Tower Theatre Company : In Conversation

In Conversation

by Eileen Gbagbo

Directed by Landé Belo

Wednesday 10 - Saturday 20 July, 2024

At the Tower Theatre, Stoke Newington

**One of five plays performed together as part of Ain't I A Woman? - a theatrical initiative examining the intersection of race and gender; written, directed and produced by black women.

Photography by Pau Ros

Cast List**

Tiwa Sowunmi-Smith : Zainab Ottun, Keia Johnson or Megan-Madaleine Freeman
Lauren Morris : Louise Paton
Producer : Rebecca Hill

Production Team

Director : Landé Belo
Assistant Director : Nick Edwards

This is Zainab Ottun's first time participating in a Tower Theatre production! Currently training part-time at The Actor's Cafe (Screen Acting) whilst balancing her day job as a Software Engineer, she is also a singer and member of Brixton House Community Choir. During her university studies, she featured in a short film Diaspora Tales, and was an Assistant Musical Director for Jazzmanix (Pop & Gospel Choir) and Vice President for Afrodynamix (African and Caribbean Dance Society) at Southampton University. She also trained at The Unseen during the pandemic.

Keia Johnson grew up in a military family all over the world, but it was her move to Memphis that helped her establish her sound and performance style. While starting as a performer and recording several independent projects, the theatre has always been a part of her life. Over the last decade, Keia has been cast in The Color Purple (ensemble, 2013), Once On This Island (TiMoune, 2014), Hoodoo Love (Toulou, 2015), Simply Simone (Nina, 2015), The Parchman Hour (2019) & The Night Watcher (2021). She was nominated for an Ostrander Award for best Lead Actress in a Musical for Simply Simone. From 2016-2018, she traveled the world on Holland America Cruise lines singing Blues, Rock and Roll, Jazz, Classic R&B, and Soul. Under her company, KJ Management, she writes and curates shows for regional cruise lines and Artist Management. She is studying for her Master's in Musical Theatre at Goldsmith’s University.

Megan Madaleine Freeman is an actress based in London. Since training online at the Identity School of Acting during the lockdown, she has appeared primarily on stage in various productions across the capital, showcasing black women in a distinctive array of colours, from Yasmine Dankwah’s spoken word play Rite to Party to Freda Tuor’s workshop Black Sands. Ain’t I A Woman? will be her third appearance at the Tower Theatre, following on from her roles as Sarah Forbes Bonetta in The Gift and Susan in Seize The Day. She is very excited to bring incredibly written play Mary, Queen of Thots to the stage in what will be her first solo performance. She has a BA in World Literature from the University of Kent.

This is Louise Paton’s first production with the Tower Theatre. Recently she appeared as Sylvia in the musical version of Stepping Out and as Adele in Double Acts, which will be competing in the Welwyn Theatre Festival in late May.

This is Rebecca Hill’s fifth production with the Tower, having previously played Nerissa in The Merchant of Venice and Mary in Our Country’s Good. Whilst Rebecca loves travelling back in time in theatre, she is excited to be contributing to a new piece of theatre and is looking forward to see what manifests on the journey from script to stage!

Landé Belo’s directing credits with the Tower include Fix Up (2019),I can’t breathe: being black in a time of Covid (part of the Love [and Survival] Festival) (2021), Mules (2021), Leave Taking (2022) and The Gift (2023). Her acting credits with the Tower include Francine/Lena in Clybourne Park, multiple characters in Doctor Faustus, Prudence in The House of Bernarda Alba, Pope Joan/Louise in Top Girls, Jellaby in Arcadia, Cynthia in Sweat, Queen Elizabeth in Richard III and Escalus in Measure for Measure. She produced In Hiding, a critically acclaimed show which premièred at the Tower Theatre in June 2023 and sold out its entire run, making it one of the most successful productions in Tower history and the first production as part of Landé’s initiative to promote black, female voices in theatre. Ain’t I A Woman? is the next instalment in this initiative.

Eileen Gbagbo is a spoken word artist, journalist and playwright based in London. Her writing explores themes of justice, identity, climate change and migration. She was Highly Commended in the 2015 Slambassadors competition and is an alumnus of the Apples and Snakes Writing Room programme. She has performed at various institutions including the Saatchi Gallery, Victoria & Albert Gallery, the BFI Southbank and The Albany as part of Apples and Snakes theatre show - Cece's Speakeasy. She is currently part of the Old Vic Theatremakers programme.

