Casting announced for the Arcola Theatre's Hoard, the debut play by journalist Bim Adewunmi

Posted on | By Nicholas Ephram Ryan Daniels

Casting has been announced for Bim Adewunmi's debut stage play, Hoard, which opens at the Arcola Theatre on 20 May 2019 for a strictly limited, one-month run booking until 8 June 2019.



Who is starring in Hoard at the Arcola Theatre?

The cast of Hoard at the Arcola Theatre is set to star EastEnders actress Ellen Thomas, Elizabeth Ita (The Favourite), Emmanuella Cole (An Octoroon at the National Theatre), Kemi Durosinmi (The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives at the Arcola Theatre), and Tyler Fayose (Much Ado About Nothing at Shakespeare's Globe).

The Hoard play Arcola Theatre creative team

Hoard is directed by Femi Elufowoju, jr, whose directing credits include The Big Men at the National Theatre, Bone at the Royal Court, Tickets and Ties and The Hotel Cerise at the Theatre Royal Stratford East, Dealer's Choice at the Salisbury Playhouse, Off Camera and Medea at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Blues for an Alabama Sky at the RADA, The Gods are not to Blame and Blue/Orange at the Arcola Theatre, Things Fall Apart at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, and Finding Home at the Terra Kulture, Lagos & Goethe Institut/Theater Expedition Metropolis Berlin.

Femi Elufowoju, jr recently staged a revival of The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives and won an Off-West End Award for Best Director for the project. He is renowned for having founded the first-ever African national touring theatre company in the UK called tiata fahodzi, for which he served as Artistic Director for thirteen years from 1997 to 2010. His second-to-last production with the company entitled Iya-Ile, the first wife was shortlisted for an Olivier Award. Throughout his career, Elufowoju, jr has also served as Associate Director for the Royal Court, West Yorkshire Playhouse, and New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich and as an Associate Artist for the Almeida Theatre.

Bim Adewunmi, the play's author, is best known as the senior culture writer for BuzzFeed News and is also an established columnist for the Guardian Weekend. She enjoyed recent success when she became a finalist at the 2018 American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) Ellie Awards. Her work has appeared in various publications, such as Monocle, Vogue, Mslexia, and Red. Now, the renowned journalist has crossed over to the stage with her very own debut play, Hoard, which was first written for Avalon and BBC Arts as part of an initiative to encourage writers in different fields to branch out into stage writing. 

What is Bim Adewunmi's Hoard play about?

'If I had never come here tonight, would I have ever met him?'

Ami and Rafi are about to have the chance to meet their younger sister's boyfriend for the first time ever when their mother, Wura, unexpectedly arrives to shake things up. She has the tendency to show up unannounced and it was never a problem before, but this time it presents a huge dilemma. How is it that she has no idea who Brian is? For such a tight-knit family, this long-kept secret bodes fiery consequences. The secret forces the three sisters and Wura to face up to old challenges as well as bottled-up stress and anger.

Hoard Arcola Theatre tickets from just £18!

The Arcola Theatre continues to serve as a seedbed for new talents to grow and develop their playwrighting craft. This means they often offer incredibly low ticket prices to see high-quality shows, and Hoard is no exception. Don't miss the premiere of this high-tension new play where old skeletons in a family's closet resurface.

Book your tickets to new playwright Nim Adewunmi's debut play, Hoard, from just £18!


By Nicholas Ephram Ryan Daniels

Ephram is a jack of all trades and enjoys attending theatre, classical music concerts and the opera.