Girls on tour
Details
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17th September – 14th October 2017
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Talawa Theatre Theatre Company, HighTide and Martha Rose Wilson proudly present GIRLS by Theresa Ikoko.
Various venues - 17 September to 14 October 2017
BOOK NOW:
Running Time: 1hr 30m no interval
Recommended ages: 14+
Overview
"Why is everyone so bloody obsessed with hashtags? Can you use it to shoot your way out of here?"
A funny and fiercely passionate new play about enduring friendship, the power of imagination and the stories behind the headlines that quickly become yesterday’s news. GIRLS is the story about friendship and resilience; about three girls with names and personalities.
Three girls. Best friends forever. All the big issues: love, sex and religion ...
But when Tisana, Haleem and Ruhab are kidnapped from home, their world is turned upside down. Hope and despair blur, jokes and fights become one, and the only hashtag that matters now is survival.
Theresa Ikoko’s Girls is a Verity Bargate Award finalist and winner of the Alfred Fagon Award (2015) and joint winner of the George Devine Award (2016). Theresa is a Talawa Writers’ Programme Playwright and a Channel 4 writer on attachment to HighTide.
The Times
★★★★ “Scorchingly intelligent and as powerful as a gut punch”
Time Out
★★★★ " ... clever, audacious, entertaining and full of promise."
Meet the Cast and Creatives
HEATHER AGYEPONG - Haleema
Heather is currently an Associate Artist at Talawa Theatre Company.
Theatre includes: So Many Reasons (Fuel Theatre & Ovalhouse Theatre); Best Friends (Ovalhouse); Brent in a Tent (Tricycle Theatre); Hatch (Talawa Theatre); Jagged Edge (Acrylick); Still Barred (Initiative.dkf); Switch (Tricycle Theatre); Antigone (T:24 Kent). Film includes: Motherland (National Youth Film Academy). Heather is also a visual artist, and has worked with such organisations as Autograph ABP, Dulwich Picture Gallery. She is currently under commission for the Tate.
YVETTE BOAKYE - Ruhab
Yvette trained in acting at the Oxford School of Drama. Since completing the three-year course she has gone on to perform at Hampstead Theatre, Soho Theatre (for Writers Avenue), Arcola Theatre (for Miniaturists 50), Drill Hall, Blenheim Palace (Oxford School of Drama), Etcetera Theatre (Skin Like Butter) and Latitude Festival.
Yvette returns to reprise her role in Girls after a successful run at HighTide, Birmingham Rep and Soho Theatre.
Her first written play, which she also directed, was shown at York Gardens in summer 2016.
YASMIN MWANZA - Tisana
Theatre includes: St George and the Dragon (Workshop, National Theatre Studio); Blithe Spirit (Manchester School of Theatre); Doña Rosita (Manchester School of Theatre); The Blue Room (Manchester School of Theatre); King Richard II (Manchester School of Theatre); Lear’s Daughters (Arts Educational Schools).
Film includes: Leave to Remain (BBC3).
Yasmin won Best Screen Actor - Spotlight Awards 2017.
The Creative Team
Writer: Theresa Ikoko
Director: Elayce Ismail
Designer: Rosanna Vize
Sound Designer & Composer: Richard Hammarton
Lighting Designer: Andy Purves
Production Manager: Jonathan Samuels
Assistant Director: Charlotte Fraser
Stage Manager: Tanith Mackenzie
The Sunday Times
★★★★ "A brave, striking debut, made memorable by superbly nuanced, gripping central performances."
Broadway World
★★★★★ "mesmerising ... indelibly raw performance ... the story of Girls is one that needs to be told."
Theresa Ikoko talking to The Stylist (September 2016)
“ … for me, it’s a play about friendship and resilience; about three girls with names and personalities … I wanted to write about the girls – not the men.”
