King of the Gypsies — playwright

Matt Cullum asked me to come onboard with his company, These Colours, to write a piece of theatre about travellers, specifically the Romani people. There was much vitriol aimed at this group in the press at the time, and the far-right was very much on the rise in England.

Matt made contact with and gained the trust of key members of this private community. We were permitted to interview several travellers who spoke frankly about their everyday lives, the importance of community, and their experiences with the general public.

I also drew valuable research material from Ian Hancock's novel, We Are The Romani People — a fascinating book detailing the travellers' first flight from India in the 11th century and their subsequent spread throughout Europe.

The verbatim nature of this piece, and the topical urgency at the time, meant I was writing and rewriting almost right up to first performance. We managed to incorporate the election of Nick Griffin to the European Parliament in 2009 and what effect this might have on our wider culture, alongside the recorded voice of a small Romani girl who was optimistically heading to Downing Street to hand in a petition to then Prime Minister Gordon Brown asking for more legal sites for travellers.