Review: Why A Black Woman Will Never Be Prime Minister, Camden People’s Theatre

As someone with an interest in politics, I had to see Why A Black Woman Will Never Be Prime Minister. Written by and starring Zakiyyah Deen, this dramedy explores identity and politics from the perspective of a Black woman; both the big P politics of parliament and elections, and the small P politics that permeates everyday life.

The plot follows Shanice (Deen) as she starts university. She has ambitions to build a life that goes beyond the limits of the single parent household she grew up in. When she takes up an internship working on the election campaign of John Gainsborough (Ryan Whittle) she is catapulted into the world of Westminster politics. As coursework and campaign commitments pile up, Shanice’s situation is further complicated by a pregnancy.

The narrative conveys a strong political message, as Shanice becomes increasingly disillusioned with politics. Especially the crucial issue of Black women’s’ maternal health, which is powerfully developed by the pregnancy plotline and Shanice’s relationship with her mother.

This is reinforced by the contrast between Shanice (Black, from a single parent council estate family, her mother a migrant) and John (White, upper-class, with mannerisms reminiscent of David Cameron and Boris Johnson), which makes a clear point about the lack of representation of Black women in politics being a reason for the lack of action on poverty and other problems.

This message’s emotional resonance is bolstered by Dean’s writing, which fuses “satire, spoken word, and narrative”. The rhythm of the poetic sections gives these scenes additional impact, building tension with the repetition of the metre. Specific cultural references add depth to the character of Shanice. Dean’s writing takes aim at “the increasing f**keries in politics” especially the poor provision of Black women’s maternal healthcare, and her anger makes the political argument more apparent.

The play also has humour, which varies the tone. In one particularly funny scene Shanice helps John prepare for a TV debate, where she adopts the personas of host “Newsy Whats-her-face” and “Nigel Far-right”, which is both biting satire and hilariously silly. Video calls with her academic supervisor also lampoon commercialised universities that care more about box-ticking than students’ welfare. The humour keeps the show lively and fast paced, preventing it from being a polemic.

This mix of different mediums, political commentary and humour, is brought together into a cohesive whole by a blistering performance from Deen. She seamlessly moves from hilarious satire, to heart-breaking sadness, to stirring political monologues, and makes Shanice feel like a real person. Deen’s performance is captivating from start to finish.

This excellent delivery is backed up by the effective use of music to add depth to Shanice,and lighting that captures the shifts in mood and allows the minimalist set to morph from student bedroom, to food bank, to TV studio. Lines of poetry projected onto the set also set the tone for each scene.

I was left reminded of the importance of tackling the inequalities that are still present in a society that in Deen’s own words has “all this talk about diversity and ‘we’re all in this together’, but the reality is different for communities on the ground.” The use of humour and music elevates the show above being a diatribe to be both very entertaining and a rousing political statement.

Cast: Zakiyyah Deen and Ryan Whittle
Voices: Reda Elazouar, Gurkiran Kaur and Kelechi Okafor

Written by: Zakiyyah Deen 
Directed by: Kelechi Okafor
Associate Director: Xanthus 
Design by: Hazel Low
Lighting Design by: Jahmiko Marshall
Sound Design by: Khalil Madovi
Produced by: Sam Edmunds 

Why A Black Woman Will Never Be Prime Minister plays at the Camden People’s Theatre until Saturday 9th November. Further information and booking details can be found here.

You can find our interview with Zakiyyah Deen here.