Kwami-Teye Canacoo is the writer/director of The Tenant’s Republic, the upcoming show at the Jack Studio, Brockley.
“In this satirical comedy, Donovan Pearce navigates the complications of relationships and unemployment, all whilst chasing the simple dream of doing what he loves for a living and trying to keep a roof over his head.
But getting in his way is his permanently neglectful landlord. So, Don decides to get his own back. Only what he didn’t expect was to cause a cold war in the process!”
Where: Jack Studio Theatre
When: 14-28 Oct
Ticket link: https://brockleyjack.co.uk/jackstudio-entry/the-tenants-republic/
Kwami tells us more about the show.
Your new satirical comedy, The Tenant’s Republic, opens next month. How did you come up with the idea and how did it develop?
The idea for The Tenant’s Republic has slowly come together over several years. Since I moved to London for university 8 years ago, I’ve had so many experiences involving bad landlords and estate agents, and so have most people I know!
Whilst living in a house-share with some friends, we joked about withholding rent and barricading ourselves in the property until the landlord agreed to fix a hole in our roof that was leaking through the property.
That joke sparked something, and I started running with the idea- someone going to extreme lengths in order to prove a point, and get their own back on their landlord.
Why should audiences choose to come along to your show and what might they expect?
I think audiences should come along as it’s a topic that is very relevant right now. There have been a couple of news stories and discussions in parliament on the subjects that come up in the play.
I think it’ll be very relatable to a lot of people. London is full of people who aren’t local and at one point or another have had to rent.
And above all they can expect to have a laugh and a good time. It’s a satirical comedy, so you can expect a lot of sarcasm and witty humour.
Tell me a bit about Burstellar Productions. How did you start, and what kind of stories do you aim to tell?
After a long time of getting nowhere, often getting no response from various applications, I decided that I wanted to do something myself, instead of waiting around for somebody else to take on my writing and produce it.
So I started Burstellar Productions after finishing writing my play Black Voice, White Noise, with a plan to produce it that same year. For the first show I was extremely happy with how it went.
The Tenant’s Republic is the second show for the company, and I’m really excited to see what people think.
Going forward, the view is to tell more stories that are important within society and that maybe haven’t had much of a light yet shed on it.
What’s next for the show?
Depending on the success of our run at The Jack Studio, the aim is to take the show on for another longer run wherever will have us!
Obviously, financial restraints can be a stumbling block, but if we can get the funds we’d love to do it again and for longer.