Current Productions
Sweet Mother 3rd November 2022 19:00 @ Norton Priory Museum & Gardens
Real families, real stories & real lives take centre stage in this honest depiction of 1960s & 70s Toxteth
Nwoko Arts is delighted to announce investment from Arts Council England for the autumn national tour of Sweet Mother. First presented in Liverpool in 2020, this verbatim play garnered a four-star review in the Guardian. Now the piece is set to introduce a fourth character and embark upon a national tour.
Sweet Mother is an oral history project created and directed by Nwoko Arts Artistic Director Maria Paul. The production previously received critical acclaim during its 2020 outing and will now be resurged to form part of a trilogy of plays from Nwoko Arts, including The Triangle, a promenade performance that recently premiered in Liverpool 8.
Writer Maria Paul created Sweet Mother through verbatim interviews with dozens of women from Toxteth.
Sweet Mother tells the stories of four of these women. The women shared their experiences of raising families in1950s to the 1980s Toxteth; with a lens on the previously untold stories of white women who fell in love with, married and raised families with black men in the Liverpool 8 community during a time of racial unrest. The women in focus are Joan Caddick, Marie Chicken, Josie Burger and Vera McRae. Sweet Mother is a celebration of the strength and resilience of these women and the many more like them.
Help Us Write The Play!
Maria will interview women from communities across the country to develop the fourth character for the latest version of Sweet Mother. ‘Sweet Mother’ is a play that “celebrates the strength of white woman who fell in love with black men in the ‘60s and ‘70s.” Do you have a story to tell about your experiences? Then come and join Maria on 11th October at Norton Priory 2pm - 5pm. More information on the flyer HERE
Tickets for the performance on 3rd November are available on our TICKETS PAGE
Past Productions
Murder, Mayhem & Magic
Shakespeare has lost his script, his cast and his mojo…There’s gonna be murder and mayhem in the Elizabethan court…he needs some theatre magic and a LOT of help from his friends!
Murder, Mayhem & Magic is a new, fun family show by multi award winning 'A Place For Us' Theatre Company
Shakespeare arrives at Queen Elizabeth’s court to put on his latest play, only to realise that the actors haven’t been booked, the script has been left behind and the only people able to help are two woman (who at the time were banned from performing on the stage!). Over the next 60 minutes the audience is introduced to some of Shakespeare’s most iconic excerpts from his plays as the trio try to create a play for Queenie from what they can remember – anything so that they don’t lose their heads! There will be ‘Murder, Mayhem and Magic’!
A Place for Us has recently developed a new Shakespeare theatre ‘romp' aimed at families and schools. The first performances at Smithills Hall in Bolton during Shakespeare week 2022 were sold out!
