Tuesday 15 October 7:30pm
Danesha by Stefanie Reynolds
“Sometimes I pretend I’m in a music video. And that I have a backing group. And they’re always black, even though I don’t have any black friends, in real life”
All they play in Preston nightclubs is Little Mix and Miley Cyrus. How is Danesha the dancer supposed to vibe to that?
After successfully managing to convince her Preston mates (as well as telling a teeny, tiny white lie to her dad), Danesha arranges a night out in Manchester. She finds the sickest club with the sickest music and the sickest vibe. It’s proper, proper mint.
Then she meets Her and Danesha’s whole existence becomes one big question mark. Because Danesha thought it was normal to feel like you don’t quite fit in, to like music that nobody else likes, to move your body in a way your friends can’t, and to not know anything about your mum and the island she comes from…
Box Of Tricks is delighted to announce the casting for Danesha, a joyful celebration of coming of age, exploring black culture, queer joy and finding and loving your authentic self, written by emerging Manchester-born playwright Stefanie Reynolds.
Talia Rae Smith takes the title role. A Yorkshire born actor who trained at The Arden School of Theatre, Manchester. Theatre credits include Robyn Hood (Fidget Theatre for Leeds Playhouse), Romeo & Juliet (Chester Storyhouse) and Alice in Wonderland (HOME).
She is joined by Kelise Gordon-Harrison as Leonie (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare North & Northern Stage; Peter Pan, Hall for Cornwall; Vignettes, Contact Theatre Manchester), Liam Grunshaw as Paul (The Package, The Lowry; Othello , CSC), Stefan Gumbs as Marcus (The Good Person of Sichuan, Mercury Theatre, Colchester; Spiralling, Odd Arts), versatile and award-winning actor, Janelle Thompson as Lianne and Tareq Al-Jeddal as Rayan (Ridley, Maternal, Vera and Brassic).
Cast Members
Talia Rae Smith – Danesha
Liam Grunshaw – Paul (Dad)
Kelise Gordon-Harrison – Leonie
Janelle Thompson – Lianne
Stephen Gumbs – Marcus
Tareq Al-Jeddal – Rayan
Working with leading creative audio description company Hear the Picture, Box of Tricks is making the full run of Danesha accessible to blind and visually-impaired audiences. In a first for both companies, every performance across the four-week run will have audio description available for users.
You can listen to the Audio Trailer here.
Content Warnings: strong language, instances of homophobia, discussions of racism, discussions of drug misuse
Running time: Approx 1hr 10 minutes (no interval)
Tickets: £10 / £8 concs / £5 EHU Graduates / Free for EHU Students