This month we're hosting the first ever BlackFest Writers Room at the Playhouse Studio. The writers have created original pieces based around the stories they want to tell and that are important to them.  A number of the plays shared will be selected for further development and full production within BlackFest Celebration of New Writers at the Liverpool’s Royal Court Studio.

We caught up with Kel Nkondock, one of the writers, who is a Liverpool-based actor with a passion for physical theatre and choreography.

Hiya Kel, what have you written for this rehearsed reading?

If You Need a Hero talks about the importance of listening to oneself to avoid the tendency to fulfil someone else's idea of success and happiness. I don’t want to give away too much, but it’s written from a female perspective and talks about some of the societal expectations that come with being a woman today.  

Why did you want to create this piece?

For me, it was important to write a piece starring a Black woman that didn't necessarily revolved around race issues or Black struggles. This is something I really miss, not only going into auditions but sitting in theatres and cinema rooms. Most of the pieces starring Black actors we see today are centred within a racial context. Black characters are never incidental but more featuring in a greater discussion about oppression, inequality, slavery, or emancipation. When you create a Black character, race is (unfortunately) going to come out at some point of the story for sure. I'm all for spotlighting and reflecting on black history. But I think it's just as crucial that we see more Black women on our screen in varied, inspiring, and uplifting modern roles.

What currently motivates your work and artistry?

I like to write about what I know, my own experience. Things that I would like to see out there, things that aren’t necessarily spoken about. That’s what motivates me. Most of my dialogue is based on conversations that I’ve had with my friends. Feelings or situations that are considered “taboo” in the world we live in but when you start talking about them you realise that they are more common than they seem. 

You are wide versed in theatre and the arts, have you ever written for the stage before?

This is the very first time I’ve written for the stage! It was a huge challenge, and it’s still a work in progress but luckily, I had a lot of support during the process.

Have you ever incorporated your dance or physical theatre into any writing including this piece?

I would have loved to. In fact, there were some physical bits in the first draft, but it’s only a short piece and in the end, I decided to cut them out. I love dance and physical theatre, so I’m sure there will be some of it in future pieces.

You were in the Tmesis Theatre’s Wicked Women Creative Development Course. What were the most useful things you learnt and would like to pass on to fellow creatives?

I’m so grateful for the course. As women we usually undersell ourselves professionally and we tend to suffer from impostor syndrome. We must believe in ourselves, otherwise no one else will. From Eli and Claire, I also took that you can’t wait for things to happen, sometimes you have to create your own opportunities. And the course also gave us the confidence to do so. Something else I learned is how important it is to build a professional network. But not any network. They say It takes a great rivalry to produce great art but I couldn’t disagree more. There are so many amazing, talented and kind creatives out there. As an artist, you need to surround yourself by people who hype you and encourage you to get better every day. 

As part of the course, you made an incredible short film about self-discovery and connecting during lockdown. How long did it take you to make and would you consider making more films or digital work?

That was a very exciting project. Part of our course had to take place online due to the pandemic, so we created a digital project in which each of us had to respond to the theme “Life in Static” and passing their response along to inspire the next person. The biggest challenge was the time constraint as we only had 24 hours to do it!
I enjoyed being behind the camera as much as being in front of it. I loved the experience of creating a piece of digital work which pushed me to do two more last year and I would definitely like to explore film further. 

Other than the Blackfest Rehearsed Readings, are you working on anything exciting at the moment or would like to in the near future?

I want to focus more on writing this year. There is a short film I’m developing with two of my friends that we would like to shoot before the end of the year but it’s still at a very early stage of the creative process. Other than that, I’m developing a podcast to explore societal expectations from a female perspective, sexuality, intimacy, and how all of the above intersect. It’s always exciting to explore new art forms.  Looking further down the line I would like to finalise the script of If You Need a Hero and make it a full production, but that’s something I won’t be focusing on until next year!

An excerpt of Kel's If You Need a Hero will be read at BlackFest's Writers Room in the Playhouse Studio from Thu 23 Sep to Sat 25 Sep. Tickets are £5. Book now.