Black All Year - Young, Gifted and Black

In this week's compelling episode of Black All Year, host Steph Edusei sits down with an extraordinary 13-year-old playwright, Kayla Ayerty. Hailing from East London, Kayla has already made significant strides in the theatre world, having written and produced her first play at just nine years old. Now, she is gearing up for the premiere of her second play, "War Crown," set to debut this autumn at the Courtyard Theatre in London.

Episode Highlights:

• Meet Kayla Ayerty: Discover how Kayla’s passion for English and storytelling, encouraged by her father and grandmother, blossomed into a love for playwriting.
• Early Inspirations: Kayla shares her journey from writing short stories to creating her first play, "Walking Blind," and the influences that shaped her work.
  
  
• Navigating Challenges: Learn how Kayla persevered through the setbacks of the COVID-19 pandemic to continue pursuing her dreams.
  
  
• "War Crown": Get an inside look at Kayla's latest project, its themes of black and migrant experiences, and her ambitious plans for its staging.
  
  
• Future Aspirations: Hear about Kayla's goals and what drives her to create stories that resonate and inspire.
  
  
• Support Kayla: Find out how you can help ensure the success of "War Crown" by contributing to her crowdfunding campaign.

Join us for an inspiring conversation that highlights the importance of nurturing young talent and supporting diverse voices in the arts. This episode is a testament to the power of determination and the joy of storytelling. Don’t miss it!

Support Kayla's Crowdfunding Campaign
Kayla Ayerty's website

Steph Edusei LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/steph-edusei/
Steph Edusei Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stephedusei/

Original music by Wayne C McDonald, #ActorSlashDJ
www.facebook.com/waynecmcdonald
www.mixcloud.com/waynecmcdonald
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Chapters

• 0:09 Young Playwright's Journey in Theatre
• 15:30 Young Playwright's Vision for War Crown
• 22:53 Supporting War Crown Crowdfunder

Transcript

[Steph Edusei] (0:09 - 0:58)

Hello everybody, welcome to Black All Year and I am Steph Edusei. This week's guest is truly the definition of the term young, gifted and Black. I'm going to let her tell you how young she actually is, but I cannot tell you how blown away I was by how articulate, intelligent and just overall amazing this young woman is.

I found this conversation with Kayla Ayerty truly inspirational and I know you will too. So hi Kayla, it's really great to have you as a guest on the podcast. You are the youngest guest that we've had.

It would be great for you to tell us a little bit about you first of all. So first of all, how old are you?

[Kayla Ayerty] (0:59 - 1:25)

Well, I'm 13 years old. My favourite subject is English, obviously. It's kind of, I've enjoyed it since I was being like quite young.

I think I've loved writing stories and all that kind of stuff. So I think that's kind of stuck with me as I've grown older. I enjoy drama, theatre, I love music.

That's like one of my like biggest pastimes. If you ask any of my friends, they would say I always have my headphones on, so.

[Steph Edusei] (1:25 - 1:30)

Yeah, so listening to music a lot of the time. And you live in London, is that right?

[Kayla Ayerty] (1:30 - 1:32)

Yeah, I do. East London.

[Steph Edusei] (1:32 - 1:34)

And have you lived in London all your life?

[Kayla Ayerty] (1:34 - 1:37)

Yeah, yeah, I have. Yeah, never, never moved anywhere else.

[Steph Edusei] (1:37 - 2:00)

So you were saying that you, you really like English. You've got a little while to go until you do your GCSEs and things like that. But what's really impressed me is how much you've achieved at the age that you are.

I think it's really quite impressive. I'm really interested, how did you get into writing plays? How did that come about?

[Kayla Ayerty] (2:01 - 2:49)

Well, I think a lot of my inspiration comes from my family, especially my father, because like, he's like a real big like acting guy. When I was growing up, he would take me to the theatres, like his rehearsals and all that. So I think I kind of grew up in like that environment.

