Born in the wake of the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement that began after the unlawful killing of George Floyd, a group of Black, Asian and Bi-Racial creatives in the 2020 acting company of the RSC wanted to do something to contribute to the movement and create change.
Inspired by Shakespeare’s Othello (a play which is, amongst many things, a study of the outsider), they decided to use art to challenge racism by creating a platform to champion the life and work of their Black and Asian ancestors, whose voices have been largely erased from history.
They set out to create an original series of standalone monologues that would explore the dangers and difficulties faced by these historical figures, each of whom was forced to assimilate into a White society in order to succeed or simply survive.
Drawn through a different cultural lens, in vastly different parts of the world throughout time, each piece explores what it is to be othered and oppressed. However, despite their inherent differences, it is the familiarity of their experiences that makes them fascinating and reaffirms the universal nature of the Black experience.