ABSTRACT
The chapter focuses on police violence against Black women by analysing the play The Interrogation of Sandra Bland by Mojisola Adebayo, a verbatim piece that deals with the arrest and subsequent death of this activist in the USA. The chapter starts with a discussion of the broad topic of police violence in Black British theatre, which was a prevalent theme at the beginning of the twenty-first century. It then introduces Mojisola Adebayo’s broader work and her focus on activism, including the theatre strategies she employs in respect of the latter, specifically her use of documentary theatre. The chapter continues with a contextualisation of the play as part of the Black Lives Matter movement to then examine it through the lens of intersectionality. Stylistically, the theatrical strategies of the chorus, amplification and the use of verbatim theatre, as well as the spatial politics of the venue, are analysed in relation to the notion of witnessing and ethical responsibility. The chapter also considers the transnational connections that can be built through this work, specifically through the use of the chorus, which is made up of women from different backgrounds acting as Sandra Bland, the theatre project Black Lives, Black Words and the Black Lives Matter movement.
