ARCHIVE: DESTINY

Writer and Performer Florence Espeut-Nickless
Director and Dramaturg Jesse Jones
Composer and Sound Designer Joseff Harris
Lighting Designer and Technician Jenny Roxburgh
Producer Vic Hole

We’re delighted and very proud that DESTINY, whose development was supported by Tobacco Factory Theatres, is returning to us this autumn by popular demand!

“They’re sayin I brought it on myself.

Oh yeah, they’ve heard about me. Basically it must’ve been my fault cause I’m me, Destiny”

Destiny dreams big. She dreams glamour. She’s gonna be an MTV Base backing dancer, you watch. If J-Lo can make it outta the Bronx then Destiny can make it off the Hill Rise estate in Chippenham. She’s fearless, ferocious and up for the fight (she’s had to be). Born below the breadline, she’s desperate to see beyond the neighbourhood and find hope in hopelessness.

This monologue follows the story of a teenage girl growing up on a rural Wiltshire council estate. After a big night out takes a turn for the worse, Destiny’s life spirals out of control as she desperately tries to learn how to love and be loved.

DESTINY is a recipient of The Pleasance’s 2021 National Partnerships Award with Bristol Old Vic FERMENT and was shortlisted for Theatre West’s Write On Women Award. It has been developed with support from Tobacco Factory Theatres, Bristol Old Vic FERMENT, Pound Arts, Strike a Light, The Pleasance, Tim Crouch, Wiltshire Creative, Natural Theatre, Paper Arts, Theatre Bristol, Hawkwood College, Arts Council England and Gane Trust.

Florence is a writer, performer and facilitator from Chippenham in Wiltshire, a town with no theatre and limited access to it. She writes for both stage and screen about and with working class communities in the South West in the hope of making the arts more accessible to everyone, regardless of background and geographical location. She is the Writer in Residence at Pentabus Theatre, an Open Session Writer at Bristol Old Vic and an associate artist at Strike a Light, as part of the Let Artists Be Artists programme.

The Company gives thanks to the following people and organisations for their help with this production:
Tobacco Factory Theatres, The Pound, Bristol Old Vic, Strike a Light, Gemma Brooks, Jean Goubert, Tim Crouch, Wiltshire Creative, Natural Theatre, Theatre Bristol, Paper Arts, Gane Trust, Matthew Emeny, Rina Vergano and the R&D team Lauren Gauge, Emile Clarke, Robert Turton, Clemency Calkin, Madi Mahoney.