As Nigeria and the global theatre community prepare to celebrate Professor Femi Osofisan at 80, what emerges is not merely a birthday event, but a living archive of African storytelling, performance, resistance, memory, and creative excellence.
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From June 11 to June 18, 2026, Lagos and Ibadan will become important cultural stages for “FO@80,” a week-long celebration dedicated to one of Africa’s most influential dramatists, scholars, poets, and literary voices. The programme brings together theatre practitioners, academics, filmmakers, cultural institutions, students, and admirers of Osofisan’s enduring contribution to African literature and performance.
The celebration opens in Lagos with a stage production of Yungba-Yungba and the Dance Contest, one of Osofisan’s celebrated plays known for its wit, symbolism, and social commentary. Directed by Bunmi Adedina, the production will run from June 11 to 13 at the Department of Theatre Arts, Lagos State University of Education, Oto/Ijanikin. The programme also hints at additional productions including No More the Wasted Breed and The Engagement, further reminding audiences of the dramatic depth and political intelligence that have defined Osofisan’s work for decades.
Beyond the theatre stage, the FO@80 celebration expands into intellectual discourse, music, film, and cultural reflection. On June 14, renowned critic and theatre personality Ben Tomoloju will deliver a talk titled The Femi Osofisan I Know, followed by the unveiling of 100 Songs of Femi Osofisan, produced by Semoore Badejo for Concrete Studios. The same day will feature a roundtable discussion examining Osofisan’s drama and its engagement with the Nigerian postcolonial state, before concluding with a screening of Maani at the J.Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture and History, Onikan.
The cultural dialogue continues on June 15 with another roundtable themed Interpreting Femi Osofisan for the Stage, alongside a screening of Cordelia. Together, these sessions are expected to open fresh conversations around adaptation, performance language, memory, and the evolving responsibilities of African theatre in contemporary society.
In Ibadan, the celebration takes on an academic and reflective atmosphere at the University of Ibadan. Recorded performances of Yungba Yungba and the Dance Contest by the University of Ghana, Legon, and Farewell to a Cannibal Rage by Texas A&M University will be screened on June 17 and 18 respectively, showing the international reach of Osofisan’s dramatic legacy and the continuing relevance of his works across continents.
What makes the FO@80 celebration especially significant is how it bridges generations. Younger artists and scholars are meeting the works not as historical relics, but as living texts still capable of interrogating power, identity, class, leadership, and African consciousness. Few playwrights in African literary history have sustained such intellectual and creative relevance across multiple decades.
Partners supporting the celebration include the J.Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture and History, University of Ibadan, Tunde Kelani Mainframe Productions, Lagos State University of Education, the Ibadan Literary Society, and Friends of Femi Osofisan.
At 80, Femi Osofisan remains more than a playwright. He stands as a cultural institution whose words have travelled from classrooms to theatres, from rehearsal halls to political conversations, from Nigeria to the wider world. FO@80 is therefore not just a celebration of age, but a celebration of influence, endurance, and the power of African storytelling to continually renew itself across generations.
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