The Darkest Part of the Night Tickets
Nancy Medina directs Zodwa Nyoni’s gripping and heartfelt drama
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Directed by Nancy Medina, the Brooklyn-born director who has recently been appointed to succeed Tom Morris as artistic director at Bristol Old Vic, this family drama tells of Shirley and Dwight who have come together to bury their mother. But their past looms over them, particularly a childhood spent in Chapeltown in Leeds in the 1980s where both racism and poverty impacted the family. It’s written by poet and playwright Zodwa Nyoni best known for Boi Boi is Dead at West Yorkshire Playhouse, a play that also takes place in the wake of a death and funeral.
About The Darkest Part of the Night
As Shirley and Dwight bury their mother, they remember their upbringing in 1980s Chapeltown, Leeds differently. In the height of racial discrimination, police brutality and poverty, the struggle for survival ripped through their family. Dwight was discovering what it meant to be a young black boy with autism in a world determined never to understand him. Shirley was desperately trying to forge her own independence away from unfair expectations at school and home. Now as adults, they need to bring together the fractured pieces of their past to move forward together. Age Recommendation: 12+