Femi Elufowoju jr is bringing Africa to new heights

As a British born second-generation Nigerian of the diaspora, it can often feel like you don’t know enough about your roots or culture that your heritage is immersed in. With rising costs of travel and people not always having connections to their family back home, it’s difficult to put the pieces back together yourself.  54.60 Africa is a piece of work that is more than a play, embedding the movement, sound and culture of Africa as a continent in a way that I haven’t ever seen on stage before. 54.60 writer, Femi Elufowoju jr, presents us with a story following 11 friends from all ends of the continent, being instructed by ‘Mama Africa’ to seek the truth and stories behind all 54 countries.  Daniel Sewagudde, Usifu Jalloh, Funlola Olufunwa, Denis Mugagga (L-R) | Alex Brenner It is inspired by the travels of its author who accomplished visiting every one of Africa’s then 54 nations, before his 60th birthday. The performance that I watched in particular had the writer himself subbing in for one of the actors, making everything that little bit more special to watch and I’m sure even more personal to him.  The unique aspect of this production, directed by the same person of the acclaimed ‘ The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives ’, is the expansion of knowledge and experience of Africa that the media really don’t expose us to. It was refreshing to see perspectives from those who have travelled and resided in North Africa, as Pan-Africanism isn’t deeply discussed in today’s understanding of the continent and often seen as a separate entity from the rest of Africa entirely.  From the accuracy of the accents, to the perfectly timed and very traditionally African sense of humour, 54.60 was a well put together production where you can evidently see the effort of everyone involved - from set design, to writing, to the acting. A lot of those on stage were able to sing and/or dance flawlessly which really helped embody the beauty and talent that Africa has so much of.  Daniel Sewagudde, Usifu Jalloh, Munashe Chirisa (L-R) | Alex Brenner As much as there was a lot of exploration within the more ‘niche’ countries of Africa, I do wish there was more opportunity to dig deeper into more of the countries, their cultures and tendencies. With the play being over 2 hours including the interval, it wouldn’t have been feasible to unpack every country with depth - we would’ve been sitting there for a week in its entirety! Expect some good laughs, moments to sing along to songs across the continent and a chance to learn many new things about the countries of Africa that the West so easily forgets and erases.  54.60 is showing in the Arcola Theatre until 12th July.