Sabrina Mahfouz and Seroca Davis on With a Little Bit of Luck
© Richard Davenport
Underscored by a live mix of old school UK Garage, Sabrina Mahfouz's With a Little Bit of Luck takes audiences on a journey over one long summer's night in 2001. Performed by Seroca Davis, the show tells the story of Londoner Nadia as she makes decisions that will determine the rest of her life.
The show runs at the Roundhouse as part of The Last Word Festival.
Sabrina, what inspired you to write With a Little Bit of Luck?
SM: I've been a garage fan ever since I first heard it, back in the early '90s. The music is what inspired the show, it's a genre that deserves to be documented and remembered as an important cultural contribution to the UK's musical history.
Do you have a specific place you like to write or draw inspiration from?
SM: At the moment, life is so hectic that most of my writing is taking place on some form of transport and on my phone! When I get the chance, I transfer it over to the laptop, wherever that might be.Quiet places feel like a luxury I look forward to making real in retirement!
What can people expect from the production?
SD: People can expect to laugh, be transported back to 2001 and feel like they want to rave after! I think Sabrina is a great writer and I have always loved her work since I saw her play Dry Ice at the Edinburgh fringe. To combine great writing and great music is a wonderful recipe. It's also so original and like nothing I have ever seen or read before.
What was it like to premiere it at Latitude?
SM: Perfect. Latitude is such a brilliant place to present different ways of doing theatre. Everyone is excited and happy, even if it's raining, and the mix of music and narrative in this show was just what a late night arts festival audience needed, so it was a joyous moment.
SD: Latitude was great! The crowd were really up for it and loved the story and music. I was really buzzing after that show. Great energy!
At Latitude, it was very rowdy. Seroca – do you have to be on the ball to control that and is it the same atmosphere when performing on tour?
SD: I guess I have to be more fluid and flexible which makes it very enjoyable. I literally never know what type of audience they will be until I get onstage and then I have to take it from there. That keeps every night fresh and like nothing I have ever done before. The tour has been great but audiences have varied with some not knowing the songs at all, some just wanting to rave and very quiet audiences.
Were you a garage fan before the show and do you have a favourite song or moment in the show?
SD: I was a huge garage fan before the show and still am. I grew up listening to garage music and have vivid memories of taping pirate radio stations with Heartless Crew and pay as you go radio sets just so that I would have some music to listen to in my Walkman on the way to school! Very good times. My favourite garage song is "Flowers" by Sweet Female Attitude because it brings back lovely warm memories. One of my favourite moments in the show has to be the 'Gabriel' moment when Nadia is coming up on a pill and the pace of the show slows down massively. Great tune and very euphoric!
Aside from With a Little Bit of Luck, what else do you have in the pipeline?
SM: I've got my first full poetry collection out in October with Outspoken Press; a play coming up at the Bush in the Autumn; a play touring schools with Theatre Centre in September; some fiction in an Amnesty International anthology called Taking Liberties; an essay in The Good Immigrant; lots of work with an amazing theatre company who work with women within the justice system – Clean Break; a project in Denmark with Theatre Uncut and another gig theatre piece premiering at Latitude with nabokov, Bellatrix, Grace Savage and Jade Anouka.
SD: Nothing as of yet. I've just finished an Open University Degree whilst on tour! So I'm making sure to live and love life in the meantime.
Paines Plough and Latitude Festival’s production of With a Little Bit of Luck will run at the Roundhouse as part of The Last Word Festival from 14 to 18 June. For further information or buy tickets, click here.
