Isaac Bholu’s Role as Chief in Throne of Ashes Reveals the Price of Ambition

By Ozolua Uhakheme

In the contemporary world today, the majority of the people have their eyes glued to movies shown on the screen or in the cinema, while they undermine the artistic prowess of stage plays were there is no cut and edit, where the cast are watched physically and their character emotions are starkly displayed on stage before the audience. An example of this great artistry of stage play is the Throne of Ashes: Íkú Bàbá Yèyé, a tragic historical stage play first staged and shown on Friday, February 13 to Saturday, February 14, 2026 at the Woolwich Works, London. The story of the  play is set in Igboho, a town during the reign of the Oyo Empire. The play which was produced for stage by The Sumi Group tells a tense story about the travails of leadership, tradition, power, and the consequences of bad choices.

The play reflects how great kingdoms do not fall or go into extinction all of a sudden. It shows how their tragedy comes in bits, slowly drawing near and small mistakes molting into grave problems. The play surrounds itself with the atmosphere of pride, fear, and silence that makes the throne weak.

One of the most central and important characters in Throne of Ashes: Íkú Bàbá Yèyé is the Chief. The Chief character is played by Isaac Bholu, who is also known by his real name Boluwatife Ojo. His role as the Chief was crucial in the epic story of the stage play. Chief is an elderly man, but goes beyond just being an elderly man. He holds the history of the kingdom, with wisdom and knowledge about their laws and traditions. He is an observant character, who avoids joining the bandwagon of others arguing and fighting for power. His patience and wisdom made him notice incoming dangers as early as possible.

Isaac Bholu, playing the role of Chief came with simplicity, but with a strong stage presence and performance. Through playing this role, Isaac Bholu exposed a clear understanding of how the elders serve as leaders in Yoruba culture and tradition. He made the audience see Chief as someone who has experienced the good and bad choices of life, with many mistakes. His appearance on stage always sustains the attention of the audience because of the wisdom and perseverance the character holds. Through the dialogue and body movement, Isaac Bholu delivered the role of Chief exceptionally.

In the stage play, apart from the role of Chief, played by Isaac Bholu, other certain characters also stood out with their performances and output of their role. Balógun, a character whose strong thirst for power pushes his kingdom towards ruin. Also, the character of Olúkèkè, whose choices in life changes everything. A woman who exists between the touch of love and destruction.  Adífálà is also another distinct character whose spiritual competence is undoubted. The audience enjoyed his appearance on stage, because he changed the stage atmosphere with his rigorous action.

From the artistic prowess of Isaac Bholu, who played the role of Chief down to other characters, what also made their action and stage appearance superb to the audience is their cast attire. Their attire reveals the cultural background and history of the play. The costumes were mostly hand-dyed fabrics with natural colours of yellow, red, blue, and brown. The beautiful arrangement of these attires also portrayed the characters’ ranks, duties, and specifically their emotions. Elders and leaders’ characters wore costumes that literally depict their wisdom and responsibility, characters that are linked to power and conflict were adorned with fabrics that displayed their pride and ambition, while these costume arrangements made the audience acknowledge and understand the character’s role without confusion.

The audience were astonished by the characters’ performance, especially with that of Isaac Bholu, his prowess to play an elderly man, Chief despite his age grade in a real life sense is younger than the Chief character. The whole performances were well acknowledged and this makes, Throne of Ashes: Íkú Bàbá Yèyé a great stage play that opens up about the reign of power, how temporary it can be and how human choices can impede the existence of leadership and ruin a kingdom. Through the role of Chief played by Isaac Bholu, the play reveals how ignoring wisdom and experiences can destroy the strongest kingdom.

Undoubtedly, the success of Throne of Ashes: Íkú Bàbá Yèyé is not limited to the cast who delivered their roles exceptionally, but also to The Sumi Group, the production company behind the stage play. The Sumi Group over the years have been recognized for their commitment towards promoting stories that expose to the world the beauty of African culture and traditions. Apart from the Throne of Ashes, The Sumi Group have successfully produced several stage plays and film projects which includes; Dear Father, also works from the catalogue of Devil’s Dress and host of other performances that have been produced and staged in international theatres. The Sumi Group have blessed the theatre scene with a lot of successful plays and this is evident in their creative portfolio. Most of the works produced by the Sumi Group centers around the themes of heritage, family, power, and the consequences of moral. They have been able to bring culturally inclined African stories and narratives to the UK and the world at large.