What are the themes of your play?
The themes of the play are Black beauty and the emergence of the Black civil rights movement in the UK.
Why did you write it and why now?
I wrote the play because I felt it was important to write a play that celebrated what I think popularly known as ‘Black Girl Joy’, and to celebrate the girlhood of our lived experiences. Right now, we talk so much about how we formulate a sense of beauty and politics for ourselves as Black women that is no longer dependent on the Eurocentric ideals. This play is about exploring some of that from a historical point of view
Which playwrights are you influenced by and why?
I have been hugely influenced by the work of Winsome Pinnock, debbie tucker green, Emteaz Hussain, Caryl Churchill, Alice Walker, Amiri Baraka, Kwame Kwei-Armah – all because their work has an ability to speak to an audience with a kind of integrity that goes beyond writing what’s ‘worthy’. And I think with each there is a love of language that I find particularly beguiling.
What do you want to achieve as a playwright?
For my work to keep speaking truth into a world that more often than not offers us lies and hype. For the work to take up space in established theatre/buildings. To run a building.