Theater: Bollywood Dreams

by Jocelyn Bioh

Los Angeles invented Hollywood. Bombay invented Bollywood. And in the early 2000s, an American journalist coined the term “Nollywood,” which referred to the film industry developing in Nigeria.

Today, Nollywood refers not only to the Nigerian market but also the Ghanaian, Kenyan, South African—the entire African diaspora—film industry. Nollywood produces over 1,000 movies a year and employs over 1 million people. This makes it the second largest film business in the world after Hollywood.

Whether or not you ever catch a Nollywood flick,  do not miss Jocelyn Bioh’s funny, Cinderella-story-perfect play “Nollywood Dreams” in previews at MCC.

Set in 1990s Lagos, Ayamma (Sandra Okuboyejo) dreams of stardom while working at her parents’ travel agency. Her cynical, celebrity-obsessed sister Dede (Nana Mensah, who appeared with Sandra Oh in “The Chair”) is doubtful of Ayamma’s prospects.

When Ayamma auditions for a new film by Gbenga Ezie (Charlie Hudson III), Nigeria’s hottest director, she find herself competing with Gbenga’s former leading lady, Fayola (Emana Rachelle). Tensions flare just as romance quietly develops between Ayamma and Wale Owuso (Ade Otukoya), Nollywood’s biggest heartthrob.

Meanwhile, Abena (from this summer’s “Merry Wives of Windsor”) adds more hilarity as the host of Nigeria’s “Access Hollywood”-type TV show. It’s Frank Capra-corn at its loopiest.

The play marks the return of Bioh (pictured here) to the playwriting excellence she exhibited in the hilarious “School Girls, or the African Mean Girls Play,” an MCC hit back in 2017.  She was also the writer behind this past summer’s “Merry Wives of Windsor” at Shakespeare in the Park, a critical favorite.

Kudos to Bioh

and MCC for giving us a look at an industry thriving 5,300 miles away in Nigeria. Right in the heart of Manhattan’s West 50s, a location that is 5,300 miles easier to reach.