BiBi Crew
BiBi Crew, founded in 1991, was the first British comedy troupe to consist entirely of Black actresses.[1][2] Their work focuses on the Black British experience.
History[edit]
In 1991, Joanne Campbell, Judith Jacob, Janet Kay, Suzette Llewellyn, Josephine Melville, Beverley Michaels and Suzanne Packer founded BiBi Crew in London.[1] According to Jacob and Michaels, the group was founded in response to The Posse, a comedy group made up of Black actors.[3][4] Michaels saw the troupe perform and thought "there should be a group of women doing this" and contacted the other women involved.[3] Campbell has stated that the group formed after a memorial benefit at the Theatre Royal Stratford East to celebrate the life of actor Calvin Simpson, in which a few of the troupe members participated.[5]
The troupe's name combines the word for lady in Swahili and Urdu, with the use of the word crew, which was popular with American music groups,[3] and which the group thought gave them some "street cred".[5] They were all of "Caribbean descent",[6] and "devised and produced work with an African Caribbean perspective" that drew on their personal experiences.[1]:74 They wrote, directed, produced and acted in their productions, which combined music, dance, drama and sketch comedy[1]:44 They were regular performers at the Theatre Royal Stratford East and contributed to the theatre's mission to reflect the diversity of Newham where it was located.[2]:305 They also toured throughout the United Kingdom and United States.[7]:20
Reunion[edit]
BiBi Crew reunited in 2005 without Campbell, who died in 2002, and Kay, who was pursuing a career in music.[8]
Legacy[edit]
They contributed to the emergence of a black comedy circuit in Britain in the 1990s.[9][10] Along with groups such as The Posse, they "introduced a new energized performance style into diasporic theatre in the early 1990s that was breaking away from old categories and attracting a black audience with sketch-like material, often highly political, rooted in common experience"[11]:195 Additionally, their performances at the Theatre Royal Stratford East helped to inspire the subsequent Asian revue series.[7]:20
Productions[edit]
- On A Level (1992), Theatre Royal Stratford East[12][13]
- But Stop! We Got Work To Do (1995), Bloomsbury Theatre[14]
- Shut Down (2017), Hackney Picturehouse
- Get Raunchy (2018), Bernie Grant Arts Centre
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d Abram, Nicola (2020), Abram, Nicola (ed.), "Theatre of Black Women", Black British Women's Theatre: Intersectionality, Archives, Aesthetics, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 23–84, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-51459-4_2, ISBN 978-3-030-51459-4, S2CID 226651462, retrieved 2020-10-28
- ^ a b Donnell, Alison (2002-09-11). Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-70025-7.
- ^ a b c Porter, Toby (2018-07-20). "Writer and producer Beverley Michaels, talks about her upcoming show at The Albany Deptford". South London News. Retrieved 2020-10-28.
- ^ "Judith Jacob (The Raunchy Interview)", Ebony Online, 2017-10-12.
- ^ a b "The BiBi Crew". The Late Show, BBC2, 1992.
- ^ "Suzanne Packer talks about her time in comedy group The Bibi Crew". The Sian Williams Interview, BBC One, 2014-04-23.
- ^ a b Ikoli, Tunde (1998-08-26). Scrape off the Black. Oberon Books. ISBN 978-1-84943-892-6.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "About BiBi Crew. Story of BiBi Crew making people think and laugh". mysite. Retrieved 2020-10-28.
- ^ Starck, Kathleen (2006). "'Black and female is some of who I am and I want to explore it': black women's plays of the 1980s and 1990s". Studies in Theatre and Performance. 26 (1): 49–67. doi:10.1386/stap.26.1.49/1. ISSN 1468-2761. S2CID 194089831.
- ^ Aston, Elaine; Janelle, Reinett; Reinelt, Janelle (2000). The Cambridge Companion to Modern British Women Playwrights. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-59533-9.
- ^ Chambers, Colin (2020-12-18). Black and Asian Theatre In Britain: A History. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-21689-5.
- ^ Gardner, Lyn (27 May 1993). "Arts: Giggers with attitude". The Guardian.
- ^ "On A Level | BPA". www.blackplaysarchive.org.uk. Retrieved 2020-10-28.
- ^ "But Stop! We Got Work To Do | BPA". www.blackplaysarchive.org.uk. Retrieved 2020-10-28.