08 Sep 2022
Come dine with us at Rice & Peas, a food and immersive theatre experience
Countdown to Blueprint
A pop-up restaurant inside Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch is the venue for Rice & Peas, the first major production from theatre company Blouse & Skirt! from Monday 19 September to Saturday 24 September.
In an immersive West Indian dining and theatre experience, audiences seated at tables will be served a three-course menu created by Executive Chef Jon Bentham (former head chef for Gary Rhodes), while the story of Figgy and Edith, a couple from the Windrush generation, unfolds in three acts.
Written and directed by Mia Jerome, who is Artistic Director of Blouse & Skirt!, Rice & Peas opens in 1970. The setting is the Caribbean family restaurant that Figgy and Edith opened where celebrations are underway for its 10th anniversary.
Filling the theatre with the tastes and smells of the Caribbean, the menu will include Green Fig Salad, Ground Provision Oil Down, Rice & Peas, Macaroni & Cheese, Grenada Spice Cake & Vanilla Ice Cream. (Dishes may be subject to change, and an optional vegan menu will be available.)
As the audience are served, they are transported back in time and place, to 1948 Grenada and the night before Figgy is due to board The Empire Windrush for Britain, leaving Edith behind. Over the course of the meal, their story of being separated, reunited and finally making their life in London is told.
Damian Lynch (The Split, BBC) played Figgy in the short run of Rice & Peas at Metal Culture, Southend-on-Sea, in April this year, and now returns to the role.
Damian says: “I’m delighted to be playing Figgy again in Rice & Peas and bringing such an important part of our history to the Blueprint Festival. As an actor of Caribbean heritage, I'm honoured to be able to bring Figgy's story to life in such a unique and exciting way. I was born in East London so it feels like I'm coming home!”
Also returning, in the role of Edith, is Nicole Dayes (Phoenix, The Big House Theatre Company) and Khrystalle Moriah as Marion (Performance Preparation Acadamy graduate).
New to the cast are JD Hunt as Marcus (Who Cares?, ITV); and Daiyaan Simeon as Michael (Identity School Of Acting Talent graduate).
Mia Jerome founded Blouse & Skirt Theatre Company in 2021 to celebrate stories, songs, performers and puppets from the African-Caribbean diaspora. She studied Creative Writing and Television at Kingston University and trained as an actress and theatre maker at Fourth Monkey Theatre Company.
Mia (Writer, Director, and Producer), and Jon (Executive Chief), will be joined by Luke Circus as Senior Sous Chef, Simon George as Commis Chef, Anne Odeke as Dramaturg, and Wesley Laing as Sound Designer.
Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch has been supporting development of Rice & Peas for the past year, before programming this production as part of the Blueprint festival. Mia says, “It is wonderful to be on the roster with so many exciting artists in this festival. I can’t wait to see the Theatre transformed into a space for experimentation.”
★★★★★ “Mia Jerome’s ‘Rice and Peas’ sets the bar astronomically high for concept of immersive theatre and it will be an experience I will be pondering on for a while to come.” Alwaystimefortheatre.com
“A clever, meticulously thought out experience with a great atmosphere established, I highly recommend!” Theatrefullstop.com
Blueprint: a festival of new ideas has something for everyone. Two weeks of 12 exciting events inside and outside the theatre using every available space from the rooftop to the basement and carpark – with new writing, immersive experiences, a scratch night, culinary delights, promenade performances, Essex stories, accessible performances, DJ Chinaman and more. Most events are £5 plus 65p QNext Fee and some are free.
Tickets for Rice & Peas are £38. Rice and Peas runs from 19 - 24 Sep. For more details about Rice & Pease and the full programme of the Blueprint Festival, click here. Blueprint runs from 12 – 24 September.
