Director and writer Moshood Fattah is set to stage The Will, a three-man play he wrote, directed, and co-produced alongside executive producer Oluchi Odii, is running weekends through the month of May at The Rustic Deck in Lagos.
The collaboration began when Odii reached out to Fattah after watching his work at the Lagos International Theatre Festival. “She wanted to star in a play after a lot of rom-coms,” Fattah explains, “and I also wanted to write something beautiful and challenging, and so it all led to a successful collaboration.”
The will centers on family, wealth, and legacy. Fattah draws from firsthand observations of higher middle-class families navigating inheritance and the decisions that come with it. “It is fundamentally a story about wealth and what it means to keep and maintain wealth,” he says. “The family dynamics give it the drama it needs. The Will is a demonstration of what the human mind is and can do under certain circumstances.”
The production also received a significant moment of validation during development, when the team sat down with veteran actress Joke Silva to present the script. “She had wonderful things to say about my work, which made me very happy,” Fattah says. “It was a beautiful thing to get a stamp of validation from the best of the best in the industry.”
Fattah made a deliberate choice to stage the play at The Rustic Deck, an intimate indoor venue that he feels is perfectly suited to the story being told. He is working closely with set designer Mayowa Damilare to transform the space into a living room environment. “When people come into that space, they are coming to someone’s living room, so it’s like you are coming to someone’s house to witness what goes down in their family,” he says.
With rehearsals in their final stages, Fattah says the process has been both demanding and rewarding. “It can be challenging to multitask as a producer on so many levels,” he admits, “but I am trying to drink my water and choose peace.”
The Will stars Oluchi Odii, Moshood Fattah, and Mitchell Everest, with stage management and set design by Mayowa Damilare, music by Sam P, and hosting by Adeola Obasanmi. The production is presented by Take One Productions.