A new play by Zawe Ashton will premiere at Stoke Newington Town Hall theatre pop-up

For all the women: Zawe Ashton's new play explores the maltreatment of black women
James Gourley/REX/Shutterstock
Zoe Paskett11 July 2019

A new play by Zawe Ashton is set to have its world premiere in London this year.

The actress and playwright will present the piece, entitled for all the women who thought they were Mad, as part of a Hackney Showroom pop-up theatre in Stoke Newington Town Hall.

It will examine the cumulative forces that conspire against women of colour in the UK today. Casting is yet to be announced.

Ashton most recently starred alongside Tom Hiddleston and Charlie Cox in a critically acclaimed production of Pinter’s Betrayal. She joins the cast in its transfer to Broadway in August. She also recently appeared in Netflix film Velvet Buzzsaw with Jake Gyllenhaal.

She has written three plays – Harm’s Way, Skunk and She from the Sea – and this year published her first book, Character Breakdown.

Ashton said: “It’s a play about many things, but at its centre is an investigation into the fallout of colonialism and its resounding impact on the women of the African diaspora, specifically women living in the United Kingdom. It looks at how these women are constantly maltreated and marginalised by the institutions in which they operate or ask for professional help. Their workplaces, their hospitals or GP’s office, and so on.

“It’s a play about cultural bias and systemic oppression. Black women are the empathetic centre of the piece, their emotions are our emotions. Their struggle is our struggle as an audience.”

Jo McInnes will direct the play, produced by new company Hackney Showroom Productions. The company was set up in February after the theatre’s departure from its home of four years to a new building in Hackney.

for all the women who thought they were Mad runs at Stoke Newington Town Hall from October 14-November 19, hackneyshowroom.com

London theatre still to come in 2019

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