Unapologetically Birmingham

I did not think I would be back in Brum, let alone writing an unapologetic story about Birmingham city and the people in it.

Boys Who F**** and Cry is a story of an unlikely set of childhood friends who reunite in a park to get high after ghosting each other for six years. Not everything is as it seems, and with trips and turns, the elephant in the park becomes addressed when the boys begin to understand why they ended up splitting from one another.

The play is a short funny snippet of four young men from the city navigating manhood and adult life with the people and place of Birmingham at its heart.
The feedback of those who have read the script, the team at Sky Studios and Birmingham Rep has been great. I wanted to show something unapologetically Birmingham – the play is very much “I said what I said”.

The play does cover taboo conversations, but I wouldn’t say it’s a serious piece. It’s what the boys are chatting about behind closed doors. The characters don’t hold back – it is a comical deep dive into the emotions of class, sexuality and racial politics.

There are themes in the play that resonate with the audience – the mindf*** of going to your hometown and reuniting with old friends, and the funny clashes that happen because you now have new boundaries, principles and aims – a circumstance heightened during the pandemic when jobs and lifestyles for young people came to a standstill. The characters are seemingly raw and flawed – they all have incorrect characteristics. No one is a baddie or hero in the play. Boys Who Cry is in a Birmingham dialect, highlighting working-class and regional black voices.

Birmingham is never celebrated on a national scale or taken seriously. You tell anyone outside the region that you are from Birmingham – cue the heightened Birmingham accent that is probably not rooted anywhere in Birmingham.

I started as an actor at the Television Workshop in Birmingham, now called the First Act Workshop. I did not go to drama school after that. I did have a few credits under my belt but decided to put acting on hiatus to study Literature. Now looking back, studying gave me a good understanding of texts. I somehow fell back into acting, but the roles were not necessarily there, especially for black midlands talent, unless you create your work. The team and friends around me suggested I write more to supplement this, then lockdown happened. During this bleak period – a story of mine, SAFARI, was commissioned for radio by BBC Arts and Rural Media for production. It gave me a little more confidence in my writing – I went back into my archive and decided to work on another called POSTED that was later commissioned again by BBC Arts, ICA and NTS Radio.

Making audio dramas for radio is pretty fun and fast-paced. But onstage, there are many different elements to consider. Birmingham Rep and Sky Studios have teamed me up with director Iqbal Khan and Danny Brocklehurst. They have been great in helping and guiding the piece and giving their insight into different aspects to look at or delve into further.

Boys Who F*** And Cry, is part of Sky Comedy Rep. For tickets and info, click here.

@RyanWalkerEd