Brian Obiri-Asare
#ABOUT
Brian Obiri-Asare is a writer based between Alice Springs and Sydney. His work engages with the complexities and contradictions of a multi-racial society by playing inside the politics and philosophy of representation. Recently, Brian was awarded an Arts NT Varuna Fellowship as well as the 2021 NT Literary Award (Poetry). Playwriting wise, he have undertaken a HIVE residency at The Street Theatre in Canberra. Brian has also received an Anne Edgeworth Young Writer's Fellowship for a play that never made it from the page to the stage. In his own words, a 'forgettable' short play of Brian's was shown at Griffin Theatre's 2013 Griffringe Festival.
#PLAY SYNOPSIS
Astrid and Nathan are an interracial couple. And they’re on the verge of a crisis. Nathan isn’t getting turned on physically by Astrid anymore. And Astrid isn’t sure she can continue without her emotional needs being met. We join these two post-modern love birds in the aftermath of them meeting Astrid’s parents for the first time. What follows is a naturalistic fever-dream as they rip open history at the intersection of race, sex, and power relations in 21st century Australia. Fantasy and reality collide. The limits of vulnerability are tested. Honesty and its risks are laid bare. A deeply surreal exploration of intimacy and identity, Speak of the Devil asks us to inhabit what it means for an interracial couple – in this case, black and white people – to desire each other and acknowledge race. Not for the faint-hearted, this is a racial psychodrama where something whispered is finally screamed.