If Exotic was my beginning and F*cking Feminists was my awakening, then No Place Like Home was the chapter where I stepped behind the scenes and into my voice as a director.
As part of Springboard Festival 2025, I had the absolute honour of directing No Place Like Home, a powerful absurdist short play by Birmingham-based playwright Alexandra Taylor. This was my directorial debut—my first time taking on a role that demanded not just creative instinct, but leadership, vision, and trust. I approached it not as an expert, but as someone ready to learn and grow—drawing on my experience as a developing producer and my growing desire to tell stories that cut deep, challenge systems, and echo lived realities.
Set in a dystopian near future, the play follows Bettina, who faces a bureaucratic nightmare at the hands of Adler, an official who forces her to prove her right to belong. The piece is surreal, sharp, and darkly satirical—Black Mirror meets Kafka—with themes that struck a chord in me immediately. It’s about borders, citizenship, identity, and the absurd hoops we’re made to jump through just to feel safe, seen, and human.
The relevance of No Place Like Home went far beyond the script for me. It connected deeply with my work at the WATCH Charity, where I support individuals—many of them refugees, asylum seekers, and vulnerable migrants—navigating hostile systems just to survive. I’ve seen firsthand the emotional toll that displacement, red tape, and societal exclusion takes on people. This play gave me a chance to channel that reality through art—to direct with purpose, not just performance.
Working with a brand-new cast of four actors, all new to the Criterion stage, made the process even more exciting. Together we crafted something sharp, dynamic, and emotionally charged. I focused on building a space where the actors felt safe to experiment, to explore discomfort, to find truth in the surreal. We leaned into the absurdism while keeping the emotional core intact—because underneath the dark humour was something painfully real: the question of who gets to belong, and who decides.
Directing No Place Like Home was a leap for me—but one I’m so grateful I took. It showed me that directing isn’t about having all the answers—it’s about listening deeply, holding space, and guiding stories that need to be told. It was the next natural step in my journey, and it affirmed that I don’t just want to write or perform—I want to shape theatre that reflects the world as it is, and dares to ask how it could be different.
And with this chapter, my Criterion journey continues—messy, meaningful, and full of heart.
