MA Performance graduate set for live theatre return in one-woman show

PER-SO-NA is an audacious one-woman show about a Yorùba Nigerian girl that isn’t so Nigerian. It playfully unpacks clashing identities of what it means to be a not-so-typical Yorùba Nigerian girl; tough, vulnerable, woke, traditional and queer. Combining identity, food and contemporary art. The bilingual performance explores what it means to be multi-dimensional. 

MA Performance graduate Kafayat is a Yoruba artist based in Bradford. Their work often touches on concepts including the feminine body, identity, intimacy, pleasure, borders, ecofeminism and consumerism. 

Kafayat already has an impressive list of TV credits under their belt including the BBC’s Years and Years and working alongside director Steve McQueen. They have also collaborated with two-time Grammy award winner Lekan Babalola to curate a jazz percussion/poetry rendition of mythical arts. 

Kafayat has recently been awarded the Develop Your Creative Practice fund, an Arts Council England fund aimed at supporting creative practitioners who want to take time to focus on their creative development.

Ahead of the performance on one of the county’s most prestigious stages, Kafayat said: “Live theatre is back. My one-woman show PER-SO-NA is presenting a version of a stereotype in order to then break it apart. 

“As an artist, my signature technique of Generation, Improvisation and Critique was better honed at LBU. The university prepped me for the harsh critic-world in performance, and I am grateful for that. The lecturers I was fortunate to have were tough ones, exactly what I needed, I couldn't have wished for it any other way.”

Kafayat's performance will be held at the Crucible on Friday 28 May at 19:30, watch the trailer here.