One Woman Play AISHA Plays Off West End

New young writer/director AJ presents his one woman play, AISHA, which through rhythmic verse, heavily influenced by contemporary spoken word, discusses the practice and repercussions of child marriage; a practice still perpetrated in the UK, with the Home Office estimating that between 5,000 and 8,000 young people a year are at risk.

AISHA is about an underage girl forced by her parents to marry a 51-year-old man at the age of 14. Aisha is sold in exchange for an expensive bride-price, a bride-price that Aisha's parents use to better themselves and abandon their daughter: an act justified by cultural and religious traditions. The man that Aisha is forced to marry and live with is sadistic and abusive. She is forbidden to leave the house; communicate with the outside world; shower or bathe herself on a regular basis; and is denied every human right. How will she continue to cope?

AISHA is performed by Alex Jarrett, who can be seen in the BBC's Les Miserables mini-series, alongside David Oyelowo, and Dominic West, in January 2019. She is also the former Young Major of Newham.

25-year-old writer, director and producer AJ, was raised in South East London, Woolwich. He says: "I strive to create unconventional and thought-provoking work that audience members can deeply engage with. Theatre should be and can be used as a medium to transform society. AISHA is a clear representation of this; I chose to artistically portray the grave effect child marriage can have on a child, in hope that the conveying of this will bring to light a social-ill that is somehow dangerously overlooked."

Production Company AILIA is creating a new theatre for radical, free-spirited artists; and the open-minded spectator.