inspired by the life of Nina Simone
Written and Performed by Apphia Campbell Tour
James Seabright by arrangement with Play The Spotlight presents
Written and Performed by Apphia Campbell
Original Direction by Aaron Hawkins and Nate Jacobs
Lighting Design by Clancy Flynn
Original Sound Design by Joseph Degnan
I had been living in Shanghai, China, for three years and had long forgotten my motivation for moving there.
Until one evening, I was sitting at a music venue bar where I sang frequently, and a man began to speak to me about Nina Simone. I already knew I wanted to write this show. Still, his comments about her - ‘Didn’t she show up to a gig with a bag full of money?’, and ‘She was pretty belligerent towards the end’gave me pause.
I wanted to scream, ‘Yes, but she was also a woman. A genius, but still a woman!’ The next day, I pulled out her autobiography. I started rereading it, this time armed with my journey of finding my voice and trying to be understood in this foreign land.
I began the first draft of ‘Black Is The Color Of My Voice’ to show the woman behind the music; while giving further appreciation to Nina Simone’s voice and sound.
I chose the pseudonym Mena Bordeaux to free the actress to use her voice in its most authentic and powerful state.
And to conjure Nina Simone’s spirit giving the audience a window into her world - without the expectation of impersonation.
This is her story.
2013
Apphia develops the show, opens to rave reviews in Shanghai and transfers to New York.
2014
Makes its sell-out debut at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
2016
The London premiere takes place at the St James Theatre.
2017 |
Out on tour where Apphia won Music Performance of the Year at the Touring Awards and performs at Crazy Coqs.
2019
Apphia makes her West End debut with the show at Trafalgar Studios and performs at the Vaults, London.
2021
Performed, recorded and streamed at Wilton’s Music Hall and returns to Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
2022
Apphia directs Florence Odumosu in the show for a major UK Tour.
2023
Australian debut at the Adelaide Fringe
2024
Another big UK tour and a return to Australia!
Apphia is originally from United States and graduated from Florida International University with a BFA in theatre performance. She was the IASH playwrighting fellow for 2021.
Apphia wrote Black Is The Color Of My Voice in 2013. In 2017 her show with Meredith Yarbrough, Woke, was presented as part of the Made In Scotland Showcase, where it won a Scotsman Fringe First, a Highly Commended from Amnesty International Award, and was shortlisted for The Filipa Bragança Award and Scottish Art Club Theatre Award.
In 2019, she made her West End debut with Black Is The Color Of My Voice at Trafalgar Studios and had a London premiere of Woke at Battersea Arts Centre. Her first commission from the BBC for a children’s story, called Zachary The Zebroid aired in 2020 and she also wrote Birdie’s Dilemma for Scenes for Survival (BBC in collaboration with NTS Scotland). Apphia was one of six writers who wrote for the National Theatre of Scotland’s Christmas show Rapunzel
Other credits include: The Last Bordello (David Leddy, Director), The Color Purple (James Harkness, Director), Soul Sessions (Cabaret), and No Exit (Michael Beets, Director).
Arran is an actor, director, writer, producer and artist from Cornwall, UK. For the last decade he has been based in Shanghai, China, working as an actor, voice-over artist, director, writer, producer, educator and painter. He was the principal director of Black In The Color Of My Voice which premiered in Shanghai in the spring of 2013, travelling with the show to New York, Seattle and the Edinburgh Fringe. In October 2013 he launched Theatre Anon, an independent theatre company producing high-quality adult dramas, and family-friendly adaptations of classic children’s stories. Their first show was an adaptation of Harold Pinter’s Betrayal in 2013. Early 2015 he wrote, directed, produced, designed and acted in Oz, a family show based on L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard Of Oz. He produced and starred in Dangerous Liaisons in the spring of 2016 and his original creative team re-imagined and staged an updated version of The Snow Queen for Christmas 2015 and an abridged version of the show in 2016 which travelled to The Edinburgh Fringe at The Guilded Balloon, cowritten, produced and directed by Arran. In 2018, Arran starred as John Proctor in The Crucible, directed the family-friendly Jungle Book, worked with Shanghai PRIDE on The Absence Of Reason: Extracts From The Heart, and adapted and directed The Little Princess. Arran is currently based in Berlin and as well as developing a new Theatre Anon double bill inspired by Kafka (Metamorphosis and The Trial), he has launched Va Va! Theatre, a comedy trio, who are currently developing a new show which will be touching British shores within the next year.
Clancy is a lighting designer, specialising in theatre, dance and immersive. A New York native, they studied at Trinity College Dublin before moving to London. Their work has toured both internationally and across the UK. Credits include: Stranger Sings (Southwark Playhouse), Twice in Time (Linbury Theatre), REBEL (Barbican), Trainspotting Live (International Tour), Mulan Rouge (Vaults), The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (Southwark Playhouse), How to Catch a Krampus (Pleasance), In the Winter Wood (Polka), The Yellow Wallpaper (Omnibus), Goldilocks and the Three Little Pigs (Opera Story), Little Red Riding Hood (Swansea Grand, Gaiety), and Strike! (Beckett). Clancy was a finalist for the 2020 Off West End Award for Lighting Design, and was nominated twice in 2019.
