The Story⚡
Masks slip, and stories surface across four stages this November. Seventeen plays from Nigeria, Kenya, Canada and Brazil gather under one roof, each one asking what we hide and what we reveal when the lights go up.
Tell Me More
The Lagos International Theatre Festival (LITF), organised by Bolanle Austen-Peters’ BAP Productions, returns on 14 and 15 November 2026 at the MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos. This year’s theme is “The Masks We Wear”, paired with the line “The Stage Is Everywhere”. Austen-Peters says the theme reflects the many roles people play in daily life, and that theatre lets audiences examine those roles and “perhaps see ourselves differently”.
Productions come from Nigeria, Kenya, Canada and Brazil, and the Nigerian plays come from Lagos, Abuja, Enugu and Abeokuta. The festival also makes room for emerging theatre makers, with schools such as Atlantic Hall, Evergreen College and Children International School on the bill alongside professional and independent companies.
The plays run across four venues at MUSON: Shell Hall, AGIP Hall, The LITF Stage and La Scala. Here is a closer look at each play.
Queen Idia
Children International School brings the story of Queen Idia, the first woman to go to war and the first Queen mother of the Benin kingdom. The play opens at Shell Hall at 12:00 pm and runs until 1:15 pm on 14 and 15 November. Tickets cost ₦10,000.
Grip Am
Atlantic Hall’s production, directed by Anthony Abolo, starts with a poor couple who receive magical powers. The comedy that follows pulls in their landlord, death, survival, and, in the end, reconciliation. It plays in Shell Hall from 1:45 pm to 3:00 pm. Tickets cost ₦10,000.
Ije Awele
Courage Oti and Marymartina Okoabu direct this Evergreen College production about Kambili and Kamsi, two graduates who go to Lagos to look for a future. The play asks what that search costs them, and whether the road you pray for can break you. It runs in Shell Hall from 3:30 pm to 4:45 pm. Tickets cost ₦10,000.
Behind Closed Doors
The festival founder, Bolanle Austen-Peters, directs this BAP Productions play about love, marriage, resentment and memory. It treats these subjects with humour and a close eye, and it asks the question couples rarely say aloud. It plays in Shell Hall from 7:30 pm to 8:30 pm and carries the highest ticket price on the programme at ₦25,000.
Index One
Shorts From Africa presents this play, directed by Nice Githinji. It follows an East African woman who leaves home to chase her dreams abroad, then returns and has to find herself again. It opens the AGIP Hall at 12:00 pm and runs until 1:15 pm. Tickets cost ₦10,000.
What You Have Become
Emlan Media stages this production, directed by Lanre Adediwura, which is built on live storytelling and a cast of characters you are meant to remember. The programme gives few plot details, so the title and the director’s name are the main clues. It runs in AGIP Hall from 3:30 pm to 4:45 pm. Tickets cost ₦10,000.
Man Up
African Concierge Network’s play, directed by Chef Gibbs, starts on an ordinary day in Lagos. Five strangers collide in the city’s rush and share an accidental photograph. Each carries a burden shaped by society’s idea of manhood. Their paths lead to the same bridge on the same night, where each man has to choose between honesty and performance. It plays in AGIP Hall from 5:00 pm to 6:15 pm. Tickets cost ₦10,000.
Monkey Laundry
Three men are trapped in a run-down government laundry room that washes the stains of political crimes, and the room is a symbol for how scandals get cleaned up. The play, from 127 Entertainment, is directed by Olarotimi Fakunle according to festival press coverage. It runs in AGIP Hall from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm. Tickets cost ₦10,000.
Under The Mango Tree
This is the festival’s Canadian entry, from Le’Ra Entertainment in Toronto. Two strangers and one tree lead to a turf war. The story brings African folklore together with animation and follows a friendship, a betrayal, and questions of loss, identity and cultural ownership. It runs on The LITF Stage from 4:45 pm to 5:30 pm. The programme did not list a ticket price.
Lagos Love Letters
Kabeyesi Studios presents excerpts from opera scenes, directed by Kenny Oretimehin. The piece sits between theatre and music, which makes it the programme’s most unusual entry. It plays on The LITF Stage from 6:30 pm to 7:30pm. The programme did not list a ticket price.
Odoiya
The Brazilian production, directed by Bel Souza, closes The LITF Stage’s day from 7:30 pm to 8:15 pm on 14 and 15 November. It follows Oretimehin’s play in the same venue.
African Uninterrupted 2
African Storytelling Circle, directed by Winihin Jemide, tells five short stories through griots. The stories look at Africa through who we were, who we are and who we are becoming. It opens at La Scala day from 1:00pm to 2:15pm. Tickets cost ₦10,000.
Amebo Is My Hobby
This one-woman play, directed by Lyndsley Efejuku for Beeta Universal Arts Foundation, follows Angela as she gets ready for another Nigerian owambe, with plenty of stories to tell. Beneath the gossip and the laughter, everyone at the party, Angela included, is performing a version of their life. It runs in La Scala from 2:30 pm to 3:15 pm. Tickets cost ₦10,000.
