11 August 2021

Rehearsals have started for this exciting project which explores the role of the slave trade in the development of Liverpool. The show, which is being created in collaboration with Falling Doors Theatre and Laurence Westgaph, will lead audiences through the streets of the city, using performance pieces to respond to what is uncovered and what it can mean for us to see countless landmarks, monuments and streets names under a new perspective.

Marjorie Morgan, one of the writers on the project, is a multidisciplinary creative artist who graduated from our own Playwright’s Programme in 2019, as well as SLATE Playwright’s Programme the same year. Marjorie has also been Writer-in-Residence for the Independents Biennial in Liverpool in 2018, and an Artist in Residence with Metal Culture (2019-20) during which time, she developed three short plays called Map of Identity in preparation for Refugee Week. She was short-listed for the Kenneth Branagh Drama Writing Awards 2018 for Let Them Eat Cake; and long-listed for ITV Original Voices 2019 for her stage play Sorry.

Also working on the project is multi-disciplinary artist Paislie Reid, who began her careen as an actress in I'm a juvenile delinquent jail me, after which she went on to feature in two seasons of CITV series The New Worst Witch as a main character. Paislie has gone on to perform with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Frantic Assembly, Open Clasp, 20 Stories High, Action transport, Contact theatre and Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse.  Receiving support during 2020 to create 'I Just Want to Sing', a fun meet up for kids  to sing, play drama games and express themselves. During lockdown Paislie was the lead in a short independent film called Avidity, a story in which a young woman struggles to cope with the effects of Bipolar. Her recent work includes featuring in an episode of Sky Atlantic drama Tin Star, as well as working with Open clasp for a second time in collaboration with Live theatre on a theatre for film project called SUGAR which is available to view on BBC iPlayer until the end of the year.

RJ Lloyd - a theatre-maker and producer who has been working in theatre from the age of 16 is also joining the team as a writer. RJ co-founded The Coach House Theatre Collective: a site-sympathetic theatre company who produce and develop new works of theatre & performance from their home kitchen. The Coach House have recently completed a residency at Metal in Liverpool, and they have also created theatre in shops, dilapidated churches, and pubs in Liverpool and around the UK. In 2018, RJ became the producer of the international, award winning theatre company, Teatro Pomodoro, and he was the creative-producer for BlackFest in 2020. Currently, he is a member of the Everyman & Playhouse Playwrights Programme, where he is developing his new play.

Ashleigh Nugent, Creative Director of RiseUp CiC, is both a writer and performer in this project. For the past 22 years, Ashleigh has used rap, poetry, and literature to help the most vulnerable to develop positive mindsets. Ashleigh’s company, RiseUp CiC, have developed a programme that empowers prisoners to turn their lives around by taking control of their own thoughts, feelings, and actions.  His latest work, LOCKS, won the 2013 Commonword Memoir Competition, and it is receiving rave reviews in magazines and blogs.

Joining Ashleigh in the cast is Afua Ofori-Darko. Afua studied at the Identity School of Acting in London. Her theatre credits include We Will Rock You, Jesus Christ Superstar and Blue is the Warmest Colour. Film credits include Instinct and voiceover credits include Draw My Life. Afua is thrilled to be making her debut appearance for us at E&P.

Also in the cast is Princess Khumalo. Princess is originally from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, and grew up in York, North Yorkshire. 
She has a passion for theatre having spent ten years as a child attending Stagecoach Performing Arts School, and now recently graduated from The Liverpool Institute For Performing Arts.

Also joining the cast is Winston Branche - a recent Masters graduate from the Royal Welsh college of Music and Drama. His work include entertaining audiences as Chilli/Jabber in Suzan-Lori Park’s In the Blood directed by up and coming director Lekan Lewal, in Sherman Theatre. He was also in Moonlicks written by Charlotte’s Josephine and directed by Hannah Hauer-King in March 2020 with the Richard Burton Company, and he was in Misunderstood written by Barbara Philips and directed by Miriam Musa in May 2019 which played at the Royal court in Liverpool.

The Streets Where We Live is directed by Sarah Van Parys and our Stage One Trainee Producer Nancy Msiska is the creative producer. The tours will start in the city centre, and we’ll let all ticket holders know the meeting place in their pre-visit email. We recommend you arrive 10mins before the advertised start time to ensure the tour doesn’t start without you. You can view the walking tour route here.