Liberian Girl

(Paperback, 2nd edition)

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Description

Every single one of you has been chosen for this great moment, you are revolutionary freedom fighters, changing your future, one day at a time. This is for you, it's all for you and don't you ever forget that! Set during the early years of the First Liberian Civil War (1989 1996), this startling debut play by Diana Nneka Atuona tells the story of fourteen-year-old Martha who flees her country, disguised as a boy, when its invaded by rebels. Investigated and cruelly interrogated, she is separated from her grandmother as they attempt to escape the conflict under false identities and, convincing in her boys apparel, Martha is forced to join the rebels army. Exposed to the violence of this brutal and seemingly misguided conflict, both as victim and perpetrator, Marthas experience of the First Liberian Civil War is one of excessive cruelty and, in particular, abuse against female prisoners of war. Liberian Girl received its world premiere at the Royal Court Upstairs, London in December 2014. This second edition was published post-production with some changes to the original script.

Reviews

[Atuona] pictures brutality in all its naked mindlessness. With verve . . . she shows how war can erode familiar notions of childhood and humanity. * Evening Standard *
Atuona's play may be rooted in a particular conflict but in its depiction of how war makes men barbarians, and women and children their slaves, it is timeless. * Daily Telegraph *
Intelligent, impassioned and devastatingly affecting. * The Times *
Diana Nneka Atuona's remarkable debut play . . . With extraordinary boldness and range of empathy . . . it offers a joltingly unusual perspective on the recruitment and brutalisation of child soldiers * Independent *

Author Bio

Diana Nneka Atuona is a British-Nigerian writer from Peckham, South London. After graduating with a degree in International Politics from South Bank University, Diana was awarded a scholarship from Grays Inn to study a diploma in Law. Her first passion has always been to write for TV, stage, film and music though. In September 2011, she joined the Royal Court as their Theatre Local Officer, taking plays by writers like Debbie Tucker Green, Rachel Delahay and Bola Agbaje to spaces around London. In 2012, she joined the Royal Courts Invitation writing group and the resulting full-length play, Liberian Girl, was placed in the top 25 plays for the Verity Bargate Award and was longlisted for the 2013 Bruntwood Prize. It also won her the Alfred Fagon Award for playwriting.