After a fantastic first Fringe, Block’d Off is heading to London with its hard-hitting one-woman play, revealing the realities of being working class in London.
Following the lives of five characters caught in the cycle of deprivation, Block’d Off shares a collection of honest stories that confront and question the stereotypes of working-class voices. As a recipient of the Pleasance Theatre’s Generate Fund for UK-based Black, Asian and Global Majority Artists, the production will provide London audiences with an opportunity to engage with these real experiences first hand.
Set in a block of North London council flats, Block’d Off considers how working-class people can be seen as nameless and only defined by their titles or jobs. It is an eternal story about the human condition, bringing these individuals to life in a truthful retelling of how these universal struggles connect communities. This one-woman show stars Camila Segal, who multi-roles a plethora of characters, jumping from personalities like a lonely Brazilian grandmother to a sensitive middle-class tutor.
Writer Kieton Saunders-Browne, a previous participant of Young Pleasance who this year celebrated their 25th anniversary, comments, The play is written for everyone, for the working class to see themselves more on stage and to give everyone the chance to hear these people you may never have crossed paths with. Being an artist, I am in a lot of middle-class spaces and environments and I think it’s important for anyone who does consider themselves an ‘ally’, whatever that means, to be able to hear about these experiences as first hand as possible and not just know about it from media that is controlled and written by those who aren’t from that background.
Block’d Off is at The Pleasance Monday 3rd – Friday 7th October 2022.