You Are Special and Other Lies
Prosper Omiesta directs this one-woman play from Starlight. It deals with ambition, shame, strength, love and comfort, and with the stories we tell ourselves, the truths we avoid and the homes we build around them. It plays in La Scala from 3:30 pm to 4:15 pm. Tickets cost ₦10,000.
tHERapy
Duchess Productions presents this one-woman play, directed by Tosin Adeyemi. It follows Deola through the stages of womanhood, including childbirth, family pressure, sexual assault, relationships and liberation. Given the subject matter, go in prepared. It runs in La Scala from 5:00pm to 6:15pm. Tickets cost ₦10,000.
There Is Rice at Home
Instinct Pictures presents this play, directed by Oladele Samuel Olusegun. Kaptoro, a police officer, loses his closest friend, Obasi. An unexpected meeting with Death then forces him to think about friendship, betrayal, regret, and how short life is. It opens the KAP Hub on a day from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm. Tickets cost ₦10,000.
Ordinary People
CBT Productions, directed by Tomilola Adeniran, retells a story you think you know, with original music and humour. The question underneath is what it means to trust a future you cannot control. It runs at KAP Hub from 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm. Tickets cost ₦10,000.
The Artwork
Stagecraft Productions, directed by Abiodun Oluwasegun Jimoh, begins when a lecturer visits his friend Gbena Gbena, who is sixty-something and decorated. He goes to congratulate him and finds a nineteen-foot painting of Hephaestus where he expected a portrait of the Thunder King of their own people. The laughter turns into an argument over patronage, heritage, and money. It runs in KAP Hub from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm. Tickets cost ₦10,000.
Closure Is for Wigs
Red Art’s play, directed by Olubori Ojo, follows Soji, a chef whose carefully planned evening changes when his ex-girlfriend arrives wanting closure, not romance. A warm, nostalgic reunion turns into a blunt argument about love, miscommunication, and unmet expectations. It opens OUIDA’s day from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm. Tickets cost ₦10,000.
The Kitchen
Beefilms, directed by Precious Bassey, tells the story of motherhood: the sacrifices no one sees and the dreams women leave behind for the people they love. Through one family, it shows that the people who give us everything can be the ones we know least. It runs at OUIDA from 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm. Tickets cost ₦10,000.
God Said
Signpost Studios Productions, directed by Bunmi Awolowo, centres on Ireti, who celebrates everyone else’s wins while she waits for her own. When she becomes sure her life is about to change, she gives herself seven days to prepare. Then she has to face a hard question: what happens when the thing you believe in most is the thing you cannot afford to be wrong about? It closes OUIDA’s day from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm. Tickets cost ₦10,000.
Schedule at a Glance (14–15 November 2026, MUSON Centre)
| Venue | Play | Time | Ticket |
| Shell Hall | Queen Idia | 12:00pm–1:15pm | ₦10,000 |
| Shell Hall | Grip Am | 1:45pm–3:00pm | ₦10,000 |
| Shell Hall | Ije Awele | 3:30pm–4:45pm | ₦10,000 |
| Shell Hall | Behind Closed Doors | 7:30pm–8:30pm | ₦25,000 |
| AGIP Hall | Index One | 12:00pm–1:15pm | ₦10,000 |
| AGIP Hall | What You Have Become | 3:30pm–4:45pm | ₦10,000 |
| AGIP Hall | Man Up | 5:00pm–6:15pm | ₦10,000 |
| AGIP Hall | Monkey Laundry | 6:30pm–7:30pm | ₦10,000 |
| The LITF Stage | Under The Mango Tree | 4:45pm–5:30pm | – |
| The LITF Stage | Lagos Love Letters | 6:30pm–7:30pm | – |
| The LITF Stage | Odoiya | 7:30pm–8:15pm | – |
| La Scala | African Uninterrupted 2 | 1:00pm–2:15pm | ₦10,000 |
| La Scala | Amebo Is My Hobby | 2:30pm–3:15pm | ₦10,000 |
| La Scala | You Are Special and Other Lies | 3:30pm–4:15pm | ₦10,000 |
| La Scala | tHERapy | 5:00pm–6:15pm | ₦10,000 |
| KAP Hub | There Is Rice at Home | 3:00pm–4:00pm | ₦10,000 |
| KAP Hub | Ordinary People | 4:30pm–5:30pm | ₦10,000 |
| KAP Hub | The Artwork | 6:30pm–7:30pm | ₦10,000 |
| OUIDA | Closure Is for Wigs | 3:00pm–4:00pm | ₦10,000 |
| OUIDA | The Kitchen | 4:30pm–5:30pm | ₦10,000 |
| OUIDA | God Said | 6:30pm–7:30pm | ₦10,000 |
In Summary
Choose the plays that speak to you, check the latest times and ticket prices on the official festival site and Eventporte, and plan your path through the four halls at MUSON Centre on 14 and 15 November. The stages will be open; the stories are ready.
Thanks for Reading.
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