Bush Theatre announces the world premiere of Benedict Lombe’s LAVA

Photo credit: Latoya Fits Okuneye

The world premiere of Lava by Congolese-British writer Benedict Lombe will be staged at the Bush Theatre from 9 July-7 August 2021, whilst also being broadcast online between 16-21 August.

To celebrate the first day of public booking, a photo of Benedict Lombe herself (taken by Latoya Fits Okuneye) has been released, along with the announcement of a fashion collaboration with well-known designer Tina Lobondi. Congolese-born Lobondi established her fashion label, mixing African heritage and French Couture, in Notting Hill in 2011. 

Born during the fateful 2020, Lava was first created to be one of the projects which composed “The Project Series”, presented and produced by the Bush Theatre as a digital artistic response to the brutal murder of George Floyd. As the first anniversary of his death approaches, Lava has been re-imagined as a full-length play to be performed on stage. 

Lava will mark Benedict Lombe’s London debut but not her first piece of work. The Congolese-British writer and theatre-maker is based in London and was one of the residents at Theatre503. She has since developed an artistic attachment with the Bush Theatre and the Papatango Theatre Company. She is currently working on developing original TV projects, particularly shining a light on stories which went untold and mistreated for too long.

Lava will chronicle the story of a woman, who receives an unexpected letter from the British Passport Office. She will then be forced to confront herself with an old mystery: why does her South African passport not carry her first name? Armed with the wisdom of favourite 90s TV shows, she sets out on a journey that will take her back to the turmoil of Mobutu’s Congo, growing up in post-Apartheid South Africa, moving to Ireland, and finding love in a hostile England. As her journey becomes inextricably linked with the tides of global history, how far will she go to unravel the truth? With glimpses of wickedly funny and strikingly lyrical, Benedict Lombe’s writing will without a doubt turn the way the audience sees the world on its axis.

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