Media WriterA Tale of Two Woman playwright and actor Lisa Jackson, based in England, Nottingham, the stomping ground of the legendary Robin Hood, tells why she has managed to remain positive despite the crippling effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Like most people, particularly those in the creative arts, she has seen developmental plans dismantle, and income disappear.
Lisa explains:
“I’m always one to use my bible-based faith, as a sight to see the things unseen. And although it has been challenging financially and emotionally discouraging to watch plans derail, I am grateful for the subsistence and what the future holds.
A positive of Covid is the new decreased pace of life which I have really embraced. I have had more time to reflect on life in general and time, which I never had before, to search through computers to find and view the many pieces of film footage and photos from past live performances.
I can’t recall the amount of live performances I have delivered over the years. And it is sad to say the majority have never been documented or captured. So, I’m grateful to have captured, A’ Tale of Two Woman’, a play I wrote and performed to live audiences back in 2015. It’s a tragicomedy that reflects Jamaican patwa and explores the emotional and psychological issues involved in health and wellbeing, against a backdrop of Jamaican and British cultural identity and belonging.
Many people were involved in the development of the play and local women born in Jamaica shared their stories to inform the narrative. The many stories my grandmother told me about her life also inspired the play. She was born in Portland Cottage, Jamaica in 1932, and came to England in 1952. Unlike many of her generation she talked extensively about her life back in Jamaica and beyond.
She would have loved to have watched this play. Losing her in 2017 cuts me deeply. Like many of her generation, she would have been able to identify with it. Unfortunately, not many of her generation is left. This was another reason why I felt the need to get this play out of the computer and uploaded online. I want this play to resonate with those who have a shared experience and for them to talk and educate others, particularly family members. The voices from the past are helpful for informing the future.”
A Tale of Two Woman is a story of friendship, love, betrayal and loss. Two women, both of Jamaican heritage, one born in England the other in St Elisabeth Jamaica, who loved the same man. The play documents social history, and the perspectives of two black women with very different outlooks. One spiritual and the other physical. One who’s longing is for life in Jamaica the other in England.
The play, which was supported by the British Heart Foundation, the UKs largest Heart Health Charity, also explores how feelings and psychological and emotional issues can affect the way we look after ourselves, and therefore our health.
The play also explores health and wellbeing themes around Jamaican and British cultural identity and belonging, to reflect the ongoing work mon0lisa Productions is doing with the British Heart Foundation to raise awareness of heart health in Nottingham’s African Caribbean community.
For example, Lisa created the character of Patty Dumplin’ – a larger-than-life Jamaican lady, who has engaged communities throughout Nottingham with her humorous approach to heart health.
This work was part of the Hearts and Minds programme, 2012-2015, run by the British Heart Foundation in partnership with Nottingham community organisations, to tackle heart health in Nottingham’s Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities. And was the first programme of its kind in the UK outside London.
Ali Orhan, Project Manager (BME Communities) at the British Heart Foundation says:
“Lisa Jackson has worked tirelessly with Nottingham’s African-Caribbean communities to highlight their increased risk of high blood pressure, diabetes and stroke. Her inspiring play brings to life the very real struggles that thousands of people are living with each day and the relationship between our physical and emotional health.”
For more information about Lisa’s work visit:
https://mon0lisa.com/a-tale-of-two-woman.html
To watch ‘A Tale of Two Woman’
Review & Preview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Act 1 The Crematorium
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Act 2 Blossom’s Living Room
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
