Princess and the Hustler (2019)

Princess and the Hustler

by

Chinonyerem Odimba

Bristol Old Vic

2019

Princess and the Hustler is set in the St Agnes area of Bristol. The play begins on Christmas Day 1962 when 10 year old Princess, her 17 year old brother Junior and her mum Mavis find themselves unexpectedly sharing their Christmas dinner with a strange man called Wendell and his daughter, Lorna. It turns out that Wendell, the ‘hustler’ of the title, is their father Lorna their half-sister.

The play dramatises Wendell the Hustler’s attempt to win back the respect and trust of the family he abandoned and find a way to earn a living. While he is roaming the city looking for work, Junior is out with his friends taking photographs and Princess is sharing her dream of winning the Western-super- Mare Beauty Contest with Lorna.

Wendell finds his purpose and his family’s respect by actively supporting and organising for the Bristol Bus Boycott. The Boycott was led by Paul Stephenson who protested against the Bristol Omnibus Company’s refusal to employ Black and Asian staff as bus conductors and drivers. As the adults battle racist discrimination in the streets of Bristol, Princess is learning about its effects on a personal level, as Lorna, who is white-passing, is invited to parties, and Princess is not. We learn how white beauty standards impact on children through Princess’s eyes, the way racism permeates and limits the lives and opportunities of Black people, but also how they resist it.

Writer Chinonyerem ‘Chino’ Odimba describes how:

the play centres around a family. And within that family is a young girl full of hopes and dreams like any other young girl. Princess being from a Black family is only relevant because we get to see what I like to call ‘Black girl joy’. A girl living for her dreams. But for Princess holding onto these dreams at this particular time in British/Bristol history is not that easy.

The play was warmly received by critics who celebrated the ‘beautiful crafting’ of the story and the ‘skilful’ interweaving of the historical content. The play is now an AQA set text for English Literature GCSE drama.

About the writer

Chinonyerem Odimba is a Nigerian British playwright and also the Artistic Director of tiata fahodzi, a Black led, artist centred African heritage theatre company. She began her theatre career in stage management and became a playwright after attending a writing course run by Winsome Pinnock. Her other plays include Black Love (2021), The Birdwoman of Lewisham (2015) and Joanne (2015).

Resources

Read: Q&A with Chino on Bristol and Princess and the Hustler

Read: The Story of the Bristol Bus Boycott