Firstly, let’s get one thing straight — Ma Joyce is not Victoria Evaristo Norkor Arts!!! “Ma Joyce is a character,” Victoria says, firmly. “I’ve seen her around me growing up in Toxteth. She’s sharp, witty, strong, dynamic – always with a story to tell.”
This new one-woman play, Ma Joyce’s Tales from the Parlour, is not an autobiography. Rather, it’s a tapestry of Victoria’s observations of Liverpool life, laced with humour, pathos, and deeply rooted cultural memory. “I was always improvising as this character, cracking jokes. Eventually, I just started writing a monologue – and the show developed from there.”
IMAGE CREDITS: Headshot by yellowbelly Show shots by David Munn
The result is a poignant and hilarious story led by a mixed-race great-grandmother reflecting on her life’s journey – from her childhood in a Welsh convent, through the social and political shifts of Liverpool, to her experiences in Nigeria. But while Ma Joyce’s Parlour draws from truths, the story itself is imagined. “It’s not my story – but it’s inspired by a generation of women I grew up admiring. Women like my mother’s generation — mixed-race Liverpudlians now in their eighties, who had a unique heritage: English, Irish, Scottish, and West African.”
Victoria herself grew up in Toxteth, a tight-knit and culturally rich area of Liverpool, where mixed identity was a visible norm – though not always accepted outside the community. “Growing up, our mixed heritage was more problematic for others than for us,” she explains. “I can’t deny racism was bad, but culture evolves – and ours, in Liverpool, is unique.”
Still, some moments of racial awareness were jolting – none more so than when Victoria visited Nigeria in her late teens. “It was a real culture shock,” she admits. “It was the first time I ever felt British. That moment – ‘In England I’m Black. In Africa I’m white’ – it just hits you. But I also loved being in Nigeria, this country that had always been referenced in my life. That trip gave me clarity: it’s okay to be Black and British.”
Living outside Liverpool today, Victoria says the distance helps her write more objectively about the city. “It’s easier to look back when you’re not right in the middle of it. Liverpool is so lively, with so much going on — it made me a natural storyteller. And Liverpudlians are some of the friendliest people you’ll meet.”
That innate storytelling is at the heart of Ma Joyce’s Tales from the Parlour, but it’s Victoria’s use of humour that lingers. “Humour is a great tool,” she says. “I like the audience to laugh one moment, then be jolted into shock the next. That’s real life, isn’t it?”
She hopes younger audiences take away not only laughter, but legacy. “The Black presence in Britain didn’t begin with the Windrush generation, though their contribution was enormous. Black British history goes back much further – even to Roman times! Not that I’m exploring all that in this play, ha ha.”
But through Ma Joyce, she invites audiences to reflect on generational wisdom, survival, and identity. So — what would Ma Joyce serve if we really were invited to the Parlour?
“Firstly,” Victoria laughs, “you wouldn’t be eating in the Parlour! That’s the best room – reserved for special occasions! But depending on the visitor, Ma Joyce might cook you some rice and stew and share a story about her Nigerian father. She’d give you one of his sayings: ‘Never let the right hand know what the left one is doing.’”
Ma Joyce might be fictional — but her stories are real enough to stay with you long after you’ve left her parlour.
Ma Joyce’s Tales from the Parlour will be performed at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, running from 1 to 24 August 2025. The one-woman show features Victoria Evaristo Norkor Arts and takes place at the Dunedin Theatre within Hill Street Theatre (19 Hill Street, Edinburgh, EH2 3JP). Performances begin at 1:00 pm daily and blend comedy, audience interaction, and a heartfelt narrative of mixed‑race Liverpudlian life. TICKETS