So it like built, it built on my passion for theatre. And then along with school and just my own like interest for writing, it kind of all like meshed together. So yeah, and as well with like other family members, especially my grandmother.

Yeah, she's been like a massive part in it. My grandma Janice, yeah. She, yeah, she fuels me as well.

That's the same with a lot of my family members. They all like encourage me to like do better. So I think a lot of my passions come from them.

[Steph Edusei] (2:50 - 2:59)

Yeah. And you, so you kind of, you got into, were you just writing short plays for school? Or what, what was it that you were doing when you started to kind of do your writing?

[Kayla Ayerty] (3:00 - 3:34)

I think from a younger age, it was like stories and stuff like short stories. But in school, it's mainly like diary entries and like newspaper articles and all that kind of stuff. So I think the skills that you learn doing like these different forms of writing overall, kind of use them to like all like combine to create playwriting.

Because I don't think I had done that before. I, yeah, I don't, I don't think I'd written a script before, for then. But I think I just gave it a try and just used what I already knew to like just make it happen.

[Steph Edusei] (3:34 - 4:01)

Yeah, because writing a script is very different to writing a story. Yeah, it really is. And you've got to, obviously, when you're telling a story, you may well have speech in there.

But really, you've got to tell this script, you've got to tell the whole story through speech and through characters and things like that. So yeah, really, really different. So and your first play that you have produced, was that the musical?

[Kayla Ayerty] (4:02 - 4:02)

Yeah, yeah, Walking Blind.

[Steph Edusei] (4:03 - 4:09)

Okay, so tell us a little bit about Walking Blind, because you were only nine when you did Walking Blind?

[Kayla Ayerty] (4:09 - 4:49)

When I started writing it, when I started writing it, I was nine. But obviously, during that time period, it was like COVID as well. So a lot of like, the production was delayed.

Because of that, there was a lot of like, uncertainty with the theatres and sort of actors as well, like with, it just was kind of all over the place. So it started when I was nine, the writing process, I think I finished the script when I was 10 or 11. And then we started like the whole audition process in the theatres and all of that.

But yeah, it was it was amazing. Especially like being in a professional work environment. It was really cool to see.

Yeah, like the workforce. And yeah, it was, it was amazing.

[Steph Edusei] (4:50 - 5:02)

And did you, when you started writing that, was that just kind of, I've got this story in my head, and I want to put it down? Or did you sort of kind of set out to go, I want to write a musical, and I want to put it on stage?

[Kayla Ayerty] (5:03 - 5:45)

Well, funny story how this actually happened. My grandma Janice, she called me one day, and she sent me a link to this writing competition that she had seen on BBC. And she was like, Oh, I feel like I think you're going to be great for this.

I think you'll love it. So this, we originally wrote it for the competition. So me and my dad, he was helping me.

So I wrote it there. And we intended and we sent it off to the BBC. But we didn't hear back for like a few months.

And we didn't really expect to hear back instantly. But yeah, eventually, my dad was kind of just like, like, this story is amazing. Like, let's like, let's do it ourselves.

So yeah, it kind of just went on from there.

[Steph Edusei] (5:46 - 5:51)

And I think you had a, did you have crowd funder for that one? Or was that kind of For the first one?

[Kayla Ayerty] (5:52 - 5:55)

No, that was all out of my dad's pockets. Oh, wow.

[Steph Edusei] (5:55 - 5:57)

That's a dad who's got a lot of faith in you.

[Kayla Ayerty] (5:58 - 5:59)

Yeah, he really did.

[Steph Edusei] (6:00 - 6:06)

So you kind of went, okay, so I want to do some, did you ever hear back from the BBC, by the way? Did they ever get back to you?

[Kayla Ayerty] (6:06 - 6:09)

No, to this day, we still haven't heard anything.

[Steph Edusei] (6:09 - 6:26)

Rude. I bet they're kicking themselves now, though. But so you you said, right, we're going to produce it.

