Connections 2025: Their Name is Joy

Performed by NGA Theatre Company, Nottingham Girls Academy
 
Set in the summer of 2019, on a spring onion farm in Lincolnshire, Their Name Is Joy is a bittersweet coming of age drama that explores a terrifying loss of childhood innocence, as experienced by a group of young British casual labourers when they come face to face with the reality of modern-day slavery.
 
Described by The Scotsman as ‘one of the key creative figures in Scotland’s increasingly determined effort to come to terms with its own colonial past, and particularly with Scottish involvement in slavery and the slave trade,’ May Sumbwanyambe is an academic, radio dramatist and award-winning playwright from Edinburgh.
 
Previous productions include: Enough of Him (National Theatre of Scotland, Pitlochry Festival Theatre) Ghost Light, (Edinburgh International Festival and National Theatre of Scotland), Joseph Knight, (BBC, National Theatre of Scotland), After Independence (Arcola Theatre, Papatango Theatre), After Independence, The Trial of Joseph Knight and Back Home (BBC Radio 4).
 
In 2023 he was winner of Best New Play at both The UK Theatre Awards, as well as The Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland where his play also won Best Production.