In 2016 it was announced that afshan was one of 16 writers selected by Eclipse Theatre for their Revolution Mix programme
The three-year Revolution Mix plan will comprise a series of mid-scale tours, two small-scale tours, two films and a series of radio dramas.
Project organisers Eclipse Theatre Company said it would be “the largest ever national delivery of black British stories in regional theatres”.
Sheffield Theatres and Birmingham Repertory Theatre are also confirmed to take part in the scheme, alongside the Royal Exchange in Manchester, Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse, Hull Truck Theatre, the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry, Salisbury Playhouse and Northern Stage.
Dawn Walton, Eclipse’s artistic director, said the goal of Revolution Mix was to “enrich the canon of British theatre with the missing black British story”.
“Our starting point was to identify the under-utilised black writing talent that already exists across our regions,” she explained. “We were inundated with quality applications. Now we are ready to begin.”
The project will feature the work of 16 writers including Bruntwood Prize winner Janice Okoh, rapper Akala and actor Tyrone Huggins.
Explaining his involvement, Huggins said: “I have long been concerned that the performing arts in Britain are happy to appropriate stories from cultures outside its shores, and very resistant to cracking open the stories that tell us who we are as a nation and how our culture got to where it is now. This is a chance to generate a broad body of work in one movement”.
West Yorkshire Playhouse’s artistic director James Brining added the project was a “terrific opportunity” to explore the talent of new playwrights from diverse backgrounds.
Other writers contributing alongside Afshan D’souza-lodhi towards Revolution Mix include Luke Bailey, Perrie Balthazar, Maurice Bessman, Juliet Gilkes Romero, Lorna French and Leah Chillery.
The line-up is completed by Archie Maddocks, Zodwa Nyoni, Chino Odimba, Shamser Sinha and Paul B Stanic.