The Lagos International Theatre Festival opened its 2025 edition on Monday with an evening that blended performance, conversation and fine dining at Kaly Restaurant, setting a relaxed but vibrant tone for a week dedicated to theatre across the city. Themed “Theatre Meets Food,” the gathering drew artists, cultural practitioners and supporters of the creative industries into an intimate space where culinary craft met live art. It marked a warm introduction to a programme that will run until November 16, featuring more than 20 productions at the MUSON Centre.
Among those in attendance were Broda Shaggi, chef Hilda Baci, actor Mike Afolarin, musician Imade Kuti and theatre advocate Valerie Green, alongside representatives from the South African State Theatre and other members of Lagos’s creative community. The festival’s founder, Bolanle Austen-Peters of Terra Kulture and the Terra Academy for the Arts, said the opening evening distilled the spirit of LITF. “The ‘Theatre Meets Food’ experience captures what LITF is about, telling stories that go beyond the stage. It’s about connection, creativity, and how art shapes our everyday lives,” she said. Festival director, Vanessa Jev added that the night set the tone for a week of ideas, collaboration, and celebration of theatre in all its forms.
Over the coming days, audiences will encounter a mix of comedies, dramas, historical narratives and experimental pieces staged across La Scala, Shell Hall, Agip Hall, Oriki Garden and Itan Garden. Austen-Peters directs two of the high-profile works, My Boyfriend Calls Me Ma and Dear Kaffy, both of which explore contemporary Lagos relationships with humour and tenderness. Other notable productions include Eve’s Rapture, Segun Adefila’s lively retelling of the Garden of Eden; Before I Let You Go, Moshood Fattah’s reflective two-hander about chance encounters; and 99%
Virgin, Bunmi Awolowo’s playful take on faith and self-discovery.
Family tensions unfold in Ankara Committee, directed by Mayowa Damilare, while Baby Shower, from Abiodun CM Oluwasegun, examines loyalty and friendship. Larger historical and cultural arcs surface in Efunsetan Aniwura: The DayWaterman Show, directed by Opeyemi Afolabi and Opemipo Arowosafe, which revisits the life of a powerful Ibadan matriarch. Aubrey Sekhabi’s My Children! My Africa! brings a South African lens on justice and youth activism, while Oluwasegun’s Almasihu imagines the birth of a promised child in contemporary Nigeria. The Wait, directed by Tomilola Adeniran, turns a single bus ride into a narrative of intersecting destinies.
Music and movement are just as prominent. Ade Laoye’s SOCA, Squad of Champions Academy charts a story of teamwork and redemption; Abiola Lepe’s High Octave, When Broadway Meets Broadstreet fuses Nigerian and global musical traditions; Yibo Kiko’s SEKI draws from the rhythms and folklore of the Niger Delta; and Opera Lagos Experience (OLE), directed by Kehinde Oretimehin, merges operatic form with African storytelling. Additional performances, including Elvina Baby Ibru’s Nyso and the Egg, Sola Oyeniyi’s Echoes of Yesterday, Oretimehin’s Home, and Whinihin Jemide’s Stories of Us, widen the festival’s scope with tales of destiny, reconciliation, belonging and shared heritage.
Away from the stage, the festival will host masterclasses, workshops and cultural exchanges designed to foster collaboration among established and emerging practitioners. The organisers say the ambition is not only to platform original work but to reinforce Lagos’s standing as one of Africa’s most dynamic centres for theatre and live performance, a city where local stories meet global audiences.
