Emma Dennis-Edwards’s new play, Not Your Superwoman is a world premiere production co-created by writer Emma Dennis Edwards and director Lynette Linton.
“In the aftermath of the death of their matriarch, Joyce and her daughter Erica struggle with what to do next. She was the glue that held everything together, so what now?
Joyce thought she’d set Erica up for a better life, given her everything she never had. But Erica wonders if – despite all the therapy – perhaps she is no different from her mum after all. Or her mum’s mum.
Maybe Joyce is right. Maybe they are cursed. Maybe they didn’t break the cycle. Maybe the cycle can never be broken.”
Where: Bush Theatre
When: to 1 November
Ticket link: https://www.bushtheatre.co.uk/
Not Your Superwoman is a family drama receiving its world premiere. How has the piece evolved since you first began writing it?
Yes, it has definitely evolved a great deal, particularly during the rehearsal process.
When you’re writing alone, the world of the play exists very much in your head and on the page, but once you bring in actors and a director, everything starts to shift and grow.
Their interpretations, questions, and instincts have really helped to shape the play – adding new layers of meaning, unexpected nuances, and emotional depth.
It’s been exciting to see how their input has flavoured and coloured the lines of the story, making it feel fuller and more alive than I could have imagined when I first began writing.
It’s a two-hander about mothers, expectations, and resilience. Where did the idea come from initially?
Becoming a mother myself was a huge inspiration for the story. Experiencing motherhood firsthand made me think about the everyday ways we navigate expectations, love, and sacrifice – the little moments that often go unnoticed but shape who we are.
I was also drawn to exploring the family dynamics of Caribbean women, the way resilience, humour, and strength exist alongside silence, pressure, and unspoken struggles.
I wanted the play to capture those contradictions, and to reflect experiences that feel deeply personal to me, but that I hope will resonate with others as well.
I first engaged with your work in the brilliant Funeral Flowers. Do you think the experience of being both writer and performer has informed your more recent work?
Absolutely. Performing in Funeral Flowers was such a formative experience for me.
Being both the writer and performer meant I could really inhabit the characters I’d created, and see how the words worked in real time with an audience.
There were moments in rehearsal and performance that completely surprised me – lines landing differently, emotions shifting in ways I hadn’t imagined – and that taught me so much about listening, timing, and presence.
Those lessons have stayed with me and continue to inform how I write now, especially in thinking about dialogue, character relationships, and how stories breathe on stage.
Has the Bush Theatre inspired you to try anything new in the venue?
Working in the space has made me really conscious of how the play reads in an intimate venue.
It’s made me focus on the small details – the way a line lands, the pauses, the energy between the actors and audience – because in a space like this, even subtle moments feel amplified.
So while the theatre hasn’t shaped the ideas themselves, it has shaped how we bring the story to life on stage.
How do you feel theatre in general engages with global majority voices? Can more be done to change the narrative?
I think theatre is beginning to engage more with global majority voices, but there’s still so much more to do.
Coming from a Caribbean background, I’ve seen how our stories – full of humour, resilience, and complexity – are often overlooked or simplified.
I’d love to see more investment in supporting artists from diverse backgrounds, not just giving them a platform, but trusting them to tell their stories fully and authentically.
For me, changing the narrative means creating spaces where voices like mine are central, where our experiences and perspectives are valued as part of the broader conversation, not on the margins.