The Embalmer Inside: Unearthing emotions through drama

The play scheduled for the Brighton Fringe has a social message: speak out, especially as a man.

IMAGINE this: You’re a mortuary attendant, alone in a morgue in the dead of night. A fresh corpse lies before you, ready to be embalmed. You approach the body, tools in hand—then suddenly, it sits up, asks for a glass of water, and begins a profound conversation about life, death, and everything in between. What would you do?

This is the unsettling dilemma faced by Adedotun (Samuel Oladele), a Nigerian migrant in the UK, in ‘The Embalmer Inside’ staged on Easter Monday (April 21) at the Kininso Hub, Oregun, Lagos.

‘The Embalmer Inside’ is the latest offering from Yemi Olanrewaju, the Chief Executive of Langfield Pictures, who had his first outing as a stage producer at the 2024 Lagos Fringe with ‘Double Cross’. Following the success at the Lagos Fringe, Olanrewaju is set for this year’s Brighton Fringe in the UK, which opened on May 2 and will run till June 1.

This new play, directed by Olanrewaju’s long-term associate, Femi ‘Tiger’ Johnson’ with Mayokun Babatunde as Artistic Director, Ayoola Oluyide (Technical Director), David Ijiyemi (Choreographer/Music composer) and MacTaiwo Oluyimi (Project Consultant) is what he will offer the audience at Brighton.

However, he first chose to show the loaded, two-person play at Easter to test the audience’s reaction and finetune it before a grand show in Lagos after it returns from Brighton.

Adedotun, who had ‘Japa-ed’ to the UK in search of greener pastures, finds himself as a mortuary worker, disillusioned and emotionally drained. His monotonous night shift takes a surreal turn when Miriam (Susan Adebisi Ajibade), a presumed-dead Nigerian woman, suddenly revives. Rather than flee, he engages her in a dialogue that dives into migration, mental health, cultural expectations, and emotional repression.

Miriam’s backstory mirrors Adedotun’s: a fellow migrant overwhelmed by the pressures of life abroad. Their exchange becomes haunting and healing through dark humour, heartfelt confessions, and music. From the audience’s reaction, there is no doubt that the play will be well received in the UK and Nigeria when it returns, especially as the producers would have further improved it.

‘The Embalmer Inside’ lives up to the producer’s hype: “You’ve never seen a story told like this before. Not on TV. Not in the cinema. Not on your phone…a raw, gripping play that will leave you questioning everything you thought you knew.”

Revealing his decision to produce the play, Olanrewaju said it encouraged men to speak out and not bottle up things for their mental health.  “Men don’t like to talk; they go through much stress and bottle things up. Before you know it, they have a stroke, develop hypertension and others, so we decided to do a play that highlights what men go through and why they should speak out to alleviate the stress they’re going through. But essentially, it’s for both males and females: Don’t clam up; speak out and share your problems. A problem shared is half solved.”

He added that he shared his idea for the play with Alice Sogbesan, who came up with the script and showed it in Lagos first to get audience feedback to improve the play further.

Susan Ajibade, who portrays Miriam, embraced the role with professionalism. “I’m a trained actor and also very spiritual, so I believe that whatever I act, it’s just acting. It’s not happening to me, and because of the story’s importance, I had no choice but to take it on.”

She applauded her co-actor, Oladele, for helping her fully realise her role: “We had a stage relationship before this production, so it was easy for us. We knew the lengthy lines and agreed to prioritise the punchy ones. We ensured that we did not miss the critical lines and messages.”

For Oladele, the play’s honesty about the diaspora’s struggles was a significant draw. “I don’t believe in ‘Japa’, but when given the script, I saw that it balances its positives and negatives, so I took on the role.  But beyond that, a scene where he [Adedotun] voices his frustrations to Miriam is instructive. The part where he spoke out about the UK not being easy on him is striking because it talks about people’s challenges.”

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