A Black Story
A Black Story
Past Performance
In The Theatre
October 19th - October 24th 2020
Recommended 14+ | Contains sexual references

Part of Dazed New World Festival 2020

Presented by Sabrina Richmond

Set in a row of terraced houses; three households, three sets of relationships – a grandmother and grandson (Vanessa White-Smith and Tats Nyazika); two half siblings (Chad-lee Brown and Patrick Bayele); a couple with an electric connection (Jonathan James and Khadija Richmond) – try to reorder their worlds as they once knew it.

What is A Black Story – living life.

"This piece was created through the lens of my endless fascination with relationships in general and my curiosity about how relationships are now changing during this time - for many, it is proving to be a litmus test for the relationships that they currently have and/or perhaps once had in their lives. As a Black African storyteller, my work is often referred to as 'a black story', which of course it is because I am Black and I am an African - a richness of identity which not only influences how I see the world, but also shapes my experiences in & interactions with it. In many ways, it is impossible to separate the audacity it takes to live your truth especially as an artist from the weight of the structural, systemic inequality the outside world places on one's life. This new work 'A Black Story' I hope is an expression of a theme I repeatedly return to in my artistic work - connection & healing. A universal desire sought in all human relationships.’ - Sabrina Richmond, Playwright and Director of A Black Story

Creative Team:
Written and Directed by Sabrina Richmond
Marketing & Communications Consultant - Samantha Richmond

Cast:
Vanessa White-Smith - Katie, Grandmother to Moses
Tats Nyazika - Moses, Grandson to Katie
Chad-Lee Brown - Elton, half brother of Clement
Patrick Bayele - Clement, half brother of Elton
Jonathan James - Ryan, in a relationship with Cleo
Khadija Richmond - Cleo, in a relationship with Ryan

Read more about the Cast and Creative team here

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Monday 19th October, 7:30pm
Re-Broadcast: Wednesday 21st October, 9pm
Re-Broadcast: Saturday 24th October, 7pm

Online Stream

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Run time: 60 mins
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Creative Team
Sabrina Richmond Writer & Director

Sabrina Richmond is an emerging Writer, Director & Performer with a background in journalism. She has directed work shown at venues such as The Space (online), Southwark Playhouse, Theatro Technis, Pleasance as well as Lion and Unicorn. Writing credits: short plays, Genetic Beauty online, My Cape is Invisible (Pleasance Theatre), Hands off my womb! (Chapel Playhouse) and a one act: An African in the Snow (LABS program, Pleasance Theatre).

She's a Tamasha Theatre Playwright 2019/20, developing a play exploring inherited trauma across three generations set in a cabin in the countryside. As Oxford Playhouse Evolve Artist 2020/21 she’s developing a piece around a 40-year-old woman though satisfied by her solo clitoral orgasms decides to embark on a journey to explore desire with another body after 1825 days flying solo.

Headshot by Kjetil Ostnor

Vanessa White-Smith Actor (Katie, Grandmother to Moses)

An Actress and Singer, Vanessa has appeared in various musicals, commercials, short films and plays since 2000. Some of her music credits include Dancing In The Streets and Stamping Shouting & Singing Home at the Polka Theatre, London as well as King Cotton at the Lowry Theatre, Manchester. Some of her short film credits include The Playground (Film London), Be-longing (Drumcam Films), Life of Hers (Cardy Films), and Autopsy of Donna Summer (ITV Autopsy series). Vanessa is looking forward to playing the character Katie in A Black Story.

Tats Nyazika Actor (Moses, Grandson to Katie)

Tats is a London and Oxford based actor, who graduated from Drama St Mary’s School in July 2019. Since graduating, he has been in several productions, including a Comedy of Errors with Two Gents Productions; Irreversible - a short film with the National Film and Television School; and Southwold with The Space Arts Theatre. Tats has also featured in TV commercials, specifically Movember UK as well as Hand, Face, Space - an advert as part of the British Government’s broader COVID-19 campaign.

