Ain’t I a Woman?

Posted on 2nd May 2025

The springboard for AIAW.org productions’ portmanteau presentation is Sojourner Truth’s ground breaking speech, delivered in the seventeenth century having walked away, to use her words, from a life of slavery. Her rhetorical question, Ain’t I a Woman? is the bridge that connects five short plays that examine both race and gender, all of which are written, directed and produced by black women.

Changing Rays by Mauricia Lewis is a broad-brush satire that is as much about the insidious impact on the black psyche as grotesque prejudice itself, as Anoä-Kanelle Calpas’s Ngozi undergoes a medical trial to change her skin colour. A working knowledge of Ibsen’s The Doll House is a useful primer for enjoying Sara Amanda’s witty deconstruction of the acting profession, as Zainab Ottun and Saffron Dey wrestle with the text and their self-respect, begrudgingly auditioning for a ghetto-based Nora despite the patronising absurdity of the idea. In Conversation by Eileen Gbagbo, Louise Paton and Zainab Ottun made fine jousting partners as TV presenter Lauren Morris can’t, or won’t pronounce Tiwa Sowunmi-Smith’s name. Rukiat Ashawe’s The Burden is a play bursting with dystopian ideas, but of all the plays felt constrained by its limited run time. Thankfully, time was afforded to Mary, Queen of Thots by Katrina Smith-Jackson. By far the most developed and rounded text of the night, it was matched by Aisha Jalloh’s performance. The way her monologue brought a host of characters to the stage was the standout performance of the night.

Plaudits are also due to Isabelle Ajani’s musical interludes, knitting together the disparate storylines with the help of Chaachi Deane’s affecting vocals. Together they both opened and, with Anoä-Kanelle Calpas, closed an evening characterised by variety and invention. And a final plaudit is surely due to the Corn Hall for having the nerve to host such a challenging production.