Theatre / Previews
Bristol undergrad takes on skin colour taboo
One University of Bristol undergraduate is taking on the taboo topic of skin colour at the Bristol Old Vic studio this week.
Eno Mfon’s one-woman coming of age story Check the Label, which runs from February 25 to 27, views race and Eurocentric beauty standards through the eyes of a dark-skinned young girl.
“Through Check the Label I am attempting to say what many young black girls, including myself, once struggled to articulate,” explains Eno, who tells her story through various art forms such as poetry, children’s games and music.
Mfon’s Old Vic debut is a highly unusual one – few undergraduate students have their work staged professionally at the prestigious theatre. But while participating in script-writing course Studioscripts, Eno’s work impressed writer and Old Vic literary producer Sharon Clark.
“During my second year of Studioscripts, I decided to confront the experience of colourism and skin bleaching which permeates the black and Asian community,” says Eno.
“When I was growing up, I noticed visible changes in some of the women around me. There were little signs that revealed the use of lightening cream. I knew how to spot the signs but I never understood the wider implications of this; it was a taboo subject that no one dared to address.”
Eno’s solo show will be performed as part of the Old Vic’s 50 Voices for Malcolm X celebration, which marks 50 years of the civil right’s movement as well as the anniversary of Malcolm X’s death.
Dr Catherine Hindson, the head of theatre at the University of Bristol, said that it is “an incredible achievement” for an undergraduate student to have work staged in a professional programme.
For tickets and more information, visit www.bristololdvic.org.uk/checkthelabel.html
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