By Abdi Ali
Published July 24, 2015
East meets West across the education divide when four teenagers compete for a prestigious scholarship. As they venture across the capital into unfamiliar territories, friendships are tested, aspirations are challenged and each is forced to decide what matters most. Will the best candidate win or will their postcodes keep them in their place?
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This is the storyline of ‘East End Boys, West End Girls’, a new play written and directed by Ade Solanke that shall be presented in he British capital, London, July 28-August 15, 2015.
This vibrant, timely and touching new work, by award-winning playwright Ade Solanke, takes the pulse on coming-of-age in an increasingly divided city.
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East End Boys, West End Girls, promoted as a ‘play about young people for the young and young at heart!’, shall be staged at Arcola Theatre (July 28-August 1, 2015; CLF Arts Cafe (August 4-7, 2015); Saatchi Gallery (August 1012, 2015); and Bernie Grant Arts Centre (August 14-15, 2015).
Ade Solanke’s previous play, Pandora’s Box, premiered at Arcola in 2012 and returned as part of a national tour in 2014. It was nominated for Best New Play in the OffWestEnd Theatre Awards and for the 2014 Nigeria Prize for Literature.
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Ade Solanke, who holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Film and Television from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts,is founder and creative director of Spora Stories, an organisation that develops and produces socially-engaged plays and films about the African diaspora.
Earlier in her career, Ade was voted ‘London’s Top Young Entrepreneur’ for her writing business by Nat West Bank and Shell UK. In collaboration with other diaspora storytellers, Spora explores new story-delivery systems.
