Casting for Little Miss Burden announced

Mashing together some serious '90s nostalgia, a Nigerian family in East London and Sailor Moon, Matilda Ibini's new play - Little Miss Burden - draws on her experiences as a teenager to tell the tricky, but often funny truth about growing up with a physical impairment.

The show will be at The Bunker from 3 to 21 December 2019, directed by Debbie Hannan and presented by Harts Theatre Company.

(From left) Michelle Tiwo, Saida Ahmed, Ani Nelson

Casting has now been announced ...

Saida Ahmed (My Favourite, AppleCart Theatre; The Glass Menagerie, Arcola Theatre; Medusa, Fusion Theatre) takes the role of Little Miss.

Michelle Tiwo (Ackee and Saltfish, BBC 3; Parakeet, Boundless/Boom Shakalaka Productions; And The Rest of Me Floats, Bush Theatre) is Big Sis, and

Ani Nelson (The Trick, Bush Theatre; Abigail's Party, Hull Truck Theatre; Roadkill, Channel 4) rounds off the cast as Little Sis.

Director Debbie Hannan said ...

"We've assembled a brilliant cast who have been diving deep into the play with commitment, humour and some excellent dance moves.

It's exciting and challenging to direct what feels like a truly new kind of story, and working with a writer as talented and insightful as Matilda has been a total joy."

De-mystifying the stereotypes and tropes of disabilities, Little Miss Burden provides a crucial platform for disabled people's voices, lives and stories to be heard.

This is not a triumphant tale about overcoming a disability, but rather a meaningful and refreshing story of acceptance and understanding, of love and survival.

Little Miss Burden follows a trio of sisters as Little Miss learns to understand her disability and how to live with it as part of her.

Writer Matilda Ibini said ...

"The story of Little Miss Burden has been a long time coming.

It felt apt to tell the story of a black disabled woman growing up in the UK at a time when a) the government is actively decimating disabled lives via stringent cuts to benefits and welfare and b) at a time when the country is calling into question its identity and in its crisis is scapegoating immigrants.

I think the story of someone rejecting the labels and assumptions put on them is needed.

If I was ever going to write about the disabled experience it was always going to be on my own terms i.e. magical realist as fuck, brutally honest and funny, because there is always light to be found in the darkest of worlds.

And how existing at all these intersections isn't a life sentence or a tragedy but a key to freedom."

Show listing information