Blood of My Blood

Joy Nesbitt makes her Royal Court debut with Blood of My Blood, running in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court Theatre until 7 November. It's a haunting new play about inheritance, belonging, and what we hear when we listen to the voices of the past.

The story moves across two timelines. It opens in Bullock Creek, South Carolina, in 1862, on the eve of the abolition of slavery, where Ginnie Good is raising five children in a cabin that will outlast them all. In the present day, Talulah, a Black British woman from Shepherd's Bush whose late grandfather raised her after her parents died, returns to the Whitby Plantation where her ancestors were enslaved. She takes up residence in that same cabin, now available to rent on Airbnb. Through the ritual of conjuring, she tries to channel Ginnie, while the plantation is run by descendants of the original Irish enslavers.

Directed by Tatenda Shamiso, the play crosses comedy, race drama, and gothic horror, with Hoodoo rituals and supernatural elements weaving ancestry, power, and capitalism together. It's a ghost story and a reckoning with the undocumented history of enslaved people.

Most performances are at 7:45pm, with a 3:00pm matinee on Thursday 29 October and a 2:00pm on Saturday 31 October. Tickets range from £15 to £30, with Monday tickets at £15. The Royal Court is at Sloane Square, London SW1W 8AS.