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A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE
Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 5w, 5m
By Zadie Smith
Translated from the Chaucerian into North Weezian
A proper local legend. Married five times. Mother. Lover. Aunt. Friend. Alvita will tell her life story to anyone in the pub – there’s no shame in her game. The question is: are you ready to hear it?
A proper local legend. Married five times. Mother. Lover. Aunt. Friend. Alvita will tell her life story to anyone in the pub – there’s no shame in her game. The question is: are you ready to hear it? Because this woman’s got the gift of the gab: she can rewrite mistakes into triumphs, turn pain into parables, and her love life’s an epic poem. They call her The Wife of Willesden…
A play that celebrates the human knack for telling elaborate tales, especially about our own lives. Critically acclaimed, multi-award winning, best-selling author Zadie Smith’s The Wife of Willesden transports Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath to 21st-century Northwest London.
The Wife of Willesden debuted off the West End at The Kiln Theatre on 11 November 2021, in a critically-acclaimed production starring Clare Perkins as Alvita. It then toured the US in spring 2023, with performances at the American Repertory Theater in Boston, MA and the Brooklyn Academy of Music in NYC.
ALVITA, THE WIFE OF WILLESDEN – A Jamaican-born British woman in her mid-fiftiesAUTHOR – A Brown woman in a headwrap PUBLICAN POLLY – The woman who runs the Colin Campbell pub AUNTIE P – Alvita’s churchgoing aunt PASTOR JEGEDE – A Nigerian minister at a North London megachurch KELLY – Alvita’s very shy niece HUSBAND NO. 1, IAN – An older, white Englishman HUSBAND NO. 2, WINSTON – A Rastaman HUSBAND NO. 3, DARREN – A young, good-looking bwoy HUSBAND NO. 4, ELRIDGE – A well-to-do gentleman in his fifties, of Caribbean heritageHUSBAND NO. 5, RYAN – A Scottish student doing his Masters GOD ST PAUL BLACK JESUS ZAIRE – Alvita’s best friend COLIN – A charity chugger in his early twenties SOPHIE – Colin’s fiancée NELSON MANDELA ASMA – Local rebel wife SOCRATES ERIPHYLE – A bad wife of legend ARRIUS – A vengeful husband of legend BARTOSZ – A local bailiff STAGEHAND 1 – A child STAGEHAND 2 – A child QUEEN NANNY – Our Maroon hero of Old Jamaica YOUNG MAROON – A soldier in Queen Nanny’s army OLD WIFE – An Obeah woman of advanced years
Doubling:The actor who plays RYAN also plays COLINThe actor who plays ASMA also plays KELLYThe actor who plays AUTHOR also plays ZAIRE, ERIPHYLE and QUEEN NANNYThe actor who plays PUBLICAN POLLY also plays GOD and SOPHIEThe actor who plays AUNTIE P also plays OLD WIFEThe actor who plays PASTOR JEGEDE also plays HUSBAND ELRIDGEThe actor who plays HUSBAND IAN also plays ST PAUL, SOCRATES, ARRIUS and BARTOSZThe actor who plays HUSBAND DARREN also plays YOUNG MAROONThe actor who plays HUSBAND WINSTON also plays BLACK JESUS and NELSON MANDELA
Incidental characters and choruses are played by members of the cast.
Doubling:The actor who plays RYAN also plays COLINThe actor who plays ASMA also plays KELLYThe actor who plays AUTHOR also plays ZAIRE, ERIPHYLE and QUEEN NANNYThe actor who plays PUBLICAN POLLY also plays GOD and SOPHIEThe actor who plays AUNTIE P also plays OLD WIFEThe actor who plays PASTOR JEGEDE also plays HUSBAND ELRIDGEThe actor who plays HUSBAND IAN also plays ST. PAUL, SOCRATES, ARRIUS and BARTOSZThe actor who plays HUSBAND DARREN also plays YOUNG MAROONThe actor who plays HUSBAND WINSTON also plays BLACK JESUS and NELSON MANDELA
Kilburn High Road. Summer 2022.
“Simply outstanding.” – Broadway World
“Smith took on the challenge of constructing The Wife of Willesden in rhyming couplets, and... succeeded: There’s a vitality to the verse dialogue... it seldom feels glib or forced.” – Boston Globe
“Zadie Smith’s updated Chaucerian tale has a spring in its step and a twinkle in its eye.” – ArtsDesk
“Stylistically, it’s joyfully Brechtian and wickedly crude.” – Culture Whisper
The Wife of Willesden – Kiln Theatre Trailer
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