Reflections on Kanyin Ajayi’s “Nothing Human”

Kanyin Ajayi’s Nothing Human, the English adaptation of Rien d’humain by the acclaimed French writer Marie NDiaye starring Ade Laoye, Bridget Nkem and ‘Chukwu Martin will be showing at the intimate and cozy hall of Alliance Française on August 2nd and 3rd. Ahead of its premiere, the director/producer, Ajayi invited Culture Custodian to a journalist preview on Friday, July 25 2025, to watch and engage, through capsule review, the excerpted performance. The preview was held at the production’s rehearsal studio in Lagos, Nigeria. 

Image credit: Daniel Uwaga

Ajayi, the director and producer of the play, is a stage director, writer, and scholar with a PhD in Comparative Literature from Harvard University. She has directed playlets and practised in theatre workshops at UCLA, the École normale supérieure, Lavoir Moderne Parisien and recently led the Organic Theatre Workshop in collaboration with 16/16. The staging and production of the play is made possible with support and partnership from Alliance Française de Lagos, a non-profit organization, Organic Theatre, and with JAM!, an app for West African creatives. 

Featuring three characters: Bella(Nkem), Djamila(Laoye) and Ignatius(Martin), the play stages the strained story of two women who are bound by a traumatic history. Years abroad, Bella, the child of a wealthy man, has returned to Nigeria from America with three children and reduced fortunes. Djamila who has been occupying Bella’s apartment  refuses to vacate it. Ignatus, Djamila’s lover, is caught between the venomous history of these women. As the play progresses, details are revealed of  how Bella’s family has inflicted horror on Djamila by sexually harassing her and diminishing her self worth and identity. Through these female characters, the battle for domination and hierarchy is laid bare. 

What’s immersive about the preview is the absence of distracting props, costume, accompanying sounds and an actual stage. It’s a raw performance that depends solely on the three performers’ words and acting. Many Nigerians are extremely poor not by their making. Years of capitalist rule and the carnivorous securing of wealth by the ruling class, has created legions of working class who rely on scraps from the ruling class. Surviving the capitalist system, if possible, means serving, consciously and unconsciously, the capitalists. And what Nothing Human does is to situate the systemic issue within the context of two women who consider each other “friends.” The play explores the working class and ruling class conflict from a lens of gratitude and contempt. The play interrogates this subject matter in an innovative and non-binary manner. It, on one hand, attacks the deceptive and callous benevolence of Bella’s ruling class family towards Djamila. On the other hand, it looks into the disdain Djamila, as a member of the working class, has towards the ruling class who dangles goodwill. And, with Ignatius’ character, the play finds a mediator and middle ground in this dialogue-driven play. Through this character, we come to distill the varying and opposing stories of these women. That Ignatius’ character is caught in between their story affords viewers to become intermediary between the cruel Bella and cold Djamilia.  

Art, on a great day, entertains and challenges the audience. Watching the preview of Nothing Human, the play performs this dual function. The three cast members’ performance will stretch viewers’ appreciation for virtuosic-skilled performance. But, the tension between the ruling class and working class, the generosity of love and hate, that the play carries will challenge viewers to challenge and refine their own years-long belief and opinions. More than anything, Nothing Human emphasizes the importance of hearing and seeing others unmindful of the complexities surrounding their being and identity.  

The play will premiere at Alliance Française on 2nd and 3rd of August and it would be great if you caught it.