Joseph is a freelance Sound Designer, Engineer and Audio Producer with a diverse body of work in theatre, radio and audiobooks. He had his BBC Radio debut in 1998 and was a sound engineer for the Audio Workshop Studios London for 10 years. His sound design has won multiple awards at the Spoken Word Publishing Awards, the Audiophile Earphone Awards and Audio Production Awards. His collaborations include sound design for Arran Hawkins’ productions Oz, Dangerous Liaisons, Betrayal and The Little Princess (Shanghai, Edinburgh Fringe), The Snow Queen and The Jungle Book. Joseph has also collaborated with Apphia on her production Woke
1933
On 21 February, Nina Simone was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in Tryon, North Carolina, USA.
1936
Eunice began playing piano.
1950
Eunice spent her summer preparing for an audition at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. However, her ambition was thwarted when they rejected her scholarship application, a decision she attributed to racism.
1954
Simone wrote her first song addressing racial inequality in the USA, “Mississippi Goddam”’ which became an anthem during the Civil Rights Movement. The song was boycotted in some Southern states.
1958
Simone recorded a rendition of Gershwin’s “I Love You, Porgy” as part of her debut album “Little Girl Blue”. This became her only Billboard top 20 success in the United States.
1963
Simone wrote her first song addressing racial inequality in the USA, “Mississippi Goddam”’ which became an anthem during the Civil Rights Movement. The song was boycotted in some Southern states.
1965
Simone performed and spoke at Civil Rights meetings, including the Selma to Montgomery marches. Later that year, Simone embarked on her first European Tour.
In January, Simone appeared in a concert in Chicago CORE (Congress for Racial Equality) and was also awarded “Women of the Year” at the Jazz at Home Club.
Simone receives her first Grammy Award nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for her song “Go To Hell” from her album “Silk & Soul”.
Two days before her death, Simone learned she would be awarded an honorary degree by the Curtis Institue of Music, the music school that had rejected her at the beginning of her career. In April, Simone passed away peacefully in her sleep.
Simone was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
“Mississippi Goddam” was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry to be “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.
The company’s founder James Seabright is an Olivier Award winning independent commercial theatrical producer and general manager. Current productions include Potted Potter by Dan and Jeff, Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho by Jon Brittain and Matt Tedford, the immersive Trainspotting Live, Buffy Revamped and FRIEND (The One With Gunther) by Brendan Murphy, the debut world tour of Yippee Ki Yay by Richard Marsh and acclaimed new musical The Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Richard Hough and Ben Morales Frost, which premiered as a digital show in 2021 and can now be seen globally via BroadwayHD. Previous West End productions include The Way Old Friends Do by Ian Hallard, Adam Kay’s This Is Going To Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor, the Olivier Award winning Showstopper! The Improvised Musical, the 2017 revival of The Boys in The Band by Mart Crowley, Our Boys by Jonathan Lewis (Duchess), and several seasons of Potted Panto and Potted Sherlock with Dan and Jeff.
James chairs the boards of the League of Independent Producers and the King’s Head Theatre and is an associate artist of Wilton’s Music Hall. His book, So You Want to Be a Theatre Producer, is published by Nick Hern Books.
Producer James Seabright
Associate Producer Jack Robertson
Head of Production
Marketing Director
Luke Gledsdale
Kate Farrell
Assistant Producer Andrei Cotocu
Social Media Manager
Mark Ludmon
Bookkeeper Alan Mackintosh
Office 100 Black Prince Rd, London SE1 7SJ
Telephone 020 7439 1173
seabright.org @seabrightlive
Production Credits
Stage Management
Scott McMulllin
Kai Peacock
UK Sound Design
Tom Lishman
Publicity Photography
Peter Dibdin
Production Photography
Geraint Lewis
Check bitcomv.com for new dates
12 - 17 Feb Bristol Old Vic bristololdvic.org.uk
20 - 24 Feb Chichester Festival Theatre cft.org.uk
27 Feb - 2 Mar Birmingham Rep Theatre birmingham-rep.co.uk
11 - 17 Mar Adelaide Fringe, Australia adelaidefringe.com.au
19 - 23 Mar Athenaeum Theatre, Melbourne athenaeumtheatre.com.au
26 - 30 Mar Seymour Centre, Sydney seymourcentre.com
23 - 24 Apr Leeds Playhouse leedsplayhouse.org.uk
26 - 27 Apr HOME Manchester homemcr.org
11 - 15 June Theatre Royal Stratford East stratfordeast.com
