Fifteen years after it first made Lagos laugh at itself, “London Life, Lagos Living” is heading from the page to the stage. Bobo Omotayo’s bestselling collection is being adapted into a live musical, headlined by Kate Henshaw, Linda Ejiofor-Suleiman and Gideon Okeke, for a three-day run at the Black Diamond Hotel, Victoria Island, from Friday, 28 August to Sunday, 30 August 2026.
There is a certain full-circle sweetness to this one. The book began as a series of short stories Omotayo wrote for his column right here on BellaNaija, under the moniker “The Renaissance Man“. First published in 2011, it went on to become a defining text for a generation living between two cities, witty, sharp-eyed, and unafraid to name out loud what everyone else only whispered about love, class, ambition, and identity.
The stage adaptation carries that voice into a live, immersive format. An ensemble cast performs interwoven monologues alongside movement and original music, staged in the round so that the audience sits inside the world of the stories rather than watching from a distance.
Speaking on the adaptation, Artistic Director Kenneth Uphopho, who has staged the work before, said the source material lent itself naturally to the stage because Omotayo‘s writing already made people laugh by simply telling the truth. He explained that the production takes the everyday collisions of the two worlds; British residency, NEPA, traffic, and jollof and sets them to a live band, using humor as its translator. The adaptation, he added, is ultimately about navigating two ways of living, one where you queue and one where you manage, and about the greetings and small exchanges that carry so much meaning.
The production is brought to the stage by Temple Productions and Pawstudios Africa. Speaking on the show, lead producer Ego Boyo, Managing Director of Temple Productions, described it as a story about identity, laughter, and the beautiful friction of coming home to a place that feels both new and familiar. She added that the stage version turns that shared laughter into music, community, and a mirror for the experience of living between two worlds.
Co-producer Brenda Fashugba, co-founder of Pawstudios Africa, said the production was built to feel like Lagos itself, loud, layered, surprising, and full of heart. She noted that the show takes the culture shock so many Nigerians live through and turns it into song, capturing the diaspora, home, traffic, and jara all at once.
Joining Henshaw, Ejiofor-Suleiman, and Okeke on stage are Olarotimi Fakunle, Chioma “Chigul” Omeruah, Sola Roberts, and a host of others.
The three-day run will hold from Friday, 28 August to Sunday, 30 August 2026, at the Black Diamond Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, with performances at 7:00 pm on Friday and at 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm on both Saturday and Sunday.
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