The Mombasa Roadshow was a loose drama collective, composed of assorted punks, artists, musicians and general misfits, mostly resident between Kentish Town and Kilburn in London.
In the spirit of Malcolm McLaren, Mary East had decided she could produce a livelier piece of Shakespeare with the people she met in her local laundrette, than the various professional theatre groups she'd been working with. And the rest is forgotten history. Well, not quite forgotten.
I saw Titus Andronicus from the audience, loved it and got involved. So I spent the course of the dada night sat on the stage drinking beer, reading a paper - and eating fish and chips at one point. Before delivering two killer lines after a Samurai beheaded a cabbage. Hm, you probably had to be there.
Various roles, acting or otherwise, followed; and finally Flamineo in the White Devil. That was fun of a sharp intensity. A high point of my life that felt dangerously seductive.
I still don't know why it was called the Mombasa Roadshow. It had no connection with Mombasa at all. But there has to be a reason. Surely.
Titus Andronicus
William Shakespeare
Abbey Community Centre?, Kilburn
1981?
The Dada Night
Mombasa Roadshow
St.George's Hall, Kingsgate
1982?
