Developing The Lynching

Jackie Walker

“….a great night. Jackie possesses a lovely singing voice and the honed acting skills of a veteran performer, plus the tragic story of her Jewish civil rights campaigner father and her black Jamaican mother, is worth a show in itself.” - (Alexei Sayle, The Observer)

“Gutsy performance…terrific…very funny and beautifully done.... sharp, and also nailed all the issues." (Ken Loach)


Jackie Walker

... was born in New York, the daughter of Dorothy Walker, a Jamaican mother, and Jack Cohen, a Jewish American father, after whom she was named. Her parents met as political activists - she a student doctor, he a Communist of Russian origin - and travelled together on the ‘Freedom Rides’ in the Southern States of America during the early Civil Rights struggle of the 50’s and 60's, often risking their own lives. Dorothy was eventually deported from the country; not before her incarceration in Pilgrim State Mental Hospital in NY.

This story and Dorothy’s journey to Deptford, London, in the early sixties, and early death, is told in Jackie’s extraordinary and moving family memoir Pilgrim State (2009). Jackie is an educator, trainer, performer, political activist and writer.

She was the Deputy Vice Chair of Momentum, the group that was set up to protect the movement that arose with the election of Jeremy Corbyn, but was later dismissed from the position and suspended from the Labour Party with smears of antisemitism and ‘bringing the Party into disrepute’. The Lynching, with forensic skill, huge heart and great humour, is a theatre piece that examines this whole  struggle, much of it told through the voice of Jackie's mother...  





Our Proposal:

We want to develop Jackie Walker's fantastic show The Lynching into a three-women version for and by other descendants of the Windrush Generation. This is a piece about the intersection of Jewish and Black struggle, and social activism over three and more generations. An amazing and unique story that is, at the same time, universal. It will be directed by Steve Tiller 

The £4500 we are looking for will be used:

A.    To workshop The Lynching, initially, with the actors Jo Martin,  Adi Alfa and Kate Spencer, all writers as well, for a three-hander version of the show.

B.    Soon after, to do a one-night premiere in front of a live audience.

C.     And then to perform it, not only with Jo, Kate and Adi, but with other fantastic performers of our acquaintance, according to their availability, including Cassie McFarlane , Jan Blake , Suzann McLean , Eliane Correa , Dixie Daye and many others, hugely creative in their own right. 

D.    Beyond that, we will employ a producer to begin the job of rolling The Lynching out at a quality London venue such as The Young Vic, Theatre Royal Stratford East, Soho Theatre or The Royal Court.

Jo Martin

Adi Alfa

Marcia Mantack

The £4,500 breaks down thus:

1.     £1000 to workshop the three-women version.

2.     £1000 to hire a good space for an evening performance and market it.

3.     £500 to rehearse the show just before

4.     £500 to pay the actors on the night

5.     £500 to film the live show and edit it later for ongoing marketing.

6.     And £1000  to attract a quality venue to roll out The Lynching for an initial three-week run in London. And then? Who knows... 

So why have we come to you? 

As we say in the video, Arts Council England and similar funders would categorise the work we are doing as 'a revival' - which is why we have come to you - friends, supporters and people who share our political passions...

Without your contribution, be it a pound or a thousand pounds, this vital and exciting development of the show won't happen.... 

We also want you to know that donors will reap rewards for their support, not only in the sense of being 'Angels' to a wonderful project but in the following ways: 

·      £20 guarantees you a seat for the new three-actor premiere. 

·      £50 gets you that, and a Prosecco- and canapé-fuelled reception with the cast after, provided by the White Room Supper Club Hoxton's go-to private eating experience...

·      £100 all of the above, your name in the programme as one of our Gold Sponsors, another ticket for your favourite squeeze, and, last but not least, a mug from The Lynching shop!!  :)

And for organisations…

·      £500 - Ten tickets for the premiere and reception, your logo and name in the programme, as well as in the Press Releases and in all marketing. .

·      £1000 – all of the above, with 15 tickets for the premiere, not ten, plus a private performance of the show at a venue of your choice afterwards, should you so wish…

And please contact us if you want to talk to us about how you could donate in some other way.... in kind... with marketing help... press .... all and any proposals will be joyfully received.