‘Cry God for Harry, England and St George’ – Mulberry Theatre Company heading to West End with new play

‘Cry God for Harry, England and St George’ was a play staged at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (August 3-27).
This particular production created by the Mulberry Theatre Company – a part of Mulberry School for Girls, Shadwell, East London – was performed at the fringe until August 11. It now is heading on September 3 – and for one night only – to the Duke of York’s Theatre in London. This is an amazing achievement for a school theatre company!
In this interview, Sam Maynard, artistic director of Mulberry Theatre Company, explains the origins of this play.
It is rooted in the idea of identity and as he says, in the interview, ‘who gets to be British’ (or English??).
The actual title comes from Shakespeare’s ‘Henry V’ play, and this is one of the most commonly studied texts in schools up and down Britain.

Mulberry Theatre Company has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe before (as Maynard outlines in the interview), but this is almost certainly the first time this school has secured a prime space in the heart of UK’s and London’s theatreland.
In fact, very few schools could have done this…

Boris Johnson comment…in his colum for the Daily Telegraph, Britain’s former foreign secretary, said that women dressed in burkhas or niqabs, looked like “bank robbers” or “postboxes” – the comments were criticised by Prime Minister Theresa May and other senior members of the Government. To date Boris Johnson has not reacted to the criticism.

Notes
Thanks to all at Mulberry Theatre Company and Mulberry School for Girls (in Edinburgh) and especially Ruwsan and Sumaiyah for speaking so eloquently…
Break a leg!http://www.mulberry.towerhamlets.sch.uk/school-specialism/mulberry-theatre

Production notes
A Big Talent Media Ltd production for http://www.asianculturevulture.com

Presenter: Sailesh Ram (http://www.twitter.com/asianculturevul)

Camera/Editing: Harry Clegg (http://www.harryclegg.com)

Producer: Suman Bhuchar for Big Talent Media (http://www.twitter.com/sumanbhuchar)