Writer/Director Ayanna Blair-Ford breaks down the research and development of her new performance method.
Too often the ways we tell our stories are Eurocentric, harking back to a specific western understanding of performance and theatre. But what if we could perform and tell our stories in ways more attuned to African and Caribbean histories? What if our theatre looked, felt and sounded completely different? How would we do it? What makes it ours?
Join writer/director Ayanna Blair-Ford as she walks us through the research and development of her new performance method utilising extracts from her debut play-in-progress, Black On Stage: Crick - Crack.
About Black On Stage: Crick - Crack:
Black On Stage is a glimpse into the lives of three black actors who find themselves leaning on Caribbean ritual tradition to reconnect (communicate) with their ancestry, each other and themselves. Exploring themes of performed blackness, complex familial relationships, grief, ancestral connection and intersectional identity, Black On Stage is targeted at black British (specifically Caribbean) audiences. The play adopts Caribbean folk, traditional Caribbean storytelling methodologies and Afro-Caribbean ritual in its writing and performance style.
Date: Thursday 12th October 2023
Time: 7.30pm - 10pm
First half: 50 min ⎢Interval: 15min⎢Second half: 45 min
Age Guidance: NA
Please e-mail us ahead of the day to ensure we are aware of and can facilitate any access needs.
About the Artists:
Ayanna Blair-Ford is an academic, visual artist and theatre-maker who has worked within the realms of film and television in a host of roles. Her work in set design and art direction include Channel 4’s The Big Breakfast and the BAFTA-winning Life and Rhymes, and her original short film A Conversation I Wish I Had will be featured in the upcoming Broken Englizh and 3rd Wrlds exhibition in London. Ayanna holds a Masters in Architecture from the Royal College of Art (RCA), during which she researched and developed the theatre performance method that will be featured in Good Trouble Festival. Currently, Ayanna holds positions as an associate lecturer at the RCA and at Oxford Brookes University, where she oversees Unit G, a design studio focused on narrative-based design.