Queen Idia the Musical - A Work – in - Progress Concert [2026]

Queen Idia the Musical is a powerful Nigerian-British production in development, and this exclusive work-in-progress sharing invites you into the heart of a story too long left untold. Inspired by the legendary Queen Idia of the Benin Kingdom, warrior, strategist, mother, icon, this musical brings her voice to life through stirring Afrobeats, poetic storytelling, and the vibrant spirit of Nigerian culture. Her iconic bronze mask, looted during the 1897 British invasion and now housed in the British Museum, is known around the world and etched into every Nigerian passport and immortalised as the emblem of FESTAC ’77. But the woman behind the bronze has remained in the shadows. Until now. This performance follows a powerful creative journey, shaped in collaboration with the University of Cambridge’s Public Engagement team, the Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology, the Centre of African Stu