and breathe...

★★★★
“This powerful tale of family grief is poetry in motion”
The Guardian

“A virtuoso performance from David Jonsson”
Evening Standard

★★★★
“Properly exquisite”
Time Out

“I was a bunch of O’s as if I was giving birth to this grief”

Though we sense the moods of those closest to us in breaths, are we really listening?

We think we are, and later we realise that we never heard a thing.

Centring on the loss of a beloved matriarch, and breathe… explores family relationships, bonding and culture. This deeply personal and poetic play tackles the unspoken, between what we leave unsaid to protect each other and how we internalise the world.

Yomi Ṣode is a Nigerian British writer, performer, and facilitator. He is a recipient of the Jerwood Compton Poetry fellowship 2019 and was recently shortlisted for the Brunel International African Poetry Prize 2021. He has read his work internationally at various festivals and performed his debut solo show (COAT) to sold-out audiences. His debut poetry collection, Manorism will be published in spring 2022 by Penguin Press.

This World Premiere production will be performed by actor David Jonsson (BBC2’s Industry) who was due to star in “Daddy” A Melodrama at the Almeida last year, and is directed by the Olivier Award-winning director Miranda Cromwell (Young Vic’s Death of a Salesman). Featuring music composed and performed live by Femi Temowo.