Ifeoma Fafunwa

Biography

Ifeoma Fafunwa is a Nigerian‑American theatre maker, playwright, director and activist based in Lagos. She founded and leads the iOpenEye Africa Foundation, using performance art to drive social change and empower women, girls and youth. Her most celebrated work, HEAR WORD! Naija Woman Talk True, is a collection of monologues inspired by real stories of Nigerian women’s everyday struggles and resilience. Since its 2014 debut in Lagos, the play has reached over 120,000 live audiences, including performances at Harvard University, the American Repertory Theatre and the Edinburgh International Festival, earning praise from The New York Times and The Boston Globe. Originally trained and working as an interior architect in the United States, she returned to Nigeria in 2003 and shifted her focus to creative activism through theatre. Fafunwa is a Radcliffe Institute Fellow (Harvard), Aspen Global Leadership Fellow and MIT Media Lab Director’s Fellow. Her awards include the McNulty Catalyst Prize and listing among the “12 Artists Who Changed the World in 2019”.

Filmography