	This is Zainab Ottun's first time participating in a Tower Theatre production! Currently training part-time at The Actor's Cafe (Screen Acting) whilst balancing her day job as a Software Engineer, she is also a singer and member of Brixton House Community Choir. During her university studies, she featured in a short film Diaspora Tales, and was an Assistant Musical Director for Jazzmanix (Pop & Gospel Choir) and Vice President for Afrodynamix (African and Caribbean Dance Society) at Southampton University. She also trained at The Unseen during the pandemic.			Keia Johnson grew up in a military family all over the world, but it was her move to Memphis that helped her establish her sound and performance style. While starting as a performer and recording several independent projects, the theatre has always been a part of her life. Over the last decade, Keia has been cast in The Color Purple (ensemble, 2013), Once On This Island (TiMoune, 2014), Hoodoo Love (Toulou, 2015), Simply Simone (Nina, 2015), The Parchman Hour (2019) & The Night Watcher (2021). She was nominated for an Ostrander Award for best Lead Actress in a Musical for Simply Simone. From 2016-2018, she traveled the world on Holland America Cruise lines singing Blues, Rock and Roll, Jazz, Classic R&B, and Soul. Under her company, KJ Management, she writes and curates shows for regional cruise lines and Artist Management. She is studying for her Master's in Musical Theatre at Goldsmith’s University.
	Megan Madaleine Freeman is an actress based in London. Since training online at the Identity School of Acting during the lockdown, she has appeared primarily on stage in various productions across the capital, showcasing black women in a distinctive array of colours, from Yasmine Dankwah’s spoken word play Rite to Party to Freda Tuor’s workshop Black Sands. Ain’t I A Woman? will be her third appearance at the Tower Theatre, following on from her roles as Sarah Forbes Bonetta in The Gift and Susan in Seize The Day. She is very excited to bring incredibly written play Mary, Queen of Thots to the stage in what will be her first solo performance. She has a BA in World Literature from the University of Kent.			This is Louise Paton’s first production with the Tower Theatre. Recently she appeared as Sylvia in the musical version of Stepping Out and as Adele in Double Acts, which will be competing in the Welwyn Theatre Festival in late May.
	This is Rebecca Hill’s fifth production with the Tower, having previously played Nerissa in The Merchant of Venice and Mary in Our Country’s Good. Whilst Rebecca loves travelling back in time in theatre, she is excited to be contributing to a new piece of theatre and is looking forward to see what manifests on the journey from script to stage!			Landé Belo’s directing credits with the Tower include Fix Up (2019),I can’t breathe: being black in a time of Covid (part of the Love [and Survival] Festival) (2021), Mules (2021), Leave Taking (2022) and The Gift (2023). Her acting credits with the Tower include Francine/Lena in Clybourne Park, multiple characters in Doctor Faustus, Prudence in The House of Bernarda Alba, Pope Joan/Louise in Top Girls, Jellaby in Arcadia, Cynthia in Sweat, Queen Elizabeth in Richard III and Escalus in Measure for Measure. She produced In Hiding, a critically acclaimed show which premièred at the Tower Theatre in June 2023 and sold out its entire run, making it one of the most successful productions in Tower history and the first production as part of Landé’s initiative to promote black, female voices in theatre. Ain’t I A Woman? is the next instalment in this initiative.
	Eileen Gbagbo is a spoken word artist, journalist and playwright based in London. Her writing explores themes of justice, identity, climate change and migration. She was Highly Commended in the 2015 Slambassadors competition and is an alumnus of the Apples and Snakes Writing Room programme. She has performed at various institutions including the Saatchi Gallery, Victoria & Albert Gallery, the BFI Southbank and The Albany as part of Apples and Snakes theatre show - Cece's Speakeasy. She is currently part of the Old Vic Theatremakers programme.

		In Conversation by Eileen Gbagbo Directed by Landé Belo
		Wednesday 10 - Saturday 20 July, 2024 At the Tower Theatre, Stoke Newington