Women Refugees Speak it, Hear it!

One in three women will be victims of rape or violence at some point in their lives. So what can we do about it?

It was my privilege to organise ‘Speak it, Hear it! – a fund-raising poetry event held in Clapham earlier this month as part of One Billion Rising (www.obrfestival.uk) which campaigns for an end to violence against women. The evening featured contributions from invited poets Sue Johns and Lisa Kelly, open-mic excellence  and a heart-stopping performance from women refugee poets.

The communal poem Set Her Free  was created by a group of 12 women in association with Women For Refugee Women (www.refugeewomen.co.uk) which works to help empower women who have sought asylum in the UK. Grassroots coordinator Marchu Girma, introduced two of the original poets, Jade and Joy, whose moving stories helped create Set Her Free. Their performance was brilliant, deeply moving and very humbling.

Click here to watch the full version of Set Her Free: https://youtu.be/EQEEthsuF08

Open mic poets were in fine form during ‘Speak it, Hear it!’ and included Angela Brodie, Laura Collins, Patricia Foster, Jane Grael, Hilaire, Susan Hodgets, Rachel Joseph, Frank Mariani, Anne McCaulay, Camilla Reeve and Caroline Vero.

Subject matter ranged from inappropriate police behaviour and domestic violence to the tempting of Adam by Eve and one woman’s experience of Paris burlesque. A humble apple even got a bit (or should I say bite) part in one of Sue Johns’ poems.

Sue Johns’ latest poetry collection Hush was published by Morgan’s Eye Press in 2011. Sue also writes and performs theatrical monologues and works with art/word collaborations. She is currently working on a series of poems about prostitution.  www.suejohns.co.uk

Lisa Kelly’s finely observed poetry tackles both personal and social issues. Her poems have appeared widely in leading literary magazines. She is a board member of Magma and her pamphlet Bloodhound is published by Hearing Eye.

The One Billion Rising Festival was organised by Goblin Baby Theatre Company (www.goblinbaby.com) and staged at The Bread & Roses Theatre, Clapham, between 7th and 14th February. Events included sell-out performances of The Vagina Monologues and The Princess Monologues, stand-up comedy, play readings, burlesque, drumming, body confidence workshops, an art exhibition and talks on topics such as human trafficking and respecting femininity.

 Photos courtesy of Tessa Hart.

The Princess Monologues are back!

It’s your last chance to catch Eleanor Dillon-Reams’s 5 Star performance in The Princess Monologues this Friday at the Bread & Roses Theatre, Clapham.

She’s wowed reviewers and audiences alike with the virtuosity of her interpretation of 7 monologues written by Claire Booker, Amy Bethan Evans, Tessa Hart, Simon Jay, Tina Jay, Tilly Lunken and Eliza Power and directed by Tessa Hart.

Goblin Baby Theatre Company’s production has already played at The Bedford, Balham, The Hen & Chickens, Islington, The Space, Isle of Dogs, and returns to the Bread & Roses, 68 Clapham Manor Street, SW4 6DZ for a final performance at 8pm on February 12th. To book tickets, please click on the following link: www.goblinbaby.com/princess

A must-see for everyone! – RemoteGoat. A fantastic show – Female Arts. Brave and relevant theatre – London Pub Theatres. A rewarding experience – LondonTheatre1

Each monologue explores a different aspect of being a ‘princess’ in the 21st century from an African royal, a DisneyWorld employee and a drag Queen, to a young abused mother, a boy who dreams of finding his prince and a revenant Princess of Wales.

Dynamite II by Tilly Lunken, Just a Girl by Tina Jay, Home Made Princess by Simon Jay, Mr Andersen’s Princess by Amy Bethan Evans, Hail Your Majesty by Tessa Hart, #Shame by Eliza Power and my play Princess Frankenstein were all commissioned by Goblin Baby Theatre Co, an activist theatre company which has been making waves in south London since they launched two years ago.

I was thrilled by Eleanor’s cut-glass rendering of my monologue about medical student Frankie, who is a genius in the lab but a picky princess in love. Can she surgically create a perfect boyfriend?

“Princess Frankenstein has an incredibly dark humour, which had the audience in stitches.” RemoteGoat.    “Princess Frankinstein is genius, strange  and a little unsettling, as well as being hilariously funny.” Female Arts.    “Can she surgically create the perfect man? No, it turns out, but not before leading us through a hilarious tour of her struggling love life. It’s almost an exploration of what it means to be human in ten too-short minutes.” London Theatre 1.     “Princess Frankenstein is a darkly comic gem: one of the funniest things I’ve seen all year.” Angela Clarke.

But don’t trust the reviews. Go and see the show yourself!

New drama alive and kicking in Clapham’s Bread & Roses Theatre

Some stunning new dramas played at Clapham’s newest theatre, The Bread & Roses, last month as part of ‘Unheard’ – a four day festival of plays that explored themes of abuse and violence.   