You had to go out and find yourself a theatre that would produce it. That would kind of take a bit of a gamble on a 11 year old playwright.

[Kayla Ayerty] (6:26 - 6:28)

Basically, yeah.

[Steph Edusei] (6:28 - 6:32)

You were fully involved in all of the audition process for the actors and things like that.

[Kayla Ayerty] (6:33 - 7:00)

Yeah, I was there when we were doing the auditions. And obviously, because it's an 11 year old doing it, a lot, not a lot of people auditioned. So I was sitting there with my dad with my little notebook, like taking notes when everyone came in and all of that.

So yeah, I was involved the whole way through. But obviously, I did have an acting role in it myself as well. It was a small one.

But yeah, so I think along with juggling that as well.

[Steph Edusei] (7:00 - 7:13)

And tell me a little bit about the story of Walking Blind. So the reason I'm asking is quite often when children write, they write about children. And I don't think you did that, did you?

[Kayla Ayerty] (7:14 - 8:10)

I think our main character is more like late teens kind of age. But yeah, basically, the story is about this young girl who lives in Ghana with her sister. Her parents have quite recently passed away.

And her older sister decides she needs a change of scenery to kind of just clear her mind. So she moves to London to live with her auntie and her cousin, who was the role I played. And the journey is basically her journey, like how when she comes here, she kind of loses herself.

She loses her identity, kind of goes with the wrong crowd, all that kind of stuff. So she falls with bad people, loses herself. And it's kind of how she refinds her identity, like using the support system that she has, like her family, you know, all of that.

So yeah, that's basically the plot.

[Steph Edusei] (8:11 - 8:13)

And is your heritage Ghanaian?

[Kayla Ayerty] (8:13 - 8:15)

Yeah, on my dad's side. Yeah.

[Steph Edusei] (8:15 - 8:35)

So we've got that in common because my dad's Ghanaian as well. So that's... And the reason that it made me think that, apart from the fact that your surname sounds like it's Ghanaian, is actually your second play, but we'll come on to that one.

So you went through the auditions, you went through the whole rehearsal process. How many performances did you do?

[Kayla Ayerty] (8:36 - 8:37)

We did three nights.

[Steph Edusei] (8:37 - 8:39)

And then that all came to an end?

[Kayla Ayerty] (8:39 - 9:01)

Yeah, it was quite a bittersweet the last night, because it had been like a show that we were working on for like years. And it was like, I feel like the whole time it was kind of surreal. I wasn't really thinking about the like end result.

I think once it finally got there, it was like really surreal. So yeah, it was amazing, but kind of bittersweet as well.

[Steph Edusei] (9:02 - 9:05)

And then you thought, I'm a bit bored now, I'll just write another one.

[Kayla Ayerty] (9:06 - 9:29)

Basically, yeah. Yeah, I started writing War Crown like quite shortly after. And yeah, I don't think I actually remember how I got the idea for War Crown, but I think like it just came one day and then I just like wrote, I told my dad and then just kept rolling with it.

I think that's just how we work. Just get an idea and then go with it.

[Steph Edusei] (9:29 - 9:33)

And do you bounce a lot of ideas off your dad and kind of work them through and that type of thing?

[Kayla Ayerty] (9:34 - 9:39)

Yeah, yeah, because he knows more about this than anyone else I know, so.

[Steph Edusei] (9:39 - 9:46)

It's always handy to have somebody who knows what they're talking about and can advise and guide you. It makes a massive difference.

[Kayla Ayerty] (9:47 - 9:49)

Yeah, it's really helpful.

[Steph Edusei] (9:49 - 9:54)

So the next play, is War Crown a musical as well?

[Kayla Ayerty] (9:55 - 10:14)

No, War Crown's not a musical, but it will have like musical elements to it because quite a large part of African culture is music. So I definitely wanted to incorporate that in it as well. But it's not like the same as Walking Blind, where it's like a song every two seconds.

