Theatre Peckham, an award-winning cultural venue in the heart of South-East London announces the premiere of …cake, a psychological drama which unapologetically queers the existing complexities of family, roots and belonging; where power and duty dance in equal measure.
Written by Women’s Prize for Playwriting 2020 finalist, actor and poet babirye bukilwa, …cake forms part of a trilogy of plays and is a prequel to bukilwa’s acclaimed …blackbird hour (also shortlisted for the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting 2019 and Alfred Fagon Award 2020). A first for the venue, this piece of new writing will be produced in-house, with the drama premiering as a fully staged production at Theatre Peckham across 4 weeks from the 13 July until 7 August.
bukilwa, who completed the play during the pandemic, says they wanted to write a story through a Black queer femme lens that interrogates the meaning and function of love and self-worth in an exploitative climate of working-class London in the noughties. At its heart, the play examines performativity in relationships and how generational trauma can be inherited.
Danielle Kassarate (Sissy) (The Color Purple, LEICESTER CURVE/BIRMINGHAM HIPPODROME; Guys & Dolls, ROYAL EXCHANGE; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, GIELGUD THEATRE/INTERNATIONAL TOUR) and Donna Banya (Eshe) (Fairview, YOUNG VIC; NOTTINGHAM PLAYHOUSE; RSC) have been cast in the roles and will be directed by Theatre Peckham’s associate director malakaï sargeant.
…cake forms part of Suzann McLean, Theatre Peckham’s Artistic Director’s re-opening programme which champions the work of creatives from socially and culturally unique walks of life and challenges existing structures to support the growth of a representative sector.
