Assata Taught Me

Sse So Productions In Association with David Ajala's VP & CHAIRMAN Presents

Assata Taught Me by Kalungi Ssebandeke 

Directed by Kalungi Ssebandeke 

Power belongs to the people. Go get yours. 

2016. Havana, Cuba. While being attacked, 21 year old Fanuco is rescued by a mysterious American woman. To him she’s simply a benevolent foreigner whose kindness could extend to giving him English lessons. Lessons that would see him escape Cuba for the United States. 

What he doesn’t know is that this foreigner is Assata Shakur, an escaped convict and former Black Panther turned FBI’s Most Wanted Woman - with $2m on her head. 

In this fictional two-hander, revolutionary lessons collide with generational resistance when the past is re-examined through youthful eyes. What happens when one person’s refuge is another’s prison? How does a freedom fighter become a terrorist? And is it acceptable for Fanuco’s desire to live the American Dream to be stifled by a woman who lived the American nightmare? 

Almost 10 years after its world premier, experience this powerful revival of Kalungi Ssebandeke’s award-nominated debut play hailed as “pulse quickening” by Whatsonstage and “gripping” by The Guardian. 

Cast 

Susan Lawson-Reynolds: ASSATA SHAKUR 

Ebenezer Gyau: FANUCO MACEO

Creative Team

Associate Producer: David Ajala's VP & CHAIRMAN

Associate Producer: Clarisse Makundul

Set and Costume Designer: Bolu Dairo 

Lighting Designer: Chuma Emembolu 

Sound Designer: Jose Guillermo Puello 

Movement Director: Gabrielle Nimo 

Voice and Dialect Coach: Aundrea Fudge 

Cuban Cultural Consultant:LuandaPau 

Stage Manager: Mel Fritz-Liu 
 

This production is Supported by Cyril Nri, David Ajala, Edith Nalule, Sseband of Bros. 

Poster Photos by Kakembo 

Trailer by Moses Ssebandeke 

Music in Trailer by Jose Guillermo Puello