THE ONE WOMAN SHOW PROJECT

The show is written and performed by Zena Edwards. Directed by Anthony Shrubsall. Produced by Apples & Snakes and commissioned by Birmingham Rep in association with BAC. The image below was taken by Clive ‘Kofi’ Allen.

It is a comical and moving tale of unexpected friendship which confronts the issue of security and identity through a fusion of performance poetry, hip hop theatre, movement and song. It’s the chaotic stories of four ordinary characters. Four extraordinary people with stories of resilience and evolution. All are exposed through the eye of a camera.

They live in Tottenham and Peckham but their stories could be about any inner city area such as Brixton, Peckham, Stonebridge, Hansworth, Liverpool etc where an emptied street bin is a good days work and blown out cars and full nappies in the road is your regular Monet street painting.

These people have a knack for stepping over the cracks in the pavement and getting home in one piece. In the meantime, they connect with their people, share jokes, eat rubbish food, find the light in the dark. Algernon, Ayleen, Mahmoud and Elijah share a split second of air time in the show, then step off into oblivion, only to be captured here, in cyberspace and in the memories of those who encounter them.

“Security” is a concept that unites what is real and what is imagined. The show is the catalyst. The entire project includes a book, a film, a workshop program, a forum, a journey – but fundamentally the project was create to inspire a conversation about change. Click here for Zena’s blog to read some of her thoughts and inspiration.

For the show’s gallery click image.

Two of its main characters, Mahmoud and Ayleen, were conceived from a creative writing workshop exercise four years ago. Two years later they were rescued from a ring binder and dusted off. As the show developed, they incubated. And then, another two years on, “Security” was born. What happens when one generation collides with another and cultural expectations clash? Does the flash of a blade in broad daylight mean the end or beginning of Security?

CLICK TO MEET THE CHARACTERS. DON’T FORGET TO CHECK OUT THEIR PERSONAL BLOGS TOO.

Ayleen Venetia Benoit – aged 16

Mahmoud Mairanay Khazendar – aged 47

Algernon Dennis Brooks – aged 80

Elijah Paul Benoit – aged 16

Tha Endz

Reviews

“As a performer and writer, Zena Edwards takes storytelling into the twenty-first century.”

“Edwards is a superb performer, equally at ease as an elderly Caribbean man, as a would-be teenage MC, Ayleen, or as a lonely 47-year-old Palestinian photographer, Mahmoud.” Lyn Gardner, The Guardian

 “Convincing, raw performance full of passion and conviction.” – The British Theatre Guide 

“A deeply original, dramatically dexterous portrait of London’s bewildering kaleidoscope of difficult, defiant life.” – Time Out

“An unlimited supply of potent charged poetry, which is moving, relevant, innovative.” – Whats On Stage

“This performance was one of the special moments on my life that I will look back on in my old age and thank the universe that I was there.” – Audience member at the Blue Coat Theatre, Liverpool

For more online reviews, click

www.afridiziak.com/theatrenews/reviews/review-security

http://www.musicomh.com/theatre/lon_security_1108.htm

www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/security

ENTER THE WORLD OF “SECURITY” HERE.

Back to Homepage