Madani Younis and Lucie Pankhurst in rehearsals for Leave Taking at the Bush Theatre © Helen Murray
In Deptford, Del and Viv are soul-sick. Del doesn’t want to be at home – staying out late, 3pm-the-next-day late, is more her thing. Viv scours her school books trying to find a trace of herself between their lines.
When Enid takes her daughters to the local ‘obeah’ woman for some traditional Caribbean soul healing, secrets are spilled. There’s no turning back for Del, Viv and Enid as they negotiate the frictions between their countries and cultures.
Two generations. Three incredible women. Leave Taking is one epic story of what we leave behind in order to find home.
Madani Younis (The Royale) directs the contemporary revival of Winsome Pinnock’s classic, award-winning play.
Anna is a freelance casting director. She started work at the Almeida Theatre in 2003 & works independently – largely in theatre. For the last 6 years, she has worked as an Associate to Toby Whale, across TV, film & theatre projects. As Casting Director, recent theatre includes: A Number (Nuffield/Young Vic), Tonight at 8.30, The Hudsucker Proxy (Nuffield) and Multitudes (Tricycle). As Associate to Toby Whale, TV includes: Capital, Doc Martin, Arthur & George, Atlantis. Film includes: The Lady in the Van and Belle.
Ed Clarke has previously worked at the Bush Theatre on The Royale, The Invisible, Perseverance Drive and Fear.
His other theatre credits include: All We Ever Wanted Was Everything (Middle Child Theatre); A Super Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad); (Silent Uproar), A Christmas Carol and A Short History Of Tractors In Ukrainian (Hull Truck Theatre); Showboat (New London Theatre); The Infidel (Theatre Royal Stratford East); Orpheus (Little Bulb Theatre at BAC and worldwide); Baddies (Unicorn Theatre); The Realness, Politrix, Phoenix, KnifeEdge and Babylon (The Big House); Beauty and the Beast (Young Vic and worldwide); Danny Boyle’s Frankenstein (Olivier, National Theatre – Olivier Award nomination 2012); Backbeat (Duke of York’s Theatre); The Mysteries and The Good Hope (National Theatre); The Railway Children (Waterloo International Station and Roundhouse Theatre Toronto); Fatal Attraction (Theatre Royal Haymarket); His Teeth (Only Connect Theatre); Baby Doll (Albery Theatre); Alex (Arts Theatre, UK and international tour); Old Times, A Doll’s House (Donmar Warehouse).
Lucie Pankhurst trained at Arts Educational School and London School of Contemporary Dance. Previous credits at the Bush include The Royale. Her theatre credits include: Liver Birds Flying Home (Royal Court Liverpool); Old Fools, Dogfight (Southwark Playhouse); Toxic Avenger (Southwark Playhouse/Edinburgh Festival/Arts Theatre); Sweet Charity (NYMT at the Curve Theatre); Horrible Histories Prom (Royal Albert Hall and televised); Troilus and Cressida (National Theatre); Drowning Point (BlueGreen Productions/Edinburgh Festival/ Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre).
She was assistant choreographer to Arlene Philips for the original choreography of We Will Rock You. She devised, directed and choreographed About Kissing and Lyrical Request for Robin Howard Dance Theatre.
For television her credits include: series choreographer for Horrible Histories, Sadie J and Bad Education, Catherine Tates’ Nan Special, Watson and Oliver, The Omid Djalili Show, Dead Boss, Caroline Quentins’ Little Cracker, Pompidou and the Goodness Gracious Me Reunion Show. Films credits include work for Pate, Disney and Universal and commercials for RSA, Homecorps and Hungryman.
Madani took over as Artistic Director of the Bush Theatre in 2012. He directed the critically acclaimed UK premiere of The Royale in 2015 which was revived in 2016. In 2013 he won the Groucho Club Maverick Award for the theatre, following the most successful season in the theatre’s history which played to 99% capacity. Also for the Bush Theatre he has directed The Principles of Cartography as part of Black Lives, Black Words, Zaida and Aadam as part of This Place We Know, Perseverance Drive and Chalet Lines.
Madani is currently working as a member of the Mayor of London’s Cultural Board.
Prior to his appointment at the Bush Theatre, he was Artistic Director of Freedom Studios in Bradford, Yorkshire where his work included the site-specific work, The Mill – City of Dreams. He has also worked nationally and internationally as a theatre director, writer and practitioner. He was previously Director of Red Ladder Theatre Company’s Asian Theatre School where he directed included Silent Cry, Free World and Streets of Rope.
He originally trained in film, and his debut short film Ellabellapumpanella, commissioned by the UK Film Council, was screened at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2007. He was the recipient of the Decibel Award at the South Bank Awards show in 2006.
