UNDER MY BARBIE DUVET

“So that you guys don’t miss out for a single second I’ve decided that I’m going to stream our date. That’s right! Tune in at 5pm on Saturday 15th when it will go LIVE.”

Intro, intro, introoooo. Shirelle’s sixteen, from South and the most influential YouTuber in London. Or at least, in Lambeth. It’s Valentine’s Day and she’s got a date with some leng guy who lowkey slipped into her DMs. She’s told her mum she’s revising but Shirelle’s gone silent and her friends are starting to worry…

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Written for Brixton's Baytree Centre and IRMO, and as a response to discussion of themes in Nora: A Dolls House, Under My Barbie Duvet explores female agency, friendship and how we measure self-worth in a world under social media’s siege.

Originally written as a piece of live theatre, the creative team have combined online filming, stop-motion animation and original music to reimagine the piece for a digital audience due to social distancing. It forms part of a year-round Taking Part programme which works for and with the local community to explore artistic responses to the work on the Young Vic stages. The Young Vic Taking Part programme creates space for, amplifies and celebrates typically underrepresented voices and stories.

Directed by Caitriona Shoobridge & Matt Kay.

Animation by Basia Bińkowska