Chad-lee Brown Actor (Elton, half brother to Clement)

Chad-lee Brown is an emerging Actor, Writer, and Filmmaker with a degree in Film and Drama Studies. During his studies, he also spent some time training at Identity School of Acting. Some of his film credits include: Between You and Me (2016), How to Start a Cult (2019), Loveless (2019), and The Argument (2020); whilst some of his theatre credits include: A Shadow over Paradise (2019) and PDA (2019). 

During lockdown and the resultant lack of work in the Arts and Film sectors, Chad-lee, with the help of some friends, used the time to work on his own creative projects. He used this time to write a number of short films, which he then subsequently produced with his team, and has edited by himself - “When there is no work, you have to make work”. 

Having been given the opportunity to be a part of this new production, A Black Story, Chad-lee has been reunited with some of his former cast members from PDA, including the play's director Sabrina. Chad-lee is excited to be back on stage and sharing the world of the play that Sabrina has so beautifully created with an audience.

Patrick Bayele Actor (Clement, half brother to Elton)

Patrick Bayele is an Actor, Writer, Director, Spoken Word Artist and Musician. He trained at Identity Drama School between 2013 - 2018 and at the Moscow Art Theatre School in 2018. He graduated from Queen Mary University of London with a degree in Film Studies and Comparative Literature and became a Youth Trustee for the NYT in 2020. As an artist, his work is primarily focused on themes, characters and stories which allude to the importance of healing, the terror of the modern world, finding God, forgiveness, redemption, love, hope and faith. He prides himself on being a Catholic artist, who wants to tell stories that can bring audiences together in spiritual harmony, light and truth. | spotlight.com/9732-5647-6250

Jonathan James Actor (Ryan, in a relationship with Cleo)

Since graduating from the Oxford School of Drama, Jonathan has been performing in a variety of both screen and stage productions. Prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19, Jonathan was on tour around Europe. When confinement measures were implemented, Jonathan was in Spain, making the most of the rooftop terraces and reliable sunshine. Jonathan is delighted to be returning to stage theatre as well as to, once again, be working under the directorship of Sabrina Richmond, with whom he previously worked on a short play PDA with Theatro Technis. | spotlight.com/9815-7834-3062

Khadija Richmond Actor (Cleo, in a relationship with Ryan)

Khadija Richmond recently graduated from the University of Kent with a BA degree in Drama and Theatre. She is also a trained commercial and hip hop dancer as well as a mezzo soprano. Some of her theatre credits include PDA (Theatro Technis), Hands off my womb! (Chapel Playhouse), War of the Wokes (Gulbenkian), Urinetown (Marlowe Theatre), Aladdin (The Da Vinci Studio), Romeo & Juliet and Jekyll & Hyde (Hertford Theatre) as well as The Stars In Our Eyes (Disneyland Paris, Royal Albert Hall & Sadler’s Wells). As the theatre world begins to slowly revive its operations after months of being under lockdown, Khadija is happy and excited to be working with some familiar faces as well as completely new faces on A Black Story.

Samantha Richmond Marketing & Communications Consultant

Samantha Richmond is a jack of many trades and a master of diverse, interdisciplinary work. She is a masters-level trained quantitative and qualitative social science researcher, writer, and programme/project manager. She is also a poet as well as an emerging playwright and communications/marketing consultant. Her first short play Genetic Beauty (available on her YouTube channel) as co-author with lead writer, director and actor Sabrina Richmond was showcased at the 2020 Virtual Collaborators Digital Theatre Festival. Samantha, as well as Sabrina Richmond, are the recent recipients of The Space Arts Theatre London’s playwright sponsorship award as part of their #crowdfunding #SaveOurTheatres campaign. In addition to serving as the communications/marketing consultant on A Black Story, Samantha developed and implemented the communications/marketing campaign for Genetic Beauty as well as for a one-woman theatrical play, An African in the Snow, which was showcased at the RADA festival on 3 July 2019 remotely.