Zainab

With Black Brass, I almost had to help Mararo step into his own shoes as a lead creative. In order for that learning and that journey to happen, I needed to have other creatives who had no ego and great skill so that Mararo could go on this journey of creating his first original work, stepping into his own shoes, distilling what is his voice instead of being swayed by every other voice in the room. That was my primary focus alongside bringing Mahamudo Selimane on the journey and finding ways to bring a non-theatre performer into that space. For me, those were the most important things. So I couldn't then have it split in all different directions if I was also bringing other emerging artists into the fold and then supporting their upskilling because of capacity. And then placing older, African artists in a position to support Mararo in the ways that I couldn't because I don't come from the African continent. You know? And so just for me as producer, Mararo and Mahamudo were the most important part of that. It was about making sure that their story was told with the rigour and intensity and authenticity that they wanted.

I curated the creative team quite intentionally. It comprised seasoned creatives who would support and realise the vision of Mararo and Mahamudo’s artistry. I asked Zoe Atkinson, Lucy Birkinshaw, Tim Collins, Sisonke Msimang and Matt Edgerton to join us. They are all magical humans, and great collaborators who come to a work with no ego attached. We didn't put limitations on the first three creative developments, we just created a space for play and imagination. At the end of that, when Zoe came to me with the idea of using a revolve, I groaned. Revolves are so hard to tour and I knew this work would tour. But, dramaturgically, I couldn't argue with her about why it had to be a revolve. It made sense and the intention was clear so it became a non-issue. My job then became about removing all of the barriers and mitigating all of the risk the revolve would then pose.