EDINBURGH 2017: BWW Q&A- Apphia Campbell

What have you been up to since we last spoke at the 2015 Fringe?

Well, since 2015, I have been staying pretty busy. I've continued to tour "Black Is The Color Of My Voice". Every year, it seems like the show keeps growing and garnering larger audiences so that's been wonderful. I've been traveling all over the U.K., Europe, and this year was invited to the National Black Theatre Festival to perform the piece-which is a great honor.

Last September, I married a wonderful man that I met my first year at the fringe in 2014. We had a small wedding in Copenhagen with close family and friends-it was one of the best days of my life. Then, I began working on my new piece, "Woke" which I'm super excited to be presenting this year as part of the Made In Scotland festival

Tell us a bit about your new show Woke.

Woke is a piece about two women born 42 years apart who both enter into the civil rights movement. The first is: Assata Shakur, a notorious black panther, who was falsely convicted of killing of a police officer in 1977. She was sentenced to life in prison and broke out in 1979 and fled to Cuba where she continues to live to this day. The second: Ambrosia Rollins, a sheltered 18-year old who moves to Missouri after the shooting of Mike Brown by the white police officer Darren Wilson; sparking protest, riots, and ultimately the inception of the Black Lives Matter movement.

As a result of current events in the world, I (like several other millenials) found myself more politically engaged. I was initially introduced to Assata Shakur in college when my friend did her final theatre piece on Assata Shakur. As I began re-reading her biography, I was startled by the parallels between the Black Panther Movement in the 1960's; and the Black Lives Matter movement happening today, I wanted to take it a step forward and focus not on race, but the system which needs to change.

And it features original music?

Yes, it features original music that I've been writing. When I was living in Shanghai I worked with a musician in one of those "background music" gigs. Very often, we would make up crazy songs just to see if anyone was listening, but soon I started to write real songs and people did begin to listen. I love the feeling of singing with an acoustic guitar. One of my favorite artist is Indie Arie and one of my favorite albums is Lauryn Hills acoustic MTV unplugged. So, the music has a bit of an indie feel. I also wanted to capture the feeling of St. Louis

So I'm using some traditional blues music and gospel.

Why is this an important story to tell?

Recently in the news, Philando Castile, a young black man who was murdered after being pulled over for a faulty break; the police officer was acquitted. The most heartbreaking video that came out after this news, was the video footage of the four year old who was sitting in the backseat of the police car with her mother; Castile's girlfriend. She was telling her mother, "I can keep you safe...I wish this town were safer" after she watched Philando Castile get shot. It's sad. It's heartbreaking. Most people will look at this and think that it's primarily a race problem and most often believe the negative narrative that is pushed about the victim. What this story focuses on, is the system, not the race issues. I believe that if people focused on the system and see how they too can fall prey into it, they will think very differently about the movements happening in America and abroad.

What's next for the show after the Fringe?

Well, I hope to tour the show-I have a few dates booked for Spring 2018 but am now open for bookings. So, get on it promoters!

Timings and ticket information for Woke are available on the edfringe website.

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