BLOOD AND GOLD: A GIFT OF STORIES

A unique and original fusion of African and Scottish cultures, exploring the themes of identity, colonialism and grief, based on Mara Menzies’s acclaimed storytelling performance which premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2019. Jeda is a girl on the cusp of adulthood, living in Edinburgh; with a white father and a black mother, she feels self-conscious and out of place. Her feelings of alienation allow the stories of the shapeshifting Shadowman, who embodies all that is negative, to feed on her doubts and insecurities. The death of her mother, Rahami, gives the Shadowman an opportunity to control Jeda through her grief and his lies, but her mother's last gift to her daughter was a box of stories. When the box is flung open, the stories escape, setting in motion an incredible journey. Filled with tragedy, wonder and magic, Blood and Gold explores the themes of loss and oppression, while asking us to examine our own identities, attitudes, and humanity.