By Emily Aboud
PRODUCER
Lagahoo Productions
Supported by Arts Council England, The Pleasance and Streatham Space Project
★★★★★
‘A fantastic night of festivity and foolery’
The Guardian
★★★★★
‘Divine, electrifying and hilarious’
To Do List
★★★★
‘A wide-spanning and insightful production’
The Reviews Hub
VAULT Show of the Week
★★★★
‘Bold, unabashed, energetic, fun and full of ideas’
Evening Standard
★★★★
‘Positive, powerful’
BroadwayWorld
★★★★
‘[Lagahoo] sure know how to throw a carnival’
London Student
★★★★
‘An explosion of a show’
The Stage
★★★★★
“As joyful and defiant as it is moving’
A Younger Theatre
★★★★
‘Experimental, entertaining and powerful’
Within Her Words
Nominated for OffWestEnd IDEA Production
Part-play, part-cabaret, join our three MCs as they take you through a queer whirlwind of sad truths, joyful lies and Caribbean history.
How does one deal with coming out in a homophobic culture? With queer joy, yuh dun know.
Carnival is a commemoration despite and in spite of oppression. We Caribbean people celebrate through hard times, and here we are – celebrating and trying to unpack what it means to be queer in a place where it is outlawed. A dazzling show based upon interviews with queer women from Trinidad & Tobago – this is SPLINTERED.
Expect a form-breaking, joy-inducing cabaret with plenty wining and a f*cktonne of glitter – “come free up yuhself”.
Project History
SPLINTERED was an idea originally developed by Emily Aboud at the Soho Writers Lab, and its R&D was supported by Arts Council England, Mountview Academy, Bush Theatre and CLF Art Cafe. After R&D sessions and interviews with queer Caribbean women, the show premiered at Bedlam Theatre at Edinburgh Fringe 2019, where it was selected as one of the top 10 LGBTQ+ shows of the festival, as well as being nominated for Best Cabaret by BroadwayWorld. SPLINTERED was then picked up for VAULT Festival in Feb 2020 which was supported by New Diorama and Arcola Theatre; after further development, the show won VAULT Show of the Week and was nominated for the OffWestEnd Award for IDEA Performance.
Following this, SPLINTERED was programmed for the prestigious Incoming Festival with New Diorama, HOME Manchester and Tobacco Factory Bristol, which was sadly curtailed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Similarly, the opportunity to perform at Bristol Pride was cancelled, but the festival commissioned SPLINTERED into a film to be broadcast as part of a digital festival. We delivered this with incredible videographer, Renee Bailey, and with support from Streatham Space Project.
SPLINTERED transferred to the Soho Theatre Upstairs in February 2022, marking Lagahoo’s Off West End debut. Supported by Arts Council England, The Pleasance and Streatham Space Project, this run saw us receive five stars in national press and enjoy multiple sell out shows. The show completed a run at the Soho Theatre Main House in April 2023.
Creative Team & Cast
Writer & Director Emily Aboud
Designer Hazel Low
Sound Designer Annie May Fletcher
Lighting Designer Laura Howard
Associate Designer (Soho Upstairs) Pip Terry
Associate LX Designer (Soho Main House) Ola Przytula
Movement Director (Soho Main House) Mariama Devers
Movement Director (Soho Upstairs) Buntu Yello
Stage Manager (Soho Main House) Nikita Bala
Stage Manager (Soho Upstairs) Ceinwen Bos
Production Manager (Soho Main House) Emily Dickson
Assistant Director (Soho Upstairs) Rochelle Wilson
Casting Director (Soho Main House) Amy Blair
Dramaturgy Charlotte Bennett
Producer Grace Dickson
Engagement Producer (Soho) Phillippe Cato
Assistant Producer (VAULT) Belinda Clarke
Assistant Producer (Soho) Rory Thomas-Howes
PR (VAULT) Kate Morley PR
PR (Soho) Nancy Poole PR
Director of Photography (Pride Film) Renee Bailey
Soho Theatre (Main House) Cast Nicholle Cherrie, Charlotte Dowding & Yolanda Ovide
Soho Theatre (Upstairs) Cast Chanté Faucher, Melissa Saint & Alice Vilanculo
VAULT Festival & Pride Film Cast Charlotte Dowding, Chanté Faucher & Alice Vilanculo
Edinburgh Fringe Cast Natasha Brown, Sanaa Byfield & Charlotte Dowding
Previous design support from Elissa Webb & Fizz Margereson
Photography Harry Elletson
Key Art (Photography) Holly Revell