 hours 25 minutes including an interval, and the venue recommends it for ages 14 and over, with under-16s accompanied by an adult.
Tickets and the opening night
- Prices: £36 and £29.50, with concessions at £34 and £27.50.
- Students and under-26s: £9.50.
- Groups of 10 or more pay the concession rate and get one free ticket, booked through groupbookings@warwick.ac.uk or the box office.
- Schools: £9.50 a pupil, through the same address.
Thursday 5 November is the night with the most going on around the show:
- 5pm, Creative Socials: Textiles. A drop-in session before the show where you make a miniature shrine from textiles with the artist Jane Thakoordin. The venue calls it “relaxed” and “beginner-friendly”.
- 7.30pm, BSL interpreted performance. Seats with the best view of the interpreter are held back; book them through the box office.
- After the show, a post-show talk with members of the cast and Dr Adyeeri Kembabazi of the University of Warwick’s Department of History.
The play is part of the arts centre’s HOME season, “a season of work exploring the idea of HOME”, and of One World Warwick, the university’s celebration of its global community.
The press office has offered us review tickets, and we will report back.
Also on now: British Art Show 10, free
The arts centre is also one of the hosts of British Art Show 10: A Chorus of Strangers, which its press office described to us as “a major event in the UK’s contemporary art calendar”, adding that “the exhibition only happens every few years and has been split over three Coventry venues”.
The part in the Mead Gallery at Warwick Arts Centre is free and drop-in, open Tuesday to Sunday, 11am to 8pm, until Sunday 10 January 2027. Two exceptions are listed: the gallery closes from 6pm on Thursday 3 December for an event, and from Monday 14 December it opens only on Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, 10am to 4pm.
The gallery calls it the UK’s largest recurring contemporary art exhibition, with work by more than 30 artists, curated by Ekow Eshun for Hayward Gallery Touring. The partners named on its page are The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, the Mead Gallery, Coventry University and the University of Warwick. The Southbank Centre has its own page for the show.
Two dates in November:
- Wednesday 4 November, 11am and 6pm: a guided tour of artworks across the campus from the University Art Collection.
- Thursday 19 November, 6pm to 7.30pm: Artists in Conversation, chaired by Eshun, with the artists Nengi Omuku, Matthew Krishanu and Emma Talbot.
At Christmas: The Gruffalo’s Child
The arts centre’s Christmas show is Tall Stories’ stage version of The Gruffalo’s Child, the Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler picture book. The press office told us it “is already proving very popular”.
It runs from Saturday 28 November to Sunday 27 December, lasts an hour with no interval, and is recommended for ages 3 and up. Tickets are £21.50, £18 and £14, rising to £23.50 and £20 from Thursday 24 to Sunday 27 December. Every child over 12 months needs a full-price ticket; babies under 12 months go free with a Baby Pass, booked through the box office.
- Sunday 29 November, 1.30pm: a relaxed performance, with house lights low, a quiet space and noise-cancelling headphones available. A free familiarisation session at 12.30pm lets children see the set and the cast first; book it in advance.
- Saturday 12 December, 1.30pm: BSL interpreted.
- Schools: performances from Tuesday 24 November to Thursday 17 December at £13.50 a ticket, one free for every 16 booked.
What it means for you
- Want to see Sokoto? Three nights only, Thursday 5 to Saturday 7 November. If you are under 26, a £9.50 ticket is the cheapest way in.
- Need an accessible performance? Thursday 5 November is BSL interpreted. Ring the box office rather than booking online so you get the reserved seats.
- Free afternoon out: British Art Show 10 costs nothing and needs no booking, until 10 January.
- Booking for Christmas: The Gruffalo’s Child is selling well, according to the venue, and prices go up from Christmas Eve.
The box office phone line is open 3pm to 7pm every day, and the counter from 1.30pm. Warwick Arts Centre is on the University of Warwick campus, Coventry, CV4 7FD. The full autumn and winter programme is in the centre’s season brochure.
For more to do this month, see what’s on in Leamington.
Have your say