About the Show

A poignant drama where faith, betrayal, and modernity collide in a flood-prone Niger Delta hut.

In this rarely staged 1958 masterwork by Nobel Prize-winner Wole Soyinka, The Swamp Dwellers delves into universal themes through a tragic story rooted in Yoruba myth and set in a humble hut in the Niger Delta. An aging couple, living on perpetually flooded land and awaiting the return of one of their twin sons from the city, faces a profound crisis of faith and trust when visited by a self-satisfied Yoruba holy man and a blind Muslim beggar. The play explores corrupt religion, family betrayal, environmental degradation, post-colonial exploitation, and the tension between urban modernity and rural tradition. Directed by Obie Award winner Awoye Timpo, this production continues her collaboration with TFANA to bring another significant mid-century work to life.

Critic Reviews (6)

"Time and experience have shaped the hopeful young man who wrote 'The Swamp Dwellers' into a worldly old man with a dented sense of possibility."
Read more

"Director Awoye Timpo and a pitch-perfect cast slowly crank up the intensity, balancing knife-edge tension with a deeply metaphorical story. "
Read more

“…the most dramatically inert theatre piece I have seen in several seasons.”
Read more

"a compact, hour-long domestic drama that pulses with elemental force"
Read more

"Director Awoye Timpo adroitly balances archetype against character, bringing us figures whose life circumstances are grounded but who also have the gravitas of those moved by the Fates."
Read more

"Even six decades since its debut, ‘The Swamp Dwellers’ still whispers truths to modern Western audiences — about family loyalty, the downsides of urbanization...and the undue influence of corrupt religious figures."
Read more

Cast and creative team

Theatre for a New Audience