Show ended
Runtime: 2h 20m
‘We don’t get to choose when we become women, y’know?’ Join Rey, Elle, Shan and Funmi. Armed with sugary snacks, school gossip, and secret questions they can only ask each other, their sleepovas are pretty much a sacred space for them As each year tugs them further into adulthood and life doesn’t pan out quite as they imagined, they struggle to hold on to a friendship that they swore would last a lifetime. A new Bush Theatre commission from Matilda Feyiṣayọ Ibini (Little Miss Burden). Age Recommendation: 14+
Sleepova is an ode to black women: their ambition, spirit and boundless dreams. Following the adolescence of four young black girls, it reflects on what it means to grow up black and female with poignancy, insight and a lot of heart. Commissioned by Bush Theatre from playwright Matilda Feyiṣayọ Ibini, Sleepova is one of the most exciting events in the 2023 theatre calendar. Make sure you secure your Sleepova play tickets as soon as possible.
Sleepova will come to the Bush Theatre in London for a limited run from 24 February to 28 April 2023. Suitable for ages 14 and over, Matilda Feyiṣayọ Ibini’s Sleepova is set to be a tender, heart-wrenching and wholly unmissable night of theatre.
“We don’t get to choose when we become women, y’know?”
Meet friends Rey, Elle, Shan and Funmi, four girls navigating their burgeoning adolescence armed only with a handful of sugary snacks. Together they go about the business of slipping slowly into adulthood, walking the line between girlhood and womanhood as they grow. With so much changing around them, their sleepovers are a sacred space – somewhere they can gossip about school and ask each other secret questions without any interference from the outside world.
But time is ticking on, and as each year pulls them further towards adulthood, the girls are struggling to hold onto the rituals of their youth. Life doesn’t always pan out quite how you plan it in your friends’ bedrooms, as Rey, Elle, Shan and Funmi are learning. Maybe this lifelong friendship won’t always be quite so easy to hold onto.
Sleepover was commissioned by Bush Theatre from writer Matilda Feyiṣayọ Ibini. It features casting by Jatinda Chera.
Sleepova writer Matilda Feyiṣayọ Ibini is a Nigerian-British playwright and screenwriter. Her first play, Muscovado, was performed at Theatre503 in 2015 and focuses on British involvement in the slave trade. Other works include Little Miss Burden, a story of three Nigerian sisters, and The Unexpected Expert, which was broadcast by BBC Four in May 2020 as part of their Unprecedented series of plays written about and during the Covid-19 lockdown. Sleepova is her first play with Bush Theatre.
Sleepova is commissioned and staged by Bush Theatre. Located in Shepherd’s Bush, London, Bush Theatre was established in 1972 as a place for new writers to showcase work. It still exists as a place to nurture new talent, and many of the writers that it has worked with have gone on to become big names in the industry. Over the years Bush Theatre has premiered hundreds of shows and launched many successful playwrighting careers.
Don’t miss this moving exploration of young black womanhood by one of Britain’s most exciting playwrights. Sleepova is poised to be a big event in the 2023 theatre calendar and its run at the Bush Theatre offers you an opportunity to be amongst the first to discover it. Secure your tickets today with Stagedoor.