Storyteller's chance discovery inspires show blending family history with African folklore and music

A chance discovery in an attic sparks a fascinating family story with folk tales and legends that will tour to two venues in Derbyshire.
By Gay Bolton
Published 25th Oct 2023, 05:30 BST
Updated 26th Oct 2023, 11:36 BST
Phil Okwedy presents The Gods Are All Here at Derby Theatre on October 27 and 28 and at Doe Lea Resource Centre on November 25, 2023 (photo: Simon Gough Photography)Phil Okwedy presents The Gods Are All Here at Derby Theatre on October 27 and 28 and at Doe Lea Resource Centre on November 25, 2023 (photo: Simon Gough Photography)
Phil Okwedy presents The Gods Are All Here at Derby Theatre on October 27 and 28 and at Doe Lea Resource Centre on November 25, 2023 (photo: Simon Gough Photography)

The Gods Are Here will be performed in Derby Theatre on October 27 and 28 and at Doe Lea Resource Centre, near Chesterfield on November 25, 2023.

Frst-class storyteller Phil Okewedy takes centre stage in this presentation which explores freedom, racism, family and growing up without your birth parents.

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The production weaves myth, song, folktales and legends of Africa with Phil’s personal story of being a child in Wales during the Sixties and Seventies. His show was inspired by finding letters in an attic written from his father in Nigeria to his mother in Wales.

Phil Okwedy will share his lived experience of dual heritage in his presentation The Gods Are All Here (photo: Simon Gough Photography)Phil Okwedy will share his lived experience of dual heritage in his presentation The Gods Are All Here (photo: Simon Gough Photography)
Phil Okwedy will share his lived experience of dual heritage in his presentation The Gods Are All Here (photo: Simon Gough Photography)

Born in Cardiff, Phil was of dual heritage and never lived with either of his parents but was raised in Pembrokeshire by his long-term foster mother. Charting the time of life when children are said to view their parents as gods, but never having lived with them, in this show, Phil considers if his parents were, in fact, the gods he had imagined them to be…Phil said: “As I developed as storyteller, there came a time when I felt ready to tell myth but could find none that resonated with me. So, I began to weave personal and family stories with folktales as a kind of myth-making exercise. When I found the letters in my mother’s flat after her death, I felt a need to do more with them than just read them, but I was not yet a storyteller and so had no idea what that might be.

"Now, in sharing this show my intention is that it resonates with other people, with their individual family stories but also with the audience as a whole, because it is by working together that we ensure that equality, justice and freedom are experienced by all.”

The Gods Are Here is co-produced by Derby based Adverse Camber. Naomi Wilds, executive director of Adverse Camber, said: “Phil is such an engaging storyteller and his story lifts audiences from wherever they are to 1960s Wales, and onto an amazing voyage of discovery, with glorious stories from the African continent, all in one captivating evening.”

Tickets for Derby cost £15; go to www.derbytheatre.co.uk. Tickets for Doe Lea cost £15, including light supper (bring your own bottle), available from www.doeleacentre.org

Related topics:DerbyshireWales