Tife Kusoro

Boluwatife (Tife) Kusoro is a Nigerian-British writer and performer based in London and born in Lagos in 1998. Kusoro started writing poetry in secondary school and her creative practice now spans playwriting, screenwriting, performance, prose, and poetry. Kusoro often cites her influences, including Antoinette Nwandu, Nazareth Hassan, Toni Morrison, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Gboyega Odubanjo, and Maya Angelou, J Hus.

After graduating from the University of Leeds with a degree in English Literature (2019), she further honed her acting skills with the National Youth Theatre’s 2020/21 Rep Company. Kusoro’s work is known for its moving, imaginative, and surreal qualities. She aims to write work that is fun, moving, and honest, allowing people to see themselves and their stories represented. Much of her work explores Black womanhood, community, and coming of age.

Kusoro’s full-length theatrical works, We Have Sinned (2017) and Fly Home Butterfly (2018), have been recognised with nominations for prestigious awards, including the Alfred Fagon Award and the Verity Bargate Award. She has also been a finalist for the Women’s Prize for Playwriting.

Tife has undertaken attachments with notable institutions such as Talawa Theatre Company, the Bush Theatre, and the Royal Court. She was also selected as one of the BBC’s 2021 London Voices. Kusoro was a Jerwood New Playwright under commission with The Royal Court Theatre and as of August 2024 has original film and television projects in development. Additionally, she is a Resident Artist at the Roundhouse and a writer in residence at House Productions.

As an actor and performer, Kusoro has collaborated with Leeds Playhouse, Talawa Theatre Company, the Bush Theatre, the National Youth Theatre, and the BBC Radio Drama Company.