In Peckham, between the Chicken Shop and the Afro Food Cash & Carry, you'll find World of Curls. Ronkę and her fellow hairdressers Blessing and Peaches will relax or braid, weave or cut.

Going to the hairdresser is where Black women learn about their culture, through the hair styles they see being created, the languages they hear and the stories they'll never forget. And Ronkę shares her worries about her daughter Bim. She is getting into trouble at school and Ronkę and her husband Seun fear this will be a stumbling block for her future. What exactly are their options?

Yolanda Mercy’s Quarter Life Crisis was the first play to be heard on Radio 1Xtra and has been performed in Edinburgh, London, and Lagos, It was chosen to be one of the reopening season shows at the Bridge Theatre, London shows in Autumn 2020 where it played to full houses. Her first TV show BBW was commissioned and broadcast by Channel 4. She is currently on attachment at Soho Theatre as part of Soho Six.

Jade Lewis is a theatre director and directed the stage version of Quarter Life Crisis. Her recent work includes Resident Director on Nine Night at the National Theatre and Trafalgar Studios. She was nominated for the Stage Debut Director’s Award for Superhoe at the Royal Court and was selected by Audible to work on their new writing for audio drama series GNR8T.

Together they have created World of Curls.

Cast:
Ronkẹ Ronkẹ Adékọluẹ́jọ
Seun Yinka Awoni
Nicola & Bim Emerald Crankson
Blessing Deborah Bahi

Sound Engineer Wilfred Acosta
Sound Designer Richard Haynes
Written by Yolanda Mercy
Directed by Jade Lewis
Produced by Caroline Raphael

A Dora production for BBC Radio 4
Photograph credit: Kiraly Saint Claire Show less