Courtesy of Johan Persson.
It felt rather monumental being in the room at the Royal Court last night. Caryl Churchill is without doubt one of our greatest living playwrights, and after amassing such a huge amount of hits under her belt, her latest offering is just as superb. Throughout the evening, four very different plays are presented. They discuss lots of interesting things: Gods, murder, clocks, magical creatures, addiction, accountability, perception – the list goes on.
Home to Europe’s most famous street party, the Notting Hill Carnival typically witnesses over 1,000,000 spectators partying the day away on the streets of West London. With over 50,000 performers providing the iconic carnival’s sparkle, the August Bank Holiday weekend serves as a time to connect with fellow spectators and celebrate years of tradition the carnival has brought the capital. Inspired by her experiences of carnival, playwright Yasmin Joseph has crafted her first full length play J’Ouvert, which translates as ‘dawn’ in the Antillean Creole French language and is an annual street party taking place in many Caribbean Islands. Ahead of J’Ouvert’s run at Theatre503, Yasmin spoke to us about the show’s pivotal themes, how she approached creating the show and what she’d like for audiences to take away from it.