[Steph Edusei] (10:14 - 10:16)

And have you been to Ghana?

[Kayla Ayerty] (10:17 - 10:18)

No, I haven't actually.

[Steph Edusei] (10:19 - 10:29)

Yeah, it's when you said about that music and African culture, because when you eventually get to go to Ghana, that's one of the overwhelming things is there is music everywhere.

[Kayla Ayerty] (10:30 - 10:33)

Yeah, it's definitely something I want to experience.

[Steph Edusei] (10:33 - 10:43)

And the reason I said that made me think, there's a Gardane link here, is one of your characters. So War Crown is about three warrior queens, isn't it really?

[Kayla Ayerty] (10:44 - 10:45)

Yeah, yeah, basically.

[Steph Edusei] (10:45 - 10:48)

And one of them is Yaa Asantewaa?

[Kayla Ayerty] (10:48 - 11:12)

Yeah, yeah, it is Yaa Asantewaa, Queen Nanny and Queen Nandi. So obviously, once the idea came, I knew Yaa Asantewaa has to be one of them, because just even in the household, even with my grandparents and all of that, her name just comes up as such a role model. So she was definitely someone that had to be a part of it.

[Steph Edusei] (11:12 - 11:31)

And for people who don't know Yaa Asantewaa, she was a Ghanaian queen mother, which is like a queen, who fought the British, didn't she? Yeah, fought against the British. When the British tried to take over the Ashanti Kingdom and ended up being captured and imprisoned.

But we really led the Ashanti nation in war.

[Kayla Ayerty] (11:31 - 11:31)

Yeah.

[Steph Edusei] (11:32 - 11:50)

After the king had been captured. So she's quite a famous figure. My day name is Yaa.

So occasionally I get, oh yeah, Asantewaa. Yeah, mine is as well. So yeah, she's quite a powerful character that actually most of the Western world know nothing about.

[Kayla Ayerty] (11:51 - 12:25)

Exactly. That's another reason why I kind of decided to go with this. Because after Walking Blind, there was a lot of different routes I could have gone down.

But I felt like this one was a particularly good one to show, to bring back these characters and these people that a lot of the world has forgotten. Because most people from African culture and history, people nowadays don't really know. So I think it was important to bring elements of that back into modern day.

[Steph Edusei] (12:26 - 12:33)

And I mean, I don't know anything about the other two. So you said Queen Nanny and Queen Nandi. So who are they and where were they from?

[Kayla Ayerty] (12:34 - 13:09)

So Queen Nanny, she was Ghanaian as well, but she was enslaved and she was taken to Jamaica, where she connected with the Windward Maroons, which were a group of runaway slaves that kind of lived in the mountains of Jamaica. And she kind of became a queen there. She ruled them.

She taught them about guerrilla warfare. And then when the British came again, they fought ruthlessly against them in the First Marine War and the Second Marine War.

[Steph Edusei] (13:10 - 13:14)

Okay. And then Queen Nandi was the other one, wasn't she?

[Kayla Ayerty] (13:15 - 13:23)

Yeah. So this one was one that I didn't actually know about until quite recently, apparently. Queen Nandi is Shakazulu's mother.

[Steph Edusei] (13:24 - 13:25)

Oh, right. Okay.

[Kayla Ayerty] (13:25 - 14:03)

Yeah. So she's like, she's ruthless. She's like completely amazing.

So she also led... Yeah, that's kind of the trend between these. They're just hardcore.

But yeah, she led in the Battle of Islawandura. I can't pronounce it. But yeah, that battle she fought.

It's same with all of them. They lead their people so fearlessly, so courageously. So I feel like this is kind of what stood out to me about most of these characters.

[Steph Edusei] (14:04 - 14:19)

And I think it's really interesting that you as kind of a young woman have chosen to write a play about women. And how much of that was important that it was kind of really powerful African women rather than just Africans?

