Diary Date:THE WIFE OF WILLESDEN

The literary queen Zadie Smith of North West London writes her first play.

Clare Perkins will lead the cast of Zadie Smith’s debut play,, at the Kiln Theatre. The Wife of Willesden runs 11 November – 24 December. (Main image Ellen Thomas)

The play: A proper local legend. Married five times. Mother. Lover. Aunt. Friend. Alvita will tell her life story to anyone in the pub – there’s no shame in her game. The question is: are you ready to hear it? Because this woman’s got the gift of the gab: she can rewrite mistakes into triumphs, turn pain into parables, and her love life’s an epic poem. They call her The Wife of Willesden…

A play that celebrates the human knack for telling elaborate tales, especially about our own lives.

Critically acclaimed, multi-award winning, best-selling author Zadie Smith makes her playwriting debut, transporting Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath to 21st Century North West London.

Cast: Marcus Adolphy, Jessica Clark, Crystal Condie, George Eggay, Andrew Frame, Scott Miller, Hussina Raja, Theo Solomon and Ellen Thomas.

Waterstones Says on the book….
Smith’s first playscript transplants Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath’s Prologue to Kilburn High Road in the twenty-first century, preserving the ribald humour of the original whilst adding a very modern vibrancy and sharp wit.

‘Married five times. Mother. Lover. Aunt. Friend.
She plays many roles round here. And never
Scared to tell the whole of her truth, whether
Or not anyone wants to hear it. Wife
Of Willesden: pissed enough to tell her life
Story to whoever has ears and eyes . . .’