The Amala Renaissance

When Akin Alegongo's furniture business collapses, his wife Damilola transforms her struggling beauty salon into an amala restaurant. Her cooking quickly draws crowds, but Akin's extraordinary gift for publicity turns a promising family business into something nobody expected. Soon, Amala Boutique becomes Amala Temple, complete with membership cards, ceremonial robes, inverted cooking-pot hats and devoted followers known as Amalafarians. While Damilola struggles to protect the food, finances and reputation of the expanding enterprise, Akin embraces his growing fame as the movement's self-appointed leader. Their success alarms Reverend Jackson, whose congregation is shrinking, and Honourable Ajala, a scheming politician with a personal interest in the restaurant's premises. After protests, rumors and official harassment only attract more customers, the unlikely conspirators manufacture a criminal case against Akin. Now Damilola must defend the business she built, while Akin faces a courtroom determined to decide whether Amala Temple is an elaborate restaurant promotion—or an illegal religion. Set in Nigeria, The Amala Renaissance is a lively comic satire about marriage, food, faith, politics and the dangerous possibilities of a very successful joke.