[Kayla Ayerty] (14:21 - 15:06)

Well, I think a lot. It's about lifting people up as well. So I think, especially with my generation, we kind of have like self-esteem issues.

And there's a lot of like role models in culture nowadays and Black culture. But I feel like the values are kind of different. I think it's important to kind of balance it out with traditional values of people that fought, that were courageous, that were ruthless, but at the same time loving and caring and supporting.

I think it was important to have that element and to remind people that these people were mothers, but at the same time, they were warriors.

[Steph Edusei] (15:07 - 15:43)

And they led their people, didn't they? It was that whole thing of they were able to just, like I say, command a nation and people respected them and would follow them. So really kind of, yeah, really things to aspire to is to have that kind of ability to lead people and to lift people up.

But also I think there is something about, and you'll find this as you grow up, there's something about when you lead people, you do have to be tough as well and you've got to be able to kind of- Yeah, definitely. Yeah, put your foot down when it needs to be put down.

[Kayla Ayerty] (15:44 - 15:45)

Yeah.

[Steph Edusei] (15:45 - 15:50)

So where are you at the stage with War Crown at the moment? Where are you up to with that?

[Kayla Ayerty] (15:50 - 16:18)

Well, I have finished the second draft of the script and we have applied for funding with the Arts Council. So kind of just waiting to hear back about that. And we're also crowdfunding to raise another £5,000 for the show as well.

So I think right now I'm kind of just like waiting to see what happens with the money situation. Just so we kind of know what's going on.

[Steph Edusei] (16:18 - 16:24)

Right, because you're planning to produce War Crown this October, aren't you?

[Kayla Ayerty] (16:24 - 16:33)

Yeah, we kind of timed it so that it aligns with Black History Month as well. So yeah, I think it's a good addition.

[Steph Edusei] (16:33 - 17:04)

And so I'm just going to say this now, we'll put the link in the show notes as well, but your website is kaylahat.com. But as I say, I'll put the link in the show notes so that people can find it. And I think your crowdfunder details are on there as well, but I'll put a link to them in the show notes so that people can support you on that.

So the plan is 22nd to the 27th of October at the Courtyard Theatre in London. So you've kind of got the hold on the theatre, you're just waiting for the funding to start the whole process of auditions and all that again.

[Kayla Ayerty] (17:04 - 17:34)

Yeah, it's very suspenseful, kind of waiting to see what the outcome is because I hope that we do get the funding because then we can really bring the vision to life and make it a show that's worth seeing. That's the big thing. I don't want to do any watered down version.

I want it to be really authentic and full of culture. I think it would be so much easier to do that with the funding. So yeah, kind of just have to cross fingers now, just wait and see what happens.

[Steph Edusei] (17:35 - 17:59)

I'm sure. I mean, it's the kind of thing, if the Arts Council is going to support anything, this is the type of thing that it should be supporting. You've obviously got a lot of talent and to be nurturing that at your age, who knows where you're going to go to next.

So I hope that they do come up with it, but also that your crowdfunder kind of exceeds that as well. And then you can really go to town on your production, can't you, if both come off?

[Kayla Ayerty] (18:00 - 18:00)

Yeah.

[Steph Edusei] (18:00 - 18:21)

So let's say, I'm going to ask you to imagine something. So War Crown goes ahead, it happens, big success. What would you really love to do in future?

Where do you see it? Because you've got another five years to go until, well, if you do A-levels and things, until you finish full-time education. What's kind of your dream once you leave school?

Have you thought that far ahead?

[Kayla Ayerty] (18:24 - 18:52)

I think doing what I'm doing now, I genuinely want to continue. With the playwriting and with that, I feel like maybe in future, I might venture into a different form of writing as well, but it definitely has to be writing. Like that's, like, I can feel it, like doing this, it makes it clear that this is my passion.

So yeah, I think in future, I have to continue.

