“The consultancy and advice were invaluable. If I was working on my own, I wouldn’t have had access to that kind of advice.”

Nikki Charlesworth is a Nottingham based Theatre Designer, Puppet Designer and Animator. She studied at Nottingham Trent University. She works at the forefront of disability-led theatre making, contributing to new, ground-breaking work in the sector and advocating for accessible puppetry training opportunities.

In 2024, City Arts supported Nikki to develop her puppet show The Luckiest Girl Alive. The show tells the life story of activist Hoda Ali. Aged 7, whilst living in Somalia, Hoda went through Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). The Luckiest Girl Alive follows Hoda’s life before and after that incident. It explores early happy memories playing with her sister, the “party” pre-FGM, and the medical complications that came after it. It touches on the outbreak of civil war in Somalia and follows her journey as a refugee out of Africa, to Italy and the Netherlands, and on to the UK.

The show was performed in Nottingham, Derby and London. Nikki spoke to us about the show, and the value of City Arts’ support:

The show is unique because it is so authentic. Hoda was involved right from the very start, from conception to casting to recruitment to design to rehearsals and performance. The cast commented how privileged they felt to be in the room with Hoda throughout these processes. It’s also unique in its use of puppetry. Puppetry has never been used to raise awareness of FGM. The artform has a unique ability to address very sensitive subjects in a way that audiences find accessible.

City Arts were also involved right from the very start. You encouraged me to make the application to the Arts Council that funded the show, and you were involved in the project as a producer. City Arts supported the recruitment of actors, technical and a creative team, hosting the opportunities on your website and sharing them on social media. You also created a flyer to promote the show.

Producing support was quite varied. Alison [Denholm, City Arts’ Creative Development Manager] acted as an advisor and a kind of senior manager. She shared her perspective on the recruitment of the cast and team, and helped with more complex issues that occurred. The consultancy and advice were invaluable. If I was working on my own, I wouldn’t have had access to that kind of advice. And it helps to have another creative eye watching the rehearsals, someone to run decisions by. I think everyone on the cast really valued Alison’s involvement and City Arts’ involvement.

I also had support from New Art Exchange and Nottingham Playhouse, alongside City Arts. It really raised the profile of the show to have such a great line-up of support from organisations across the city of Nottingham. The show far exceeded my expectations, in every way. I feel really proud, on behalf of everyone, of what we created.

A lot of the audience we reached in Nottingham and London were activists and campaigners against FGM. To have performed it to organisations and affected communities was really meaningful. They fed back how much they were inspired by the show, how they felt seen and how much it lifted up Hoda’s story. In Derby we performed to a lot of industry people. It was really valuable to hear the different direction they thought the show could go in, and to receive feedback from theatre professionals. Everyone spoke about what a beautiful story it was. We had a lot of feedback saying we should take the show to schools, and a lot say we should take it to East Africa. That would be a big challenge.

 
Nikki’s experience shows how City Arts works to support artists. It has allowed Nikki and Hoda to tell a powerful and important story. Hopefully it will become a useful tool in the campaign against Female Genital Mutilation.