A hip-hop opera aimed at making theatre more accessible has been touring Wales and asking audiences to “pay what they can” instead of charging for tickets.
Based on an award-winning short film, the House of Jollof Opera took to the floor at Wrexham’s Tŷ Pawb venue this weekend. The 20 minute mashup of rap, hip hop and opera was written and performed by Welsh-Nigerian artist Tumi Williams and directed by Welsh-Indian creative Dr Sita Thomas.
Hip-hop artist Tumi Williams, who sold vegan Nigerian street food during the pandemic to make ends meet, has written an opera about his experience. The semi-autobiographical House of Jollof tells the story of a new restaurant owner’s first encounter with an opera-singing food inspector. Williams mixed hip-hop, jazz-funk, and opera to create a genre mash-up.
From Jollof Rice to Opera
Williams, who is from Cardiff, began selling Nigerian dish jollof rice to people during the pandemic. After a few successful pop-up events, he decided to open a restaurant in Cardiff Bay. However, things did not go as planned when an unexpected food inspector showed up to assess the restaurant’s cleanliness. The inspector also happened to be an opera singer, which inspired Williams to write House of Jollof.
Williams hopes to make opera more accessible by taking it to community spaces. He believes that House of Jollof will appeal to people who wouldn’t normally go to an opera performance. The artist said, “We’re taking this to community spaces, which I think is important because people like me will feel more inclined to have a little gander and see what we’re doing.” Williams also plans to perform the opera at music festivals, including the Green Man festival in Wales.
“Pay what you can”
Tumi Williams, one of the lead performers, as well as a writer, musician and part-time chef, said he took the decision to make the show “pay what you can”. “This is a really important moment for Music Theatre Wales to bring a new way of thinking about opera to a new public,” he said.
Dozens watched the show in Wrexham – young and old tapping their feet and swaying to the music. Perhaps, people who wouldn’t normally book opera tickets – proving the experiment has worked.