From rehearsed readings to scratch performances and full productions, many of the twelve events organised by activist theatre company Goblin Baby played to capacity audiences. These included charity fund-raiser ‘The Vagina Monologues’ and two evenings of short new plays including ‘Deliverance’ by Amy Bethan Evans and ‘Bathroom Secrets’ by Claire Booker. Hot from its success in New York, the  ‘Maison des Reves’ shook audiences with the story of a woman who murdered over a hundred men in Czarist Russia, written and performed by the amazingly versatile Talie Melnyk.

Tickets cost as little as £3.00 in keeping with Goblin Baby Theatre Company’s policy of bringing thought-provoking theatre to people at a price everyone can afford.

Susan Hodgetts

‘Bathroom Secrets’ was performed with touching honesty by Susan Hodgetts in the role of Bee, whilst Mark Lisseman brought poignancy to the role of her husband.  A big thank you also to director Suvi Peisanen and Goblin Baby Theatre Company for producing my work.

Goblin Baby Theatre Company are now preparing their next production due in April/May  – a contemporary take on August Strindberg’s Miss Julie featuring Tessa Hart & Rebecca Pryle. Do check out their website for further details at.:

Goblin Baby Theatre Co.

The Bread & Roses Theatre has been building audiences rapidly since it opened earlier this year. You can enjoy theatre, comedy or Open Mic events only a few minute’s walk from Clapham Common/North tube stations on most nights of the week. For a full programme go to: The Bread & Roses Theatre

Photographs curtesy of Kenneth Jay.

Camden Fringe success for Goblin Baby Theatre Company

One of our Robots is Missing

Goblin Baby Theatre Co. pulled off  a Camden Fringe Review ‘Hot Ticket’ status for 2 out of the 3 nights’ performances of FORESEEN – its four writer, three actor, two director bonanza of post-apocalyptic dark comedies that played The Hen & Chickens Theatre Bar in Islington from the 22nd to 24th August.

Associate writers Amy Bethan Evans, Claire Booker, Tessa Hart and Tilly Lunken each wrote 12 minute plays which the company wove into one darkly comic, thought-provoking hour of theatre.

Processed

The Appointment

Lucy and the Beasts

Leigh-Anne Abela directed Amy Bethan Evans’ Lucy and the Beasts  (The Beast is what you make of it);  and Claire Booker’s One Of Our Robots Is Missing (Nuclear bunkers. Read the small print!) Victorine Pontillon directed Tessa Hart’s The Appointment (The legend of the Female Species and their mysterious swelling bellies); and Tilly Lunken’s Processed  (There must be somewhere to live, even when there is nowhere to go).

Actors Alice Bell, Michael Bagwell and Alexandra Vincent turned in a kaleidoscope of stunning performances, each creating four completely different characters, plus some state-of-the-art, on-set costume changes under the eagle eyes of enthusiastic audiences.

Next up is a Goblin Baby double bill: The Proposal by Anton Chekhov(in a same-sex version) and To Be A Wife by Tilly Lunken at The Space, Isle of Dogs, London from 7th-11th October (7.30pm with 3pm Saturday matinee).  For more details or to buy tickets visit www.goblinbaby.com

“Gripping and haunting” – Devil & Stepashka moves to new theatre

There’s a second chance to see Claire Booker’s drama ‘The Devil and Stepashka’ this weekend, as it transfers to Ye Old Rose & Crown Theatre in Walthamstow.

Inspired by a Tolstoy short story, the play is a thought-provoking tale about passion and its consequences. Landowner, Zhenya, stands trial for the murder of one of his peasants, but can there be true justice in an unjust society?

Goblin Baby Theatre Co. has pulled off another critical success, earning four-star reviews during the play’s two week run last month at The Space, north east London: “Gripping and haunting. Booker’s play is very brave as well as unusual. One of those hidden gems on the London Fringe.” Remotegoat.com. “An intriguing new work.” Viewsfromthegods.co.uk  “The superstitiously secular, domestic world of Claire Booker’s The Devil and Stepashka manages to create a believable male Antigone in what ends up to be very literally one hell of a double-bind.” Exeunt Magazine.

Plaudits for the cast and crew include: “Particularly remarkable were Dimitri Shaw as lawyer Boris . . . and Tessa Hart who portrayed both the haunting presence of the murdered Stepashka as well as her living sister Dasha.” RemoteGoat.

“Lydia Lane is wonderfully precise and pernickety as Zhenya’s doting wife, Lisa. She has the harassed, loving, frantic possessiveness of a woman fearing, but refusing to believe, that she has been replaced.” Exeunt Magazine.  “Overall production designer Christopher Keech is to be congratulated for achieving a varied and detailed design.” RemoteGoat. “Leigh-Anne Abela (director) manages to bring out the intense emotions of this piece, cleverly framing the love triangle between Zhenya, his wife and the memory of his lover . . . leaving us with two passionate individuals, choked by dark desire, spiralling out of control in front of us.” View From The Gods.

