Acclaimed Director Femi Elufowoju jr Visits University for Exclusive Q&A with PCI Students
As part of the 25th birthday celebrations of the School of Performance and Cultural Industries, more than 50 students from the Theatre Directing and Opera North modules gathered on
Thursday, 15th October 2026 for an exclusive Q&A with acclaimed theatre and opera director Femi Elufowoju jr, OBE and Interim Head of School, Professor George Rodosthenous. The event offered students a rare opportunity to engage directly with one of the most influential creative voices in British theatre today.
Femi Elufowoju jr is recognised as the first Black director to stage an opera at a major national opera house in the UK with his 2022 production of Verdi's Rigoletto for Opera North. This groundbreaking production won Best Opera at the 2023 South Bank Sky Arts Awards and received five-star reviews. A graduate of Bretton Hall, University of Leeds, Femi has directed over thirty plays, founded the national touring company Tiata Fahodzi, and was awarded an OBE for his services to drama.
The session explored a wide range of topics central to the craft of directing. Femi reflected on his own training at Bretton Hall and how his early encounters with Verdi's operas (Il trovatore, La traviata, and Rigoletto) ignited a passion that would eventually lead him to direct opera himself. He spoke candidly about translating instinctive, emotional responses into a concrete rehearsal room methodology, particularly when working with singers who bring their own deeply ingrained musical instincts.
Students heard Femi discuss his celebrated approach to reinterpreting classic works for modern audiences, including his decision to transpose Rigoletto from 17th-century Mantua to "Mantua UK". He described how he ensured that this bold conceptual move served the storytelling rather than overpowering it, and how the themes of abuse, corruption, and criminal activity have become more pertinent in the four years since the production premiered.
The conversation also explored Femi's reframing of Rigoletto's disability as "otherness", a manifestation, he explained, "of the paranoia of the outsider", rather than the traditional correlation of physical deformity with moral failing. He described the conversations he had with his Rigoletto about embodying that shift and how it changed the way audiences relate to the character by the final act. Reflecting on the return of Rigoletto in 2026, Femi considered how the political and cultural context of the last four years has developed the production.
Students also gained insight into Femi's expectations of assistant directors, his approach to running a rehearsal room, and the practical ways in which his belief that "the arts belong to everyone" shapes his working practice. The event concluded with Femi reminding students that "preparation" is a huge part of the director's job and encouraged them to be persistent and resilient. He expressed his hope that the next generation of directors would continue to push the boundaries of tradition, telling stories in ways that speak to audiences everywhere.
