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In the early 1990s, during the Somali Civil War, there was a tragic shipwreck. The ship, meant to carry hundreds of refugees fleeing the conflict, was set to depart from Kismayo, Somalia. My family was on a small boat heading toward the ship, but like many others, they jumped off upon realizing how unsafe it looked. That story has stayed with me, how one decision can change the trajectory of your life. This and countless other stories about my family’s experience as refugees have inspired me to write this play.
So many! I love the distinctive styles of Inua Ellams, Yomi Sode and Martin Crimp.I love the sharp dynamism in Arinze Kene’s Misty, the surrealism in Katori Hall’s The Mountaintop and the raw social realism across Debbie Tucker Green’s work. In Hummingbird, I’ve blended dub-poetry and naturalism, so I have to mention Louise Bennett (Miss Lou), Linton Kwesi Johnson and Benjamin Zephaniah – who hugely influenced my interest into the cadence and style of dub-poetry.
I hope to tell stories that competently and imaginatively platform underrepresented communities and under-explored issues. I hope to tell stories that don’t just entertain but liberate. I hope to tell stories that spark conversations on buses, kitchen tables and phone calls that encourage introspection, empathy and challenge – whatever that looks like.
Maya Angelou once said, ‘there is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you.’ Anyone who’s experienced the loss of a loved one might know what it is for that agony to feel compounded when you take on their stories too. The desire to give voice to those who are no longer physically here and to share their stories is something that informs my work, and the principle that guides this is love.
