JRT partners AECID, Spanish Embassy to deliver 17th Jos Festival of Theatre 2026
By Editor
THE Jos-based theatre organization, Jos Repertory Theatre, is collaborating with AECID, Spain and the Embassy of Spain, Nigeria to hold the 17th Jos International Festival of Theatre 2026. It is scheduled to hold in Jos from October 7–10 at the premises of the Alliance Francaise, Jos.
The festival will feature four plays alongside a series of workshops and seminars all taking place at the same venue. The plays to be performed include Osasogie Efe Guobadia’s new play, Woven Veil, Jerry Alagbaoso’s The Widow’s Tale, Denja Abdulahi’s Chants in a Cemetery and Federico Garcia Lorca’s The Shoemaker’s Wonderful Wife.
With a collection of four new directors, the Jos-based theatre organization is continuing the annual theatre festival in partnership with the Embassy of Spain, Nigeria with whom she had collaborated for 11 years to bring Spanish plays to audiences in Northern Nigeria. Some of the plays that had been performed in this partnership include the landmark performance of Federico Garcia Lorca’s Yerma which was adapted to Northern Nigeria setting based in Kafanchan by the late Biyi Bandele. And it was performed in a number of cities in northern Nigeria, including at the Jos International Festival of Theatre. For the first time also, AECID Spain is joining the plethora of supporters of the Jos outfit to bring the festival back on track.
A statement from JRT management says of the coming festival, “It is worthy to note that at the conclusion of the 16th edition of the festival, we had thought that it was on the last throes of the festival in the city. But AECID and the Embassy of Spain, Nigeria have a different agenda: that the festival has another lease of life outside of the difficult times that theatre is going through in Nigeria and globally.
“With the conclusion of the plays’ selection process and the commencement of rehearsals, it is the fervent hope of JTR that the 2026 festival edition will bring smiles and memories to our audiences as well as create new insights that only theatre can provide. We look forward to an enduring relationship with AECID, Spain and a continuation of our collaboration with the Embassy of Spain, Nigeria.”
A scene from Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart adapted for stage at a previous JRT festival
