What are the themes of your play?
POTS AND PANS AND PRAYERS is all about secrets – why we keep them and what would happen if we were honest with ourselves and others. There are other themes too – like sisterhood, paternalism and forgiveness, but they all come back to that central theme.
Why did you write it and why now?
POTS AND PANS AND PRAYERS is the third play in a trilogy of plays I wrote about the experience of British Nigerian women in the family home. Each play addresses a different aspect of this experience and each is set in a different room – the first (SHE IS A PLACE CALLED HOME) was in the living room, the second (TO BE YOU) was in the bedroom and the third (POTS AND PANS AND PRAYERS) is in the kitchen.
Growing up, the kitchen was the place where the women would congregate. It’s where gossip was shared, life lessons were passed between generations and people were nourished. I was reminded of this during lockdown, which I spent with my mother, my sisters and my niece. We’d congregate in the kitchen for hours engaging in these same rituals that women have for generations.
I wanted to write something that honoured the importance of this space and, given the preceding two plays, the kitchen just made sense as the final location.
Which playwrights are you influenced by and in what way?
Without a doubt, babirye bukilwa. Their work is never anything short of audacious. It is unapologetic. It does not explain itself or seek validation. Whenever I watch or read anything of theirs, I am always left changed as a creative. Their work is a permanent reminder that the bar can always be higher.
I also love Inua Ellam’s work, and while working on POTS, I thought a lot about THREE SISTERS. The play is so complex – each sister has their own storyline, then on top of that, you have the overarching storyline of the Biafran War. The execution of this was so skilfully done – the play, whether read or watched, is a masterclass in and of itself. I’d also only just started writing when I first watched it back in 2019 and it gave me a lot of confidence that I could write plays that took up space.
What do you want to achieve as a playwright?
I love site-specific work and I really want to start making work for underused/disused spaces in my community, breathing new life into them. By taking performance out of the theatre in that way, I really want to contribute to work that challenges audience understandings of what theatre can be.
I also want to make work that creates interesting, non-stereotypical and complex roles for other Black creatives – be it as a director, producer or performer. We are multifaceted beings and deserve to stage work that shows that.