Crown of Blood – Crucible Theatre, Sheffield

Writer: Oladipo Agboluaje 

Director: Mojisola Kareem 

Crown of Blood is based on Shakespeare’s Macbeth but instead of the Scottish moors read 19th-century Yorubaland.  Yorubaland is the historical and cultural region of the Yoruba people, spanning roughly 142,114 square kilometres across southwestern Nigeria, Benin and Togo. It is home to over 55 million people with the majority in Nigeria. The Yoruba have a very rich cultural, historical and political heritage that informs every fibre of this production. As the audience take their seats they are confronted with an impressive set, a central throne flanked by eight carved wooden columns running the full length of the stage. A faint, persistent drumbeat can be heard and drums are to play a significant part throughout, forming a dramatic accompaniment to much of the action and vocals. This is very much a world of warring kingdoms, divinities, prophecies, magic, customs, vibrant colour and sound. It is a privilege to witness how a staple of the Shakespearean canon can be so cleverly and successfully transposed to such a different time and landscape and brought to life by all concerned. 

As the play starts a figure, crouched at the front of the throne slowly and rhythmically makes its way across and to front of stage trailing a red cloth which forms a long “red carpet”. This figure might be a spirit or god or genie and the effect is to delineate a long trail of blood leading to the throne, a very simple yet effective metaphor for the action to follow. This cloth can also variously be used to denote boundaries and demarcations. The Macbeth character, here General Aderemi, is played with aplomb by Deyemi Okanlawon and has a commanding physical stage presence that perfectly fits the part. After saving the kingdom from invaders he is promoted to Field Marshal, as foretold not by three witches but by the oracle. When it also prophecies that Aderemi, who is only the son of a blacksmith and not, therefore, highborn will also become king it sets in motion the plan that he and his wife, Oyebisi, embark on to achieve their bloody mission and take the throne. Here, Oyebisi (the Lady Macbeth character) plays an even more pivotal role in shaping the events that lead to her husband’s downfall and she is played by Kehinde Bankole. Oyebisi is definitely the more proactive of the two, scheming and lying and prepared to take vital decisions in order to achieve her ambition of becoming queen. Not for her a fate of madness and fading away into the background as her husband takes to the fore but rather sticking it out together till the bitter end. All this reflects the important role women have always played in Yoruba society, as seen in the position of female deities and in the number of certain female historical figures that are still revered today.  

The other main character that deserves a mention is Ashadele, played by Mo Sesay. He is like a combination of the Banquo and Macduff characters in the original play, appearing at the beginning with Aderemi as one of his co-military leaders but by the end as the man who overthrows him, having had his wife and twins murdered along the way. Here is no “Banquo’s ghost” scene but rather the apparition that haunts Aderemi is that of the murdered king with the Ashadele character cleverly placed behind him so that Aderemi is looking in the same direction. This achieves a nice blurring of the source material and invokes the confusion that is apparent in the Usurper’s consciousness. Indeed, by now Aderemi has become nothing less than a bloodthirsty tyrant utterly bent on achieving his own ambition and even prepared to murder his wife if necessary.  

All the cast, some of them playing multiple roles, portray this world of political intrigue, spiritual dependency and moral choices with skill and not a little humour, and while all cannot be named individually credit must go to Kayefi Osha (aka Deborah Lawal) who is an award-winning Nigerian folk and Afro-Soul singer and songwriter. Her singing and vocal arrangements throughout were haunting and evocative, her voice successfully dominating the various chants and African rhythms that drew on Yoruba heritage. Along with the rousing drumbeat accompaniment they conjured up a multicoloured world that was fully appreciated by the audience who gave a standing ovation at the end.

Runs until 7th February 2026