Q&A with Chinonyerem Odimba

Chinonyerem Odimba is Artistic Director of tiata fahodzi who are co-producing cheeky little brown with us this autumn. But back in 2019, Chino was busy opening her latest play in the Weston Studio – Princess and the Hustler (co-produced with Eclipse Theatre) - which centered on a Black Bristolian family during the Bristol Bus Boycott.

This month marks the 60th anniversary of the Bristol Bus Boycott and we look back at a chat we had with Chino where she talks about her reasons for writing the play and why it is still important to tell these stories today. 

Tell us about the story - What thoughts or emotions would you like to send audiences away with?

The play centers around a family. And within that family is a young girl full of hopes and dreams like any other young girl. Princess being from a Black family is only relevant because we get to see what I like to call ‘Black girl joy’. A girl living for her dreams. But for Princess holding onto those dreams at this particular time in British/Bristol history is not that easy. 

So as well as audiences having fun with Princess and her family, I want them to really engage with what some of the Black families in Bristol would have faced. 

Tell us where the spark for the story came from.

I wanted a story that was rooted in Bristol because it has been my home for 20 years. The story really came from that initial thought, but then I started to think about the history of Bristol in relation to its Black history and how today we see so many people who lived through some very big moments in this history. Paul Stephenson, Alfred Fagon, and Princess Campbell – the first Black ward Sister in any hospital in Bristol. I got to meet and interview Mrs Campbell several times whilst working at BBC Radio Bristol. Princess Campbell was such an amazing woman and for me symbolises some of the real heroes/heroines of the city. I named my main character Princess for this reason.

Princess & The Hustler is set against the backdrop of the 1963 Bristol Bus Boycott. Why did you choose this particular event?

I was initially unsure about taking on the Bristol Bus Boycott story. I felt that many people were also trying to tell the story. I had known, talked to and interviewed Paul Stephenson many times, and if I’m honest, I was a little scared of not doing the story justice. However when I started to talk about it as an event in Bristol and British history, I realised that actually there are still lots of people who don’t know that story. Yet it is a national story because it is a story of the emergence of a Black civil rights movement in the UK and led to the first Race Equalities Act in this country.  It suddenly felt important to tell it and to tell it in a way that we could all understand – how it affects us personally.

How does the Bus Boycott influence the lives of the characters and the plot

The bus boycott is in one way a catalyst for all the characters to come to some understanding of how they can create a future in Bristol. How they work and live in this country, and how they find a voice to fight the racial injustice they are faced with.

How does Princess' own world collide with the wider socio-political landscape? What thoughts or emotions would you like to send audiences away with?

The play centers around a family. And within that family is a young girl full of hopes and dreams like any other young girl. Princess being from a Black family is only relevant because we get to see what I like to call ‘Black girl joy’. A girl living for her dreams. But for Princess holding onto those dreams at this particular time in British/ Bristol history is not that easy. So as well as audiences having fun with Princess and her family, I want them to really engage with what some of the Black families in Bristol would have faced.