Ahead of Acquah&Co's run of SANKOFA at The Bread & Roses Theatre this February, Nicole Acquah talks us through her top tips for creating autobiographical theatre...
Sankofa is a semi-autobiographical piece of theatre, recently shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Playwriting. It is about my heritage as a Ghanaian-British woman, and how I found out in only the last few years that I come from a long line of artists. The show explores how this discovery impacted the way I see myself and explores my experiences as a West African woman making work, falling in love, uncovering my personal history…all that fun stuff. I am performing onstage alongside musicians Vanessa Garber and Doyin Ade. It is directed by Carol Leeming MBE and produced by Tia Ray, with voice and dialect by Eleanor Manners and movement direction by Kwame Asafo-Adjei. In addition to writing, I perform in the piece.
Here are some of the things that this process has helped me reflect upon and hopefully some tips to take away for your own shows:
Sankofa is a semi-autobiographical piece of theatre, recently shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Playwriting. It is about my heritage as a Ghanaian-British woman, and how I found out in only the last few years that I come from a long line of artists. The show explores how this discovery impacted the way I see myself and explores my experiences as a West African woman making work, falling in love, uncovering my personal history…all that fun stuff. I am performing onstage alongside musicians Vanessa Garber and Doyin Ade. It is directed by Carol Leeming MBE and produced by Tia Ray, with voice and dialect by Eleanor Manners and movement direction by Kwame Asafo-Adjei. In addition to writing, I perform in the piece.
Here are some of the things that this process has helped me reflect upon and hopefully some tips to take away for your own shows: