The Clinic Tickets
(1) "There are flames in your eyes, telling me you’re going to be a wildfire."
Date & Time
Show ended
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It has been a thrilling couple of years for playwright Dipo Baruwa-Etti who has come to attention with a number of plays displaying his evident talent including An Unfinished Man at the Yard and Half-Empty Glasses which has just finished a run with Paines Plough in Edinburgh. Now here’s one which he wrote while on attachment to the Almeida. It tells of Wunmi, a woman in crisis who wants to see change for herself and others. When her world falls apart, she's given a place of refuge by Ore, who comes from a family which has dedicated itself to helping the community. But Wunmi’s presence causes cracks not previously discernible to become evident. Who needs help and when is a refuge a prison?
About The Clinic
Wunmi is tired of the fight. When her world collapses, she asks Ore to help end her life. Ore resolves to save Wunmi instead, providing sanctuary in her parents’ home - a family of charity workers, therapists and politicians, dedicated to serving their community. Wunmi’s presence soon disrupts familiar patterns - cracks start to widen and bad blood thickens. As these pillars of society crumble, Wumni wonders whether she’s walked into a refuge or a trap? The Clinic is a fiercely political and lyrical play by Dipo Baruwa-Etti (An unfinished man, The Yard) written during a twelve-month residency with the Almeida as part of the Channel 4 Playwrights' bursary. This world premiere, directed by Monique Touko (Fair Play, Bush Theatre), is a tense and transfixing portrait of a woman with a hunger for change, a family on fire and how to rise from the ashes of a broken world. Age Recommendation: 16+ This production includes discussion of assisted suicide, references to a miscarriage, long-term illness and death, as well as racially violent language and discussion of racism.
###Cast and Creative Biographies
Dipo Baruwa-Etti is a playwright, filmmaker, and poet. As a playwright, he was the 2020 Channel 4 Playwright-on-attachment with the Almeida Theatre and shortlisted for the George Devine Most Promising Playwright Award the same year with his play When Great Trees Fall. His other plays include The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars (Theatre Royal Stratford East); An unfinished man (The Yard) and the upcoming Half-Empty Glasses (Paines Plough). As writer-director, his work includes the award-winning short film The Last Days, a BFI Network/BBC/Tannahill production starring Adjoa Andoh and Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn. He also has original projects in development with companies including Blueprint Pictures and Duck Soup Films. As a poet, he has been published in The Good Journal, Ink Sweat & Tears, Amaryllis, and had his work showcased nationwide as part of End Hunger UK's touring exhibition on food insecurity.
Monique Touko is a London based multidisciplinary artist working in theatre, radio and film. She made her professional debut with Malindadzimu by Mufaro Makubika at Hampstead Theatre Downstairs. Her second professional show was Fair Play by Ella Road at Bush Theatre. Her credits as an assistant director include Wishlist (Royal Exchange Manchester and Royal Court); Kanye the First (HighTide); Yellowman (Young Vic); On the Exhale (Traverse Theatre); Cock (Chichester Festival Theatre); Richard II (Shakespeare’s Globe); Rosmersholm (Duke of York Theatre) and Blood Wedding (Young Vic). Monique is a producer in film and music videos and her credits include an independent project for Franklyn Lane Film Productions. She is also part of The Ubunifu Space, a definitive guide to music and culture from the youth of Africa and the diaspora - the Ubunifu way.