An outstanding play that beautifully conveys both the beauty and the pain of suffering with mental health—and the people who love us through the worst of times.
I first encountered babirye’s work at Stratford East as part of the Burn it Down programme, where they presented Yummy, a show placed in a game where “nobody is eating.” I loved the work-in-progress, so I was really excited to see a fully fleshed-out production by them—especially since …blackbird hour acts as a sequel to …cake, their critically acclaimed debut at Theatre Peckham.
Visually, the stage is bathed in deep blue, inky light. A bed sits at its centre like a ship—such a striking choice because mental health struggles are so often tied to a life spent in bed. But here, the bed isn’t just a bed. It becomes a portal to other possibilities—through music, letters, journals, and memory, the days spent in it take on a different form entirely. Before the show begins, snippets of conversation drift in, setting the tone and inviting us into Eshe’s world… “Who hurt you?”
An era within theatre focusing on voices and perspectives often unheard, we’re witnessing important conversations, movements and art works responding to this need for representation on our stages. Told through a Black queer femme lens, babirye bukilwa’s production cake places the stories of the show’s two protagonists centre stage. Currently showing at Theatre Peckham until Saturday 7th August, the show’s director malakai sergeant tells us more about what inspired them to take part in the production, realising the show’s visual language with filmmaker and photographer Seye Isikalu and the importance of creating the production with an all Black and majority queer team.