Omar is an award winning Italian/Palestinian theatre director, deviser and performer, who trained at Jacques Lecoq International Theatre School in Paris. He joined the Bush in 2012 alongside Madani Younis and since then has been the resident Associate Director. He is in charge of the Bush’s talent development, leading on the Associate Artists and Project 2036 schemes. He is also involved in the development and delivery of the Bush’s artistic program and lead the programming of the RADAR festival between 2012 and 2015. His directing credits for the Bush include gig theatre sensation Misty by Arinzé Kene, the Edinburgh Fringe First winning NASSIM by Nassim Soleimanpour, One Cold Dark Night by Nancy Harris and Islands by Caroline Horton. As Associate Director, he has worked alongside Madani Younis on the Bush’s productions of The Royale, Perseverance Drive and Chalet Lines. Other credits include acclaimed site-specific production The Mill – City of Dreams, Olivier Award nominated You’re Not Like The Other Girls Chrissy, Testa di Rame (Italy), Les P’tites Grandes Choses (France) and L’Envers du Décor (France).
RC-Annie Ltd, established in 2005 by Rachel Bown-Williams and Ruth Cooper-Brown, is the UK’s leading Dramatic Violence Company. Previous credits at the Bush Theatre include Hir and Boys Will Be Boys.
Other theatre credits include: Girl on a Train, Sunshine on Leith, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Barnbow Canaries, Great Expectations, Richard III (West Yorkshire Playhouse); A Monster Calls (The Old Vic); A Clockwork Orange (Liverpool Everyman); The Duchess of Malfi, Salome, Snow in Midsummer; The Famous Victories of Henry V (The RSC); The Secret Theatre, Boudica, Lions and Tigers, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, The White Devil, Comus and Imogen (Shakespeare’s Globe); The Little Matchgirl (Bristol Old Vic/Shakespeare’s Globe); Common, Ugly Lies the Bone, Peter Pan, The Threepenny Opera, Cleansed (National Theatre); The James Plays (National Theatre of Scotland/Edinburgh International Festival).
Rosanna Vize trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School as a theatre designer. She has worked regularly as an assistant to Anna Fleischle and was the resident design assistant for the RSC from Sep 2014 – Sep 2015. She was a Linbury Prize Finalist in 2013 working with English Touring Opera and is currently one of the Jerwood Young Designers.
Theatre includes: King Lear (Shakespeare’s Globe, Dir: Nancy Meckler), The Phlebotomist (Hampstead Theatre), Hedda Gabler (Sherman Theatre), The Earthworks & Myth (Royal Shakespeare Company), The Almighty Sometimes (Royal Exchange Manchester), Yous Two and The Phlebotomist (Hampstead Theatre), Henry I (Reading Between the Lines), Girls (Soho Theatre, Hightide & Talawa Theatre), FUP, Noye’s Fludde (Kneehigh Theatre), Dark Land Lighthouse, St Joan of the Stockyards, A Thousand Seasons Passed, The Tinder Box, The Last Days of Mankind, Talon (Bristol Old Vic), Diary of a Madman, The Rise and Shine of Comrade Fiasco (Gate Theatre), Infinite Lives, Coastal Defenses (Tobacco Factory Theatres), Banksy: The Room in the Elephant (Tobacco Factory Theatre and Traverse Theatre), Edward Gants Amazing Feats of Loneliness, Wicked Lady (Bristol Old Vic Theatre School), The Picture of John Grey (The Old Red Lion), Measure for Measure (Oxford School of Drama).
Opera includes: Don Giovanni (Hampstead Garden Opera), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (RSC & Garsington Opera).
Winsome Pinnock is a playwright and academic who was born in London to parents who were both migrants from Jamaica.
Her theatre credits include: The Principles of Cartography (Bush Theatre); Tituba (Hampstead Theatre); Cleaning Up, Taken (Clean Break at Ovalhouse Theatre); IDP, One Under, Water (Tricycle Theatre); The Stowaway (Plymouth Theatre); Beg Borrow or Steal (Kuumba Community Arts Centre), Mules, Water, A Hero’s Welcome, A Rock in Water (Royal Court Theatre); Can you Keep a Secret? (NT Connections), Leave Taking (Liverpool Playhouse Theatre); The Wind of Change (Half Moon Theatre), Picture Palace (Women’s Theatre Group). Radio plays include: Clean Trade (Radio 4); Lazarus (BBC Radio 3); Her Father’s Daughter (BBC Radio 4); Let Them Call it Jazz (adapted from Jean Rhys’ short story, BBC Radio 4); Indiana (adapted from novel by George Sand); The Dinner Party (BBC Radio 4); Something Borrowed (BBC Radio 4) and Water (BBC Radio 4). She co-wrote the screenplay Bitter Harvest.
Awards include the George Devine Award; Pearson Plays on Stage Scheme best play of the year Award; Unity Trust Theatre Award. She was also runner-up for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. She was Senior Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University and writer in residence at Holloway Prison, Clean Break Theatre Company, Royal Court Theatre, Kuumba Arts Community Centre, Tricycle Theatre, and the National Theatre Studio. She is currently Associate Professor at Kingston University.
