THE NIGHT WOMAN Comes to The Other Palace Next Month

From the award winning writer and actor Julene Robinson (The Witcher, Netflix; Stand Up, Get Up!, London West End) and Fringe First award winning producer Emma Blackman comes The Night Woman - a powerful show about womanhood, blackness and healing. Starring Robinson, directed by Martina Laird (Sunshine, Southwark Playhouse), with Lighting Design by Chuma Emembolu (For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy, New Diorama Theatre), this striking play about finding strength in the darkest moments has never felt more crucial than in these times of pandemic and BLM.

Inspired by the true story of Robinson's grandmother who was shunned and pushed into the dark due to her African spiritual retentions, The Night Woman follows a fearless journey into the shadows, with Caribbean songs, folktales and poetry taking centre stage.

Skillfully portraying three different women who found power in unexpected places, "One to Watch" (Barbican Centre) actor Robinson presents this exhilarating 60-minute journey, spanning from the beginning of time till our present day.

March 2022 marks the two year anniversary of the first lockdown in the UK. What followed was a prolonged period of isolation and fear of a pandemic that disproportionately hit the Black and Asian communities in England. Later, in May 2020, the Black Lives Matter movement - which campaigns for freedom, justice and equality - soared across the globe following George Floyd's murder. However, growing up on her grandmother's stories of hope in times of darkness, Robinson continued developing her play during the pandemic. From winning the prestigious Barbican Performance Lab award in 2021 to being named as the top VAULT FIVE in 2022, The Night Woman is finally rising out of the shadows after a two year gap.

Julene Robinson comments: "After a creative and emotional rollercoaster over the last few years, I'm delighted to finally share this story with audiences - a story that was generated from the collision of ancestry and the present. My aim is to start conversations about healing, womanhood and blackness. The personal healing I desperately needed, but also the collective healing that is crucial after the two years we've had as a society. As a Black female artist, my intersectional identities are an integral part of my experience of the world and are heavily integrated in the conversation about healing, especially now in the wake of the post BLM movement. I want audiences to joyfully come together and experience care and creativity collectively. Something we have not really been able to do in a while.

Producer Emma Blackman adds: "The cancellation of VAULT Festival 2022 at the beginning of the year was a much necessary, but deeply saddening, event for the live performance industry in London and beyond. However, we're extremely excited and grateful to The Other Palace for offering The Night Woman a new home. I've had the wonderful opportunity of following Julene's work and the development of the show since 2018, and I couldn't imagine a better time to share this thrilling story about hope and strength."

Tickets - available from https://theotherpalace.co.uk/the-night-woman/

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