Guest Blog: Director Lakesha Arie-Angelo On SHUCK 'N' JIVE at Soho Theatre

Shuck 'n' Jive has had quite a rapid journey. I was first introduced to the play whilst on my first day of rehearsals for another show. I requested a copy of the script and devoured it one weekend - I felt it was something special. I had a kinship with the writers, Cassiopeia Berkeley-Agyepong and Simone Ibbett-Brown, in their love for musicals, 90s children's TV, and Viola Davis.

I love the way the play deals with racism within the arts industry in a playful and highly theatrical way. It was after catching a rehearsed reading of the play at a Blacktress event at Tristan Bates Theatre that it really clicked for me. The friendship between the two protagonists really resonated, and the way in which the play moves from humour to sheer horror within seconds is truly intoxicating.

The rehearsal process has been jam-packed and swift. We treated the first week as a research and development week - deconstructing the script, doing improvisations and making edits to the text. All the while our amazing actors, Tanisha Spring and Olivia Onyehara, were trying to learn bits of dialogue along the way.

Cassi and Simone are natural linguists; they have written dialogue that moves fluidly between text speech, close friend shorthand banter and musical language, and they have thought through every word on the page. Together, we have carefully interrogated the text and aimed to deliver something clear, fun and provocative.

As well as playwright, Simone has doubled as our musical director. Who's better suited for teaching an opera song than an opera-singing writer of the play?! Simone has worked closely with the cast to ensure they have the right vocal tools to deliver the musical numbers each night.

There are an array of musical styles and vocal qualities within the show: one moment they sing opera, the next soul, then strangely into a minstrel tune, then into a children's TV song (the latter I have been informed is particularly difficult because of the range the song covers). The cast being able to switch between them all within 75 minutes is really impressive.

The cast have also spent some time working with movement director Diane Alison- Mitchell, who's helped us choreograph some moments and developed some of the physical language of the play. Again, Olivia and Tanisha have the task of adapting to varied physical styles: one minute dancing like a puppet on strings, the next like they're in a 90s R&B boyband.

What's especially demanding is the amount of multi-roling the actors do. Between them, Tanisha and Olivia play 17 named characters, and so it's key to ensure each character has a life and personality of their own. We've worked together to develop them to the point where we've grown attached to specific details of these character backstories.

I have a stellar creative technical team. Anna Clock has had the task of building on the musical language of the play that the writers had already fixed in place and ensuring the play has a sense of progression. Jai Morjaria has created a visual world through lighting that goes from realistic to the heightened theatrical surreal world. Ranya El Refaey has designed the set, costume and video that gives hints to the 'play within the play' world that we aimed to create.

Together, I hope the show feels playful as well as political. My favourite part of the process is bringing all the elements together and getting it in front of fresh eyes to test out how things land. I am proud and hopeful of the show's potential, and if it affects one person - job well done.

Shuck 'n' Jive at Soho Theatre until 26 October

Photo credit: Helen Maybanks

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