Queens of Sheba

Jessica L. Hagan, Ryan Calais Cameron

• Publisher: Oberon Books
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781786825117
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Discrimination & Race Relations
• Index: Social Sciences

Winner of the Untapped Award 2018. Then they give unrequested information about a gap year, in an orphanage, in The Congo, even though I'm from St Lucia and I don't like children! Turned away from a nightclub for being "too black", four women take to the stage with their own explosive true stories. The music and the misogyny, the dancing and the drinking, the women and the (white) men. Loosely based on the DSRKT nightspot incident of 2015, Queens of Sheba tells the hilarious, moving and uplifting stories of four passionate Black women battling everyday misogynoir – where sexism meets racism.

CAST

Jacoba Jacoba Williams

Koko Kokoma Kwaku

Rachel Rachel Clarke

Veronica Veronica Beatrice Lewis

CREATIVE TEAM

Writer Jessica L. Hagan

Adapted by Ryan Calais Cameron

Director Jessica Kaliisa

Movement Director Yassmin V. Foster

Production Manager Shavani Cameron

Directing Assistant Jessica Mensah

CAST BIOGRAPHIES

Jacoba Williams | Jacoba

Laurence Olivier Bursary recipient.

Training: Italia Conti; National Youth Theatre.

Theatre: DMC (Tristan Bates Theatre); Addict (Cockpit Theatre); Queens of Sheba (Camden People’s Theatre); The Libertine (Oval House); Angry Brigade (Sheridan Studio); If Chloe Can (Lyric Theatre).

Short Film: Highlife (Salome Wagaine); The Vest (Lesley Manning); Cleo’s Choice (Duaine Roberts).

Kokoma Kwaku | Koko

Training: Wrought Artisan.

Theatre: Queens of Sheba (Camden People’s Theatre). Queens of Sheba is Koko’s professional debut; she is thrilled to be reprising her role with the Untapped Award-winning show.

Rachel Clarke | Rachel

Rachel is an actress, performer and emerging playwright.

Training: Identity Drama School; Epic Stages (National Youth Theatre); TYPT (Talawa Theatre Company).

Theatre: Hatch (Talawa Theatre Company); Best Friends (Ovalhouse); Queens of Sheba (Camden People’s Theatre); Still Barred (Initiative.dkf); Switch (Tricycle Theatre); dirty butterfly (The Bread and Roses Theatre).

Film: Knock Down Ginger (Rooted Productions).

Veronica Beatrice Lewis | Veronica

Training: Rose Bruford College of Speech & Drama; Identity Drama School; Middleweek Newton Film Academy.

Theatre: Rhapsody (Nouveau Riché); Expensive Shit (Soho Theatre); Theatre Madness Festival (Faith Drama Productions); Precious (Royal Court Theatre); Dreams & Nightmares: The Life & Death Of Martin Luther King (TNT Theatre); Still Barred (Initiative.dkf); Concrete Jungle (Theatre Royal Stratford East); The Dry Nation (Theatre Utopia); The Memory Of Water and Interuppted (The Courtyard); Naked Series: Your Husband, My Boyfriend (Snowpix Media); Enter (Talawa Theatre Company); Skeen! (Ovalhouse Theatre, 33% Festival); The Colour Of Home (Dream Arts).

Radio: The Archers (BBC Radio).

Film/TV: Spin Drama UK (Snow Pix Media); Tainted Canvas (British Urban Film Festival, Channel 4).

CREATIVE TEAM BIOGRAPHIES

Jessica L. Hagan | Writer

Jessica L. Hagan is a playwright of Ghanaian origin born and raised in Marylebone, London. Originally a spoken word artist, Jessica uses poetry and performance to tackle real-life issues in a powerful, provocative way. Her work predominantly focuses on conversations surrounding the black woman’s experience, identity and belonging as a British-Ghanaian, and her journey to finding faith. Earlier this year, Jessica was awarded funding through the British Council and Art Council England’s Artists International Development Fund to travel to Ghana and develop new work. She is now based in both London and Accra and continues to write and develop poetic pieces in both cities. Queens of Sheba is her first stage play.

Ryan Calais Cameron | Adaptor for Stage

Ryan is an alumnus of the Royal Court Writers’ Programme 2017 and the Soho Young Company 2016/17. Ryan is also the recipient of the 2018 OffWestEnd Adopt a Playwright Award for his play Rhapsody that ran at the Arcola Theatre in early 2018.

Works include: Timbuktu (Theatre Royal Stratford East); Terra Nova (Arcola Theatre); Void (Royal Court Theatre).

Jessica Kaliisa | Director

Jessica Kaliisa is an actress, director and First Class Honours Journalism graduate. During her time at university, Jessica focused her dissertation on investigating how the West systematically ‘others’ Africa and its descendants and the effect this has had on society today, including misogynoir. Jessica’s intention was to create art from the truth of her work and honour the stories of the black women whose voices wanted to be heard. Believing there was a place on the stage for this story and a need for it to be told, Jessica presented her work to Nouveau Riché and Queens of Sheba was conceived.

Acting credits include: Call the Midwife (BBC); Cutting It (Royal Court Theatre); Murder in Successville (BBC); Doctors (BBC).

Yassmin V. Foster | Movement Director

Yassmin V Foster is a movement director and scholar based in London. She works across classical theatre, dance theatre and film. She is a graduate of anthropology and media, and holds MA Choreomundus – International Master in dance knowledge, practice and heritage. Her research, which she has presented across the UK and in the US, investigates movement with the contexts of play, ritual and dance.

Yassmin has been awarded funding through Arts Council England and British Council Artists’ International Development Fund 2018, and will travel to Canada to continue her research. She also begins a PhD programme at Goldsmiths University, autumn 2018.

Works include: With A Little Bit Of Luck (Paines Plough); All We Ever Wanted Was Everything (Middle Child Theatre Company); Box Clever (Nabokov); Last Night (Benin City).

Shavani Cameron | Production Manager

Shavani is a professional actress and producer. Queens of Sheba was the first production Shavani managed. Since then she has gone on to manage Timbuktu (Theatre Royal Stratford East), Rhapsody (Arcola Theatre) and Nouveau Nights (CLF Art Café).

Jessica Mensah | Director...