Chiaroscuro

About

A Bush Theatre Production
I want to find it all now
know our names know the others in history
so many women have been lost at sea
so many stories have been swept away

Chiaroscuro: (noun) the treatment of light and shade in drawing and painting.

Four women take up their instruments. The recording light switches to on.

Aisha, Yomi, Beth and Opal couldn’t be more different, but they’re all looking for an answer to the same question. Does it lie in Aisha’s childhood? Or in Beth and Opal’s new romance? Who will tell them who they really are?

Soulful live music and spoken word collide in this bold reimagining of Scottish National Poet Jackie Kay’s 1986 masterpiece.  Directed by Lynette Linton (Sweat, Richard II), Chiaroscuro is a celebration of queer women of colour across generations set to a breathtaking score by Shiloh Coke.

“Joyful and poignant”
Evening Standard ★★★★★

“The performances are exquisite”
Within Her Words ★★★★★

“Exceptionally tender”
Time Out ★★★★

Chiaroscuro is the final edition in the Passing the Baton series, following the acclaimed revivals of Winsome Pinnock’s Leave Taking (2018) and Caryl Phillips’ Strange Fruit (2019).