Chardaye Brown is a 17-year-old Leicester girl who has just been kicked out of home. And all because she defended herself against a racist classmate. She’s being shipped off by her white mum, Claire, to her Jamaican aunt Jemima in Peckham, south London, leaving her best friend behind.
Can the force of her teenage bravado, the shield of her phone and the comfort of her favourite musicians steer her through the move? Written and performed by Na-keisha Pebody, LEI-LDN explores growing up mixed race, and how that experience shifts as Chardaye relocates from the Midlands to the capital, mirroring Pebody’s own journey.
In a suburb of Leicester, at a white-majority school, with a mum who had no idea how to care for her hair, she felt adrift. But being Black in Peckham: “I finally felt like I was with my people.” That is, until she faces tests she didn’t even know she was taking, measures of whether she’s Black enough. It feels like you have to pick a side, Chardaye says: “If you don’t pick, they pick for you.”
It’s a personality-driven hour, and Pebody’s performance captures the roiling uncertainty of being a teenager – from the anxiety of starting a new school or fitting in with new friends, to the delights of dancing, gossiping and flirting. Directed by Mya Onwugbonu, the show’s music (from Bob Marley to bashment to Nicki Minaj) and bites of audience interaction (helping Chardaye pick an outfit, pack a suitcase or do a group dance) build a sense of confidence and fun in the room.
We change pace as Chardaye learns about the history of dual-heritage children in the UK, seeing herself in their experiences, summoning sympathy for Claire, and giving Pebody the chance to deliver a more sombre monologue.
It’s a sweet tale of self-actualisation and, if you’re game, you’ll end the show dancing, too.
At Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh, until 25 August