She Called Me Mother - Stratford Circus Arts Centre and on tour
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
THE debut show from Pitch Lake Productions, founded by actor Cathy Tyson, writer Michelle Inniss and director Cara Nolan, will be the second show to tour for the Black Theatre Live consortium, dedicated to bringing inventive BAME theatre to venues across the country.
She Called Me Mother is the first show to be commissioned by the consortium and will play in studio theatres around the country during Autumn 2015, starting at Stratford Circus Arts Centre (October 8 to October 11).
Starring Cathy Tyson, She Called Me Mother invites the audience into the life of Evangeline Gardner – a homeless, 70 year old Afro-Caribbean woman, who finds herself living on the streets. The play brings together Evangeline and her estranged daughter Shirley and is written in poetic Trinidadian vernacular rarely heard on our stages.
Cathy Tyson said: “New plays are exciting as they offer the creative team the freedom to try out new ideas. The language in She Called Me Mother is in the Trinidadian vernacular and there are two BAME female leads. We hope that these features of the play help to fire the imagination of audiences.
“We are a BAME led theatre company but our themes are universal. So please feel free to enter into the characters of Evangeline and Shirley whatever your background is. We’re very pleased to be sharing their story with you.”
Pitch Lake Productions was formed to address the lack of leading roles in British Theatre for BAME mid-career actors. Actor and Pitch Lake Productions co-founder Cathy Tyson is a BAFTA and Golden Globe nominated actress with over three decades of experience in the industry. She began her career at the Liverpool Everyman at the age of 17, before joining the RSC in 1984, and achieved widespread renown for her role in Mona Lisa alongside Bob Hoskins in 1986.
Her recent credits include Bright Phoenix (Liverpool Everyman), Stand (Oxford Playhouse and touring) and Monkey Bars (Traverse and touring).
Michelle Inniss is a writer and Spanish teacher. She will be published this Autumn in Closure: an anthology of short stories published by Peepal Tree. She has been long listed for Angle at The Bush Theatre 2011, shortlisted for The Fish Short Story Prize 2010, and in 2006 was awarded a runner up for the Penguin Decibel Prize.
Michelle Innis said: “I am really excited by the prospect of Evangeline and Shirley’s stories being brought to life on stage and that the audience will be able to share in the telling of their stories.”
Cara Nolan is a director and writer, who has worked across the UK and Europe and has recently completed an MA in Theatre Directing at RADA. Her directing credits include Yard Gal by Rebecca Prichard, Oedipus adaptation by Geoff Williams, The Wing by Clara Brennan (2014), My Mother Said I Never Should (2012) and Alice in Wonderland (2010).
Nolan has been assistant director on Laurence Boswell’s production of Exit the King, Bright Phoenix directed by Serdar Bilis (2014) and The Raft of the Medusa by Joshua Sobol, directed by Andrew Visnevski (2014).
She Called Me Mother is the second production from Black Theatre Live, a pioneering consortium of eight regional theatres committed to increasing the amount of Black and Ethnic Minority theatre on the touring circuit. It follows the recently concluded tour of Tara Arts new version of Macbeth.
Following the initial London dates, She Called Me Mother will continue to Poole, Leicester, Margate, Peterborough, Bickerton, Liverpool, Brunel University, London, Derby, Coventry, Bury St Edmunds, Salford, Durham, Hexham and Tara Theatre, London.
Image: Cathy Tyson. Photo credit: Elke Brook.