[Steph Edusei] (18:52 - 19:48)

Yeah. And I think it'd be interesting with kind of these two plays, if people want to then produce them themselves and that type of thing, that would be, so that more people can see it. Because I personally would have loved to have seen the first one.

I'll try my best to come and see the second. But actually that, I think when you've got work that kind of speaks to that Black story and that migrant story as well, it is really important that we hear that and we share that. So, you know, I want to thank you for doing the work that you're doing and producing it and bringing things like The Three Queens stories to life.

Because so many people won't have heard of any of them. And I've learned about two new ones today. So that's been really great.

And you were talking about other writing. So you're thinking maybe novels or do you do poetry as well? Did I spot somewhere that you write poetry as well?

[Kayla Ayerty] (19:48 - 20:10)

Yeah, I do. I do enjoy poetry. That is one of the other main ones that I enjoy doing.

But yeah, in terms of the other writing, I'm not really sure what I would do outside of this. But yeah, I'm always open to trying new things. So I think it just depends on what kind of calls out to me.

So yeah, just got to experiment and see what sticks.

[Steph Edusei] (20:11 - 20:43)

Yeah, well, that's it. And this is the time to do that, I suppose, when you've still got all of those resources through school and things that you can just try different things and kind of figure out how it goes. But as I say, to be well on your way to having two productions before you hit the age of 14, you make me feel really inadequate.

So I'm thinking, what did I do by the time I was 14? And I'd acted in a few things, but I certainly haven't written anything.

[Kayla Ayerty] (20:44 - 20:46)

So not my intention, sorry.

[Steph Edusei] (20:47 - 20:57)

No, not at all. In a good way, because I really admire what you've done and what you have achieved. And I hope you're properly proud of yourself for having done that.

[Kayla Ayerty] (20:58 - 20:59)

Yeah, thank you.

[Steph Edusei] (21:00 - 21:54)

Because I know you said about kind of your generation and having self-esteem issues. And I hate to tell you this, it's not just your generation. Quite a few of us have had real issues with kind of that self-esteem and bigging ourselves up.

And I think if anybody's got something you can shout about, it's you. I think what you've done is, like I say, really impressive. Then you should be very, very proud.

I'm sure your family's very proud of you as well. So we've got coming up, War Crown. I'm gonna say the dates again, 22nd to the 27th of October at the Courtyard Theatre in London.

And at the minute, you are just waiting for the funding. So we'll talk about your crowdfunding. I'll make sure that that goes out.

And I just wish you all the very best. And hopefully, like I say, I'll be able to come down and see the production in October and hopefully meet you.

[Kayla Ayerty] (21:54 - 22:26)

Yeah, I'm just hoping that this show just turns out to educate people in a way, and show what a lot of these cultures have had. It's a sense of community as well. Like that was a big thing that I've noticed while I've been writing it.

Like it's big on community. I think like nowadays, we kind of lack that sense of community. So I'm really looking forward to doing something that reminds people of that.

[Steph Edusei] (22:26 - 23:01)

Right, and I'm really struck by that, that your writing's not just there to entertain, it's there to educate. And it sounds like it's there to connect as well, which is really the best. Best art is not just there to be admired and kind of enjoyed, it's there to do more than that.

And I think that's what you're aspiring to do, which is brilliant. So thank you so much, Kayla. It's been really brilliant to have you on the podcast.

Hopefully, like I say, I'll get to see you and see the show in October. And I wish you all the very best for the future.

[Kayla Ayerty] (23:02 - 23:03)

Thank you so much.

[Steph Edusei] (23:03 - 23:33)

I'm gonna give a quick final plug for that crowdfunder. If you just search crowdfunder war crown, it will come up. They're still a little bit shy of that total that they're looking for.

So please consider donating to this incredible talent. I hope you've enjoyed that episode of Black All Year. It would be great if you could subscribe and review, because not only will it make sure that you get the content, but it will help other people to find it too.

Take care.