My name is Nico and I am a young creative producer! I recently wrote and produced a show called Stroke In The Sun that is based on my Mum’s life and it has been accepted into the Young, Gifted and Black 2025 season with Theatre Peckham after a run at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. I am trying to raise this money to cover costs for paying my incredible creative team and production aspects of the show. This is an opportunity to support a team of young, global majority creatives, support theatre made for and by the global majority and to contribute to continuing the life of this beautiful story based on the life (and children’s book!) of a female, Nigerian immigrant. Any contribution you make would make a world of difference for the success of this show that will be presented at Canada Water Theatre on the 2nd and 3rd of October 2025!

As a young, black woman this story is incredibly important to me and focuses on themes of memory, grief, generational trauma/love and what it really means to survive! To understand why it is important, I thought I would tell you a little bit about my Mum!

Her name is Zainab, she grew up in Dumne, Nigeria. She is the youngest daughter but not the youngest sibling. Her favourite colour is green and her favourite flower is a buddleia, more commonly known as butterfly bush. I don’t think she knows this name for them but I will tell her after I write this and she will be absolutely delighted. I will also have to remind her of their name every time she sees them because she will probably forget. She has been getting really into gardening lately and always gets me to take a picture when she harvests her potatoes. On Facebook, she has referred to her friends as “fans” on more than one occasion. If she has one glass of red wine she is immediately drunk. When I walk too fast, she will quicken her steps after me and take hold of my hand, partly to slow me down but mainly because she just likes to hold my hand.

My Mum goes to church every Sunday in her best outfit. She somehow always texts me when I am at my worst, with an oddly formal but good-intentioned “Hello Child”, or “Good Evening Girl”. She smells like Jimmy Choo perfume and Vaseline Cocoa Radiant butter. She looks incredible in blue, specifically royal blue. Once she almost made my drama teacher cry because she wouldn’t let her into a school play I was performing in. Her favourite thing about the UK is the markets and she always hesitates a little bit before getting on an escalator. She speaks five languages and is the smartest woman I know.

She has five children of her own but she had her first child when she was 18. With a man who I only learned the name of recently, she doesn’t like to talk about him. She was the only girl child in her family who was allowed to go to school. She was diagnosed with dyslexia at 53. Her least favourite thing about the UK is the food and how mean people can be. Most of her family is still back in that village in Nigeria, she isn’t able to go back as often as she would like but she calls very often. She has had an extremely difficult life so that mine and my siblings would be easier.

I wrote and produced a play about my Mum because although she hasn’t saved all of Nigeria yet, she managed to save herself. I want people to hear this story because most of the time, when it comes to survival, there is no grandeur or big climax to reach that makes it all worth it. It is the choice to make it all worth it no matter what, even through pain. This money will go towards giving this beautiful play of memory, gentleness and change a second life in the Young, Gifted and Black 2025 season with Theatre Peckham.

Even the smallest contribution will help to continue telling this story and those who contribute will be given an official thank you in our programme for the show! Please donate if you can!

One more thing about my Mum: She really, really loves this play!