Maud Sulter Live Programme: Hysteria - A Collective Reading

Part of our Maud Sulter Live Programme

A workshop exploring Maud Sulter’s screenplay Hysteria (1990), facilitated by writer and poet Jj Fadaka. 

The screenplay was written by Sulter as part of her multi-media installation Hysteria which also included a series of photo works, marble sculpture and music which recreated the life, work and studio of Edmonia Lewis. In a series of photographs, Sulter imaged herself as the central character, the artist Hysteria, inviting friends and practitioners Bernardine and Victoria Evaristo, Lubaina Himid, Delta Streete and Miles Danso to take other roles in Hysteria's story. In the short screenplay, Sulter gave imagined life to the characters of Hysteria’s world, writing a tale of a black woman artist travelling to Europe from America, to seek fame and fortune in her sculpture practice. 

In this closed workshop, together we will spend the evening reading, discussing and acting out the script. We will act out our own experiences trying to build a creative practice in Scotland. Inspired by Maud’s multi-sensory exhibition style, we will incorporate new sounds, still images, dance and textiles to reimagine the scenes and characters of Hysteria. Everyone will have the chance to play actor, director, stage and audience to fully embody the meaning and application of Maud’s work.  No previous experience in theatre or Maud’s works required, come ready to eat, chat casually, and play around with this passionate script. 

*Note on BPOC Only Booking
This workshop is for people who are Black and People of Colour (BPOC) only. This is to provide a safe space for BPOC to explore their heritage and experiences of racialisation, and prioritise the comfort of these attendees.  By booking this performance you are confirming that you have heritage within the Global Majority (who are from the Caribbean, African, South Asian, South East Asian, North Africa and Middle East, Latinx, First Nation and Indigenous people diasporas).  

About Jj Fadaka

Jj Fadaka is a writer, facilitator and radical based in Edinburgh. Their writing explores the possibility abolition, feminism, and love give us to create change. Jj uses poetry to speak to the political urgencies we face whilst centring community making in movement building.

Their workshops draw on black feminist radical traditions to explore our desires in a world without barriers. They particularly love playing with writing, textiles, sounds, and performance.