A new show in Lichfield will explore the issues of race and identity.
Red Ladder Theatre Company brings My Voice Was Heard But It Was Ignored to The Hub at St Mary’s on 18th November.
Writer Nana-Kofi Kufuor’s explores black identity in the play by drawing on his own experiences growing up with Ghanian parents.
“The crux of this play is how two people react to the same situation – they go on a journey, a journey a lot of people of colour go on, a realisation that where you are now isn’t necessarily where you come from.
“When working at a Pupil Referral Unit, I once had a student take a knife to stab another student. Once I’d calmed him down, we sat in the canteen and he explained to me he wasn’t going to go quietly.
“The police were outside and they took him. I saw him a few weeks later and he asked why I didn’t help him? That rush of guilt changed to anger and quickly to sympathy as he saw me as his protector. But I knew I couldn’t do anything.”
Nana-Kofi Kufuor
My Voice Was Heard But It Was Ignored stars Jelani D’Aguilar as 15-year-old Reece and Misha Duncan-Barry as his black teacher who does not intervene when seeing her pupil being roughly accosted by the police.
The Hub’s creative director Anthony Evans said:
“Knowing how and where we fit in, understanding other people’s perceptions and re-evaluating our relationship to society all constantly define our identity.
“We are really pleased to be bringing the excellent Red Ladder Theatre Company with My Voice Was Heard But It Was Ignored to The Hub to explore this complex construct in a moving, thoughtful and at times, gently humorous way.”
Anthony Evans
Tickets for the show at £12 and available at thehubstmarys.co.uk.
