Jade Anouka’s debut play is a raw and honest exploration of love, loss, and self-discovery. The play tells the story of a woman grappling with the end of her marriage and the beginning of a new chapter in her life.
Told through poetry, HEART celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the beauty of human connection, this groundbreaking play is a must-see for all the misfits, all those who have ever felt “other”.
With live music and sound design by 4x UK Beatbox champion Grace Savage, expect performance poetry, gig theatre, spitting lyrics to beatboxing and heavy bass.
HEART is showing at Brixton House from 23 January-3 February. Buy tickets here.
Can you tell us more about the inspiration and development of your show HEART?
HEART began in 2018 when I splurged my then current feelings into a page. Always safer in the freedom of poetry, the piece was in effect one long poem documenting the highs and lows of the previous 5 or so years. I had had a lot of firsts and was trying to articulate the emotions I had gone through. I felt that if only I had heard my story 5years before… I hoped and still do that this story can and will help others in some way.
The show interweaves music and monologue – what’s it like collaborating with Grace Savage and merging your two practices?
This production is a real synergy of music and words. Even when I was performing poetry when I was younger my favourite performances were the ones where I collaborated with musicians. It’s the musicality of poetry that first interested me in writing. Grace and I first collaborated at the Roundhouse Last Word Festival in 2018 and from that moment on I wanted to do it more. We then worked on short film Her & Her during lockdown. And HEART is our 3rd project together. Luckily Grace understands how I think and luckily I like Grace’s musical instincts. So, when I say ooh can you make this but sound more fuzzy and that bit like purple and deep red vibes she somehow makes something that fits perfectly to what I want.
Why is it significant to you to be bringing HEART to London?
London is my home. It’s where I began. It’s where I first performed, and where I first took to the stage. And not only that Brixton House is in my beloved South London.
What is it about this personal story that makes you want to share it with audiences?
I feel it can connect with people. It’s a story I wish I’d known when I was younger it’s a story I wish my parents had known. It tackles themes that anyone who as ever been othered can relate to. I think it might help some people understand, themselves or their loved ones more. And it’s joyful. Yes there’s pain, it’s real life, but there is also joy – queer joy! Black joy! Joy!
Do you have any personal favourite moments in the show you can tell us?
A couple moments when I feel like I’m an international superstar rapper – basically living my preteen dream haha!
HEART is showing at Brixton House from 23 January-3 February. Buy tickets here.