Join X-BAG for an unrehearsed reading of Pressure by Danny Bailey.
Pressure. Injustice. Silence. Riot. Change. The equation for revolution in Britain for centuries. A tool for the people to stand up and be heard. But what is the true cost of riot, when you’re Black and British in 1981, when the country stays silent and the pressure continues?
This play, fuelled by the poetic revolution of lovers rock and pulse of a dub sound-system, questions how riot has impacted Black British identity. If riot is the language of the oppressed, what happens to the oppressed when they are silenced? And if riot is revolution, where can we riot in our own lives?
X-BAG is a Black-led play reading and networking group of Black actors and creatives. We get together and have plays read by some of the UK’s finest actors. The plays are new, old and some undiscovered gems by Black writers from around the world. After the readings we hold a safe space where those who listened and those who read can share their thoughts and feelings.
The X-BAG team consists of Danielle Kassaraté, Ako Mitchell, Rachael Nanyonjo and Simon-Anthony Rhoden.
Originally from Hackney, Danny Bailey uses his Afro-Caribbean background as a creative vocabulary to challenge issues regarding race, sexuality, gender, faith and politics, through playwriting, performance, filmmaking, digital art and community building. He is also the founder of @ThePalaceOfTheDogs where he aims to put B(L)ACK Art into the centre of society.
Pressure is a play he began developing at the Soho Writers’ Lab 2022, which he continues to develop along with his other writing, Finding Olokun.
