A finalist for the George Devine Award 2022, STARS is a new play written by acclaimed playwright Mojisola Adebayo (winner of the Alfred Fagon Award 2021). Moving, joyous and uplifting, the show features a ‘tour de force’ performance by Debra Michaels and music mixed live on stage by Bradley Charles, weaving in exquisite animations by artist Candice Purwin and creative captioning throughout.

STARS is the story of Mrs, a woman in her eighties looking back on her life, her marriage and friendships, and all the pleasure she’s missed out on and looking forward to the possibility of reclaiming this – in outer space! The show takes its audience on a journey from ancient West African folklore, via a council flat in South London, to the stars.

The overarching theme of the play is female pleasure, as we see Mrs reflecting on the regrets of her eighty years, but, more importantly, how she wants to spend the time that she has left. The piece explores themes of sex, the body, identity, sexuality, religion, ambition and the limitless potential of space, all through consistently interesting and insightful writing.

Over the course of the play, Debra Michaels embodies a range of characters alongside Mrs (most notably her neighbour – a young Muslim girl whom she befriends). Through this character we are given an emotional storyline surrounding the traditions of certain cultures and the negative control that they can have over young people. Much of the piece could be considered a one-woman show, made up of a monologue delivered by Michaels, who completely sells the often complex and nuanced emotions that Mrs and the various characters experience.

The play seems to be inspired by Adebayo’s own experiences, and her connection to the material is evident in this script. The parallel that the piece draws between dealing with trauma and the exploration of space is a really interesting one, as we follow Mrs’s search for meaning and pleasure (both sexually and spiritually). Something else that should be noted about STARS is that it is very funny. Whilst it tackles some quite dark and heavy subject matter, Adebayo’s script makes sure to include many lighter moments, embracing a slightly oddball tongue-in-cheek humour to compliment the sincerity of the play’s message.

The music of the show is provided by Bradley Charles, live mixing tracks on stage that underscored the performance. This is cleverly worked into the actual narrative of the play, with Charles playing Mrs’s son, a young DJ with his own radio show which she listens to at home. The majority of the soundtrack consisted of deep house tracks (many of which were by Black artists, DJs and producers), pulling from the Detroit house scene of the 1980s to contemporary electronic pieces. With the music playing through much of the show, it provided a nice melodic and rhythmic layer to the play; a flowing river that let us glide from one part of the story to the next.

There are gorgeous animated sequences throughout provided by Candice Purwin. These animations are a great example of the Afro-futurist sandbox that STARS is playing in, combining African mythology and a traditional West African illustration style with the scope of astronomy and science fiction, which really added to the story and provided a great additional stylistic element to the production.

STARS is an excellent piece of experimental gig theatre that was clearly made with a lot of heart and sincerity. It tells a really interesting and emotionally-driven story, brilliantly brought to life by a great lead performance in Debra Michaels, accompanied by some great music and beautiful animations.

To find more upcoming performances at The Old Rep, visit here.