‘The Devil and Stepashka’ plays on Sat 19th July (8pm) and Sunday 20th July (2pm and 6pm) at Ye Old Rose & Crown, 53 Hoe St, E17 4SA (a 6 min walk from Walthamstow tube station). For more information or to book tickets, visit: http://goblinbaby.ticketsource.co.uk

The Creative Team of The Devil and Stepashka are: Leigh-Anne Abela (Director), Christopher Keech (Production Designer), Simon Vella (Music Composer), Claire Booker (writer), Paul Christian Rogers (Zhenya), Dimitri Shaw (Boris), Tessa Hart (Stepashka/ Dasha), Lydia Lane (Lisa).

Feminist fairytales put wolf in the dog house!

Some great reviews and lively audiences at last month’s Fairytale Festival ‘Retold’ prove beyond doubt that women’s theatre can put bums on seats and still be taken seriously.

Activist theatre company ‘Goblin Baby’ commissioned Claire Booker, Amy Bethan Evans and Tilly Lunken to update three traditional fairy tales. The plays were performed for five nights at The Space, Isle of Dogs, then transferred to The Hen & Chickens Theatre, Islington for a further five nights.

Claire Booker subverted Grimm’s ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ and set all the action inside the belly of the wolf where it’s dark, it stinks and it’s packed with victims. Can Hoodie, Gran and Aisha escape, or should they wait for the Woodcutter?

“‘Little Red Hoodie’ feels like a sudden gem and Natasha Atherton is truly riveting as Aisha, a Muslim woman who wakes up in the stomach of a wolf. This piece of writing engages with a more delicate kind of metaphor and allows a story to be told; one which is very moving. This truly feels like a fairytale done differently, while remaining recognisable.”  ThePublicReviews

“Booker devises a brand new character, Aisha (Natasha Atherton), a devout Muslim who has unexpectedly found herself detached from the rest of her body.  The idea of women being empowered to save themselves comes across in this play and there’s a nice nod to the disparity in generational attitudes, with Hoodie (Tessa Hart) and Gran (Rebecca Peyton) coming to different conclusions. Peyton’s slightly doddery, well-meaning grandmother character is a delight.” ViewFromTheGods

Tilly Lunken’s play used a reunion of three old school friends queuing up to watch Snow White as a way of dissecting issues of beauty and appearance. “There is a sweetness here and Priscilla Adade-Helledy (Lilly) brings an enjoyable levity to proceedings. Some truly poignant moments show up with wonderful lines like “[Snow White is] a story of never escaping the dreams of your mother.” ThePublicReviews

“The Snow White Complex’ definitely packs a big emotional punch, thanks to the cast but also director Kuba Drewer.” ViewFromTheGods

Amy Bethan Evans ‘As if by a Stair’ used the story of Rapunzel as a fable which illustrates how young people’s futures have been sold down the river of so-called fiscal necessity.  “Whilst the pieces are each completely different and unique, the overall fairytale and socio-critical tone still makes the show feel like one big ensemble project where everyone is very much in tune with each other.” RemoteGoat

Watch this space for more information on Goblin Baby Theatre Company or go to their website at: http://www.goblinbaby.com

Claire Booker’s short comedy ‘Last Man in Watford’ plays at Loose Muse, The Poetry Cafe, 22 Betterton Street, Covent Garden, WC2H 9BX on Wed 12th February (8.00pm).

Tilly Lunken’s One Act drama ‘Mint Leaves’ plays at the Hen & Chickens Theatre, 109 St Paul’s Road, Islington, N1 2NA on 13th and 14th February (7.30pm).

Goblin Baby Theatre’s one-night-only benefit production of Eve Ensler’s ‘The Vagina Monologues’ takes place on Sunday March 16th at 7pm at The Space, 269 Westferry Road, E14 3RS.  

‘Last Man in Watford’ unleashed on Southwark Playhouse

Claire Booker’s short comedy ‘Last Man in Watford’ is to get a second bite at the cherry, following a successful run earlier this year at The Hen and Chickens Theatre, Islington.

Producing company, Little Pieces of Gold, has selected nine state-of-the nation short plays by UK-based playwrights to showcase on Sunday 24th November (7.30pm) at The Southwark Playhouse, near London Bridge.  Previous Little Pieces of Gold showcases have been sell-outs, so if you don’t want to risk missing out on a variety-packed evening, then book your tickets at: http://www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk

‘Last Man in Watford’ is set in 2084 when women rule the world and men are kept as exhibits in zoos.

Tom Kirkin unleashes Adam on a helpless audience

Utopia or dystopia?  You decide!  The play was performed as part of Sibling Productions Short Cuts 4 season in Islington in July, alongside three other dark comedies. Tom Kirkin played the role of unreconstituted Adam, Kathryn Perkins was the schoolgirl ingenue, and Lydia Lane played the long-suffering zoo keeper. It was directed by Tessa Hart.

For more information about Sibling Productions:

http://www.shortcutsfestival.co.uk

To contact Little Pieces of Gold about the Southwark Playhouse evening, or to submit work for their next showcase, please visit: http://www.littlepiecesofgold.co.uk