Utopia Theatre and Sheffield Theatres are set to stage Death of the King’s Horseman at the Crucible, Sheffield, in February 2025. Renowned Nigerian actress Kehinde Bankole will play Iyaloja, Mother of the market. The production will be a thought-provoking, resonant theatrical experience showcasing music and dance, deeply rooted in the culture and spirituality of the Yoruba people. We were lucky enough to interview Ms Bankole about her heritage and identity as part of our Home From Home Series. 

What does “home from home” mean to you?

Home from home for me will be a place where I am equally as inspired, relaxed and connected to the things I love and aspire for at home.

How do you celebrate your Nigerian heritage?

I celebrate my Nigerian heritage by my originality and embodying our traditional values, etiquette, language, food, music- Afro beats, fashion, home training and the knowledge of our resources and history whenever I go. 

What does being “Nigerian” mean to you?

It means being driven, resourceful, accustomed to diversity and being the citizen of a future forward African nation. Nigeria has its challenges. And the new generation are aware of and constantly working and speaking out against the corruption the country suffers from. This never stopped the Nigerian from still striving for excellence.

How do you stay connected to your identity?

By being me.

How can diasporans use the arts to stay connected to their heritage?

Where your benefits and revenues are, there your heart will be! Diasporans can use the arts to understand and explore business and investment opportunities available in their home countries. The arts offer a powerful communication tool that can both help keep diasporans abreast of the social, economic and political climate of their home countries and balance opportunities and risks that can help one navigate investment choices. They can use the arts to know where they are coming from, how they got there and project a trajectory of future plans for strategic contribution to the development of their roots. Visually they can use the arts to recognise and connect to their clan.

Your role in this production is of particularly cultural significance. What does culture mean to you? 

For me, culture means the framework where our identities and experiences as a people are held and handed down to us to sustain but with an assignment to think about our past ideas or lack of it, our knowledge or lack of it, recover from external interference through colonialism and correct customs that didn’t serve to move us forward as a people. 

What do you want people to learn from your representation of Iyaloja?

To learn how divine a people’s culture is to them and that African women have always been and remain powerful. 

You have undertaken a lot of work in the UK recently – why is it important for you to share your talents here?

This is deep, I doubt I can share all the answers at once. I am a global performer and dreamer, I am taking and also creating local and international opportunities wherever I am opportune and need to: America, Africa, the UK etc. I feel my sphere of influence should mostly touch where my people’s minds were first re-orientated from, the British; they Colonised us. This is where our people were first – mentally and physically their mindset also migrated. 

I am on a global mission of sharing and having international performing arts experiences both home and abroad, and to let every African know you can thrive at home as well as abroad or both. The UK has therefore been top on the abroad list. This is the only other thing my people have known, the only other language they speak, the only cross culture. I’ll be here every now and then to share my journey, show off our achievements at home to inspire them, and win here too! 

You must have engaged with lots of diasporans who identify as “British Nigerian.” What do you imagine the future of the British Nigerian Community to look like in the next few years based on your industry?

Based on my industry, I foresee serious success if there are collaborative efforts between those of us stakeholders back home and the ones here in the UK. Collaboration will be the key.

Links to website and social media:

IMDB: imdb.me/kehindebankole

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/_kehindebankole/

TWITTER: twitter.com/_kehindebankole/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100044569323498

Death of the King’s Horseman is directed by Mojisola Kareem, Artistic Director of internationally renowned African theatre company Utopia Theatre, the production will be staged from Monday 3 – Saturday 8 February 2025. Tickets and more information can be found online: www.utopiatheatre.co.uk/project/death-and-the-kings-horseman/