The Festival of Literature has focused on conversations that affect our sense of self, place and identity. This has become increasingly important in recent productions at the Nottingham Playhouse.
Within our world today, it's easy to see why groups living on the fringes of our society, or those who are simply misrepresented, need a voice. As part of the inaugural Festival of Literature, three playwrights (Kefi Chadwick, Daniel Hoffmann-Gill and Mufaro Makubika) discuss writing plays that expose the lives of people existing on the very fringes of society; exploring exclusion, discrimination, division and infiltration.
All three playwrights unanimously believe there is no better medium within which to present a ‘real’ human life than the theatre. Although they were quick to recognise that the grandeur of modern theatre can be off-putting, both in terms of perceived grandeur and cost. This is why the Nottingham Playhouse has an occasional ‘pay what you can afford’ performance to be as inclusive as possible.
Daniel Hoffmann–Gill is an actor and playwright, born and bred in St Ann’s. His most recent play was Our Style is Legendary which was set in eighties Forest Fields. One of his key goals was ‘to bring in an audience that wouldn’t go to the theatre’, creating plays that those from a similar background to himself can empathise with and feel inspired by. Therefore, he favours a realist approach. With this in mind. he was keen to demystify stereotypical Nottingham idols such as Brian Clough, Sleaford Mods and even Robin Hood, explaining they were not representative of the characters he had encountered on streets of Nottingham. It’s these real characters that he believes will draw in audiences from a similar background.
Mufaro Makubika is also from St. Ann’s, arriving here from Zimbabwe in his mid-teens. His recent work includes How to Breathe and Hood; The Legend Continues. He admitted that it wasn’t until he was eighteen that he saw his first production. He too was struck by an impulse to uproot his own community and celebrate the culture that he was surrounded by, looking to his neighbours for inspiration. His focus is shattering the demonization of immigrants by shedding light on their contribution to society, such as working within our care homes, hospitals and military. Humanism is key, but he additionally stressed that to ‘be naive about it’ was essential, creating an honest representation of his life on the margins of society without coating it in a political lens. It wasn’t about becoming a spokesperson for black culture but exposing the sense of togetherness and human spirit within an area outside the perception of most playwrights.
Kefi Chadwick’s most recent play was Any Means Necessary – a very Nottingham-based story, loosely inspired by Mark Kennedy, the undercover cop who infiltrated peaceful activist groups. Kefi felt a responsibility to not tell a story but instead create a pure representation of the brilliant women she had encountered who are fighting misrepresentations of domestic violence and institutionalised sexism. For Any Means Necessary, she wanted to expose the depths the police force would stoop to in order to undermine political protest. Vital to the authenticity of this play was listening to the experiences of activists such as Helen Steel and ensuring themes were represented accurately and fairly. Her research was somewhat vilified when an audience member came up to her after the play and said: how did you know?
What all three playwrights share is a drive to use these personable stories, set within the backdrop of Nottingham, to address wider political issues. They are keen to emphasise that their art is not didactic; they just want to open conversations about problems we all face. When addressing such matters, it is obvious that a cocktail of anger and empathy is needed but, as Kefi eloquently stated, you must ‘turn yourself inside out’ when sculpting these stories, so these passions are not misconstrued as satire. But instead the raw emotion these issue warrant is understood.
The theatre is a vital medium in articulating these issues and must avoid the simplicity of storytelling that can occasionally be found in television and film productions. Narratives need a backbone. In a moment of vivacity, Daniel asserted that these stories must breach the ‘entitled white man barrier’ and refuse restriction; both in content and price structures.
There were many other issues covered in this enlightening and inspiring conversation and I will certainly be looking at for their work in the future. Daniel has chosen to temporarily hang up his writing hat and follow his passion for acting, look out for him in the upcoming season of Sherlock. Mufaro is currently working on a play called Shebeen, focusing on the rise of reggae speakeasies during the 1958 liquor ban. It is scheduled to be shown at Nottingham Playhouse in 2017. Kefi is further exploring her passion for film and is currently working on adaptation of her play Any Means Necessary as well as many other projects surrounding the relationship between film and theatre.
Three Playwrights in Conversation was held at the Playhouse on Saturday 12 November as part of the Festival of Literature.
Festival of Literature website
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