The production will run at the theatre from the 12th to the 23rd November.
Full casting has been announced for Ava Wong Davies’ new play which explores family, race and belonging. Helen Morley is set to direct: Tuyen Do (King of Hell’s Palace, Hampstead Theatre; The Great Wave, National Theatre; Enola Holmes, Legendary Pictures) will step in to the role of Joy and Aoife Hinds (Normal People, BBC/Hulu; Derry Girls, Channel 4; The Feed, Amazon) will play EJ.
After 22 years, pulled in different directions by two cultures and coming to terms with her mother’s abandonment, EJ prepares to meet the woman who left her and shaped who she is today. Joy struggles with the decision she made and readies herself to meet the daughter she abandoned.
Talking about her play Ava Wong Davies said: ” i will still be whole (when you rip me in half) arose initially out of a need to write something which felt representative of my own experiences as a mixed- race woman – on the way, though, it became something much bigger. It has morphed into an exploration of loneliness, of the way we think about families, and the relationship between mothers and daughters more specifically.”
Meanwhile, director Helen Morley said: “Personally I think one of the most exciting aspects of Ava’s writing is how deftly and affectingly she extracts macro issues from minute moments. Fleeting individual actions and interactions become wider commentaries on our relationship with (and autonomy over) our bodies, our relationship to urban landscapes, loneliness and on what it means to be a family.”
The creative team for the production includes: sound design by Jord Rice, lighting design by Ben Kulvichit, set and costume design by Grace Venning and is produced by Emily Davis.
i will still be whole (when you rip me in half) will play at the Bunker Theatre from the 12th to the 23rd November.