Four Millennial London black girls navigate grown-up problems between the ages of 16 and 18 in this completely delightful show. Illness, bereavement, exams, sexuality and romantic disappointment swirl through the mix before the quartet pledge undying loyalty and look forward – crushing irony alert! – to a better life in 2019.
Though attention has focused on the casting of Bukky Bakray, breakout star of the 2019 film Rocks, Sleepova is an ensemble piece driven by a strong script that feels improvised but is the work of Matilda Feyiá¹£ayá» Ibini. Using authentic slang studded with Yoruba phrases, Caribbean inflections and pop culture references, and acknowledging the centrality of mobile phones to contemporary life, it feels fresh and real in a way that most plays simply don’t.
