Blacktress UK came out of many conversations and sister meet-ups about tokenism and the effects it can have being the only one. The feelings of isolation and lack of visibility and inclusion in often white spaces within Drama School, rehearsal rooms and across the industry. This has created a culture of silence amongst Womxn out of fear of never being hired or thinking it was in their heads and a real lack of validation in their own experience. We are here, queer, varied across generations in every shade and hue, heritage spanning across the whole of the UK and the globe with varied accents, dialects, languages, cultural practises and faiths.

“Without community, there is no liberation... but community must not mean a shedding of our differences, nor the pathetic pretense that these differences do not exist.”Audre Lorde

Blacktress UK hosted their first meeting called A Seat At The Table 29th March 2017 at Jamaican restaurant Mr Jerks on Wardour Street in celebration of Womxns History Month. There, sixteen self-identified Black Womxn actors from different generations came together, ate food, shared stories and started a love journey of listening and sharing.

Projects we are proud of include:

The Sage Club was a theatre trip for Black elders and their chaperones to watch Small Island originally by Andrea Levy at the National Theatre.We had a total of 70 elders looking slick, taking up space and photographed by award winning photographer Myah Jeffers.

The Blacktress Season was a 12 week residency in the John Thaw Studio at the Actors Centre. 19 different scripts written by Black Womxn. Many of the projects have gone on to have lives at The Vault festival and Soho Theatre.The season was supprted by a small Army of Blacktress Ambassadors of all genders and backgrounds.True community and allieship.

Spark workshops independently held at the Actors Centre and in partnership with Tiata Fahodzi and Talawa Theatre company all lead by our team of bad ass facilitators.All the workshops focus on a wholistic practise of exploring the intersections of artist,story teller, womxn and being of the African diaspora.

We cherish those that have paved the way within our community. They have not only survived but thrived as powerhouses. Our special guests so far have been Sharon D Clarke MBE, Rakie Ayola and Angela Wynter.

We want to empower by building community where healing and creativity is held in equal balance.

This money

This will go towards paying our facilitators that lead Spark workshops that we want to keep affordable.

Blacktress wants to become more accessible and so having BSL interpreters at every event to support our growing community is vital to our growth.

Creating courses to take into dramaschools that are adaptable to all genders

The day to day administration and marketing.

To expand our events outside London

Expenses covered for our volunteers

Just giving costs

Please follow our journey @blacktress_uk
http://blacktress.co.uk/what-we-do.html

Thanks for what ever you can give

The Blacktress UK Team
We raise vibrations

blacktress.co.uk