When she was a teenager, Selina thought that Missy Elliott and her afro-futurist-dancing- up-the-walls-fisheye-camera-taking-up-space genius might be the blueprint for her freedom.
Over a decade later, she wants to see what today’s teenagers think, and this two-part project is how she intends to find out.
Part one is led by Engagement Officer Emmy Lahouel, and supported by a team of black women creatives, that includes Nwando Ebizie, Dawn Walton and Zinzi Minott, the company has led a series of workshops in Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Dublin and Limerick where our young people have led the way in making short performances in response to Missy Elliott’s back catalogue. The works have ranged from 360 film, Virtual Reality performances, Binaural Sound pieces, gig theatre, re-staging music videos, creating their own and immersive parties that have forced even Selina to dance.
Part Two sees Selina develop her playwrighting voice as she tries to write a musical: imagining what the world will look like for black teens on a bus in Birmingham during and after the revolution. What will a headbanger sound like in the future? What will the ‘freaks’ of the future look like? How we will celebrate, communicate and commemorate and mourn the current times? Supported by an extraordinary team of collaborators, this huge, ambitious project.
This work is still open for bookings: please email [email protected] if you’d like to discuss how it could work in your space
Commissioned by Transform, Eclipse Theatre, Site Gallery, Contact, Battersea Arts Centre and supported by Arts Council England.
Musical development supported by Theatre in the Mill, Watershed, MGC Futures, The National Theatre of Scotland and The National Theatre Studio.