Writer: Stefanie Reynolds
Director: Hannah Tyrell-Pinder
For almost two decades, Manchester-based Box of Tricks, has been helping writers to find their voices to tell a 
wide range of stories. Their productions have toured to theatres all over the country and also been performed in pubs, libraries and village halls. The company’s mission is to nurture emerging writers and bring communities together through shared storytelling. Stefanie Reynolds, the latest writer to benefit from Box of Tricks’ mentoring scheme worked on early drafts of Danesha during Covid. The play, partly based on Reynolds’ own life experience, examines what it is like to be mixed race, living in a small town where it’s normal to feel you don’t quite fit in and nobody acts or looks like you.
Although from Manchester, Reynolds sets her play in nearby Preston. Tired of local nightclubs endlessly playing Taylor Swift and Harry Styles, seventeen-year-old Danesha, a committed and fierce young Hip Hop dancer, dreams of performing in music videos and daring nights out in Manchester. Convincing her friends to join her, Danesha descends on the Manchester night scene where she finds a cool club, a dynamic vibe and, across a crowded dance floor, the very person who might just change her life.
Danesha is an engaging coming-of-age story that joyfully wears its heart on its sleeve. Played without an interval, the play is performed largely as an extended monologue, intermixed with flashbacks and episodes that intriguingly chart Danesha’s cultural and sexual awakening at the hands of the intoxicating and slightly older Leonie. Exploring many heartfelt and topical themes, principally about first love, racism and homophobia, Reynolds’ tender and witty script plunges the audience into the very heart of Danesha’s world and in particular her fevered imagination and infectious optimism. This is an excellent debut by an extremely talented writer who clearly has a bright future ahead of her.
Central to the success of this hugely enjoyable production are the terrific performances of Talia Rae Smith as Danesha and Kelise Gordon-Harrison as Leonie. These brilliant young actors light up the stage with their charisma, energy and boundless enthusiasm. A hard-working supporting cast provides plenty of light and shade playing members of Danesha and Leonie’s families and super cool imaginary dancers and backing singers. With assured direction from Hannah Tyrell-Pinder and superb lighting and sound designs by Charly Dunford and Sophia Harari, Danesha is a sheer delight throughout. Reynolds has written not only a captivating queer love story but also a wonderfully life-affirming call to arms about the importance, however old you are, of discovering, embracing and celebrating your authentic self.
Runs until 5 October 2024 then tours until 26 October 2024
