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Ayesha's Blog

Thanks for stopping by this is where I post on all that I find interesting.

The Pantomime Case: a case summary

13 May
A case summary on the Slights & Others v Crossroads Pantomime & Others Case by solicitor and actress Ayesha Casely-Hayford

Slights & Others v Crossroads Pantomimes Ltd & Others: A Case Summary Slights & Others v Crossroads Pantomimes Ltd and Others is a recent employment tribunal case looking at the legal definition of workers. It has linked my legal and creative worlds and opened up a window into the pantomime business. Equity, the British Actors’ […]

Baby KaaFo Lullaby

30 December
Baby KaaFo Lullaby sung by Mrs Rebecca Odonkor and recorded by her granddaughter Ayesha Casely-Hayford

Baby KaaFo Baby Kaafo means “Baby Don’t Cry” in Ga and is the title of a traditional lullaby from Ghana. Ga is a language spoken by the Ga people of Ghana, West Africa. Background To my Recording of Baby KaaFo I directed a series of plays for Equal Stages, including an extract from a play by […]

Una Marson

13 December
London Calling by Una Marson play excerpt directed by Ayesha Casely-Hayford

Una Marson: Feminist, activist. Thinker, nationalist. Broadcaster, producer, editor. Writer in Jamaica and England, across the 20s to the 60s of the 20th century she wrote columns, features, reports, poems, manifestos, radio programmes – plays. She edited and published journals, produced culture, and she was the first black radio producer to be employed by the BBC. Via […]

After Earnest

12 April
Two actresses called Ayesha Casely-Hayford and Kudzanayi Chiwawa perform The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

Our Two Gents production of The Importance of Being Earnest was a 12-week project. And now it’s all done. These are my reflections, After Earnest. For a 12-week period of time, we took Oscar Wilde’s seminal play, The Importance Of Being Earnest, and transformed this classical text into our own. We welcomed it into our lives, […]

Dreadlocks

11 January
Ayesha Casely-Hayford the creator of Afro Archives poses smiling on a deckchair with her cousin Naa Shika Odonkor

In August 2018, A Book’s Christian Academy (in Apopka Florida USA) refused entry to a 6-year old boy because of his dreadlocks. In September 2017, Fulham Boys School (in the UK) asked a 12-year old boy to cut off his dreadlocks.Let’s discuss DREADLOCKS. Afro Hair and Dreadlocks Dreadlocks take many years to grow! They can […]

Roll The Dice

15 December
Ayesha Casely-Hayford at The Stage Award 2018

“Everyone on Earth is carrying around an unseen history and that alone deserves some tolerance”from “I Am Becoming” by Michelle Obama Photo credit: Martin Eito Sometimes, for the whole day, I’m simply…Trying to not get TOOOO F*CKING FRUSTRATED TBH. These are my reflections on where I’ve come from and the truth of the strength and […]

Locs It To You?

19 November
a painting of a young black girl with her hair in dreadlocks held up by a headscarf and looking reflectively down

LOCS: One choice. One thing I know is 100% true about afro hair, is that we have a lot of choice when it comes to hairstyles. What I also know is true is that a person with afro-textured hair may choose a hairstyle, such as locs, because it helps naturally maintain the hair’s afro-texture as well […]

Earnest

21 October
Two women of colour sit at a table with strong expressions on their faces. They are wearing matching white t-shirts.

The Importance Of Being Earnest The Importance of Being Earnest, is a play written by Oscar Wilde. We are performing it as two women of colour, that is myself and actress Kudzanayi Chiwawa. Between us, we are doing ALL of the parts. This means multi-roles, multi-accents and taking the confusion of this play to a […]