Don't hate the media, become the media. Jello Biafra
Shani Gray
The Rise of Josephine Baker
LONDON THEATRE INTERVIEW | 2026
The Rise of Josephine Baker
Writer: Shani Gray
Director: Jordi M Carter
Cast:
Shani Gray: Josephine Baker
Christoph L. Dorocant: Paul Colin
Robert De Domenici: Pepito Abatino & Ensemble
Philip Bayntun: André Daven & Ensemble
Image © Angelo Valentino
Sept, 17, 2026
Set in 1920s Paris, The Rise of Josephine Baker follows African American performer Josephine Baker as she escapes segregation-era America to become an international sensation in Europe.
Hey Shani, thank you for taking the time to talk with us. How does it feel to have brought The Rise of Josephine Baker to the Bitesize Festival?
It was an incredible experience. The Rise of Josephine Baker is my debut play, and originally I thought I’d first put it on in a pub theatre for a couple of nights. Fast forward to now and to think that we’ve achieved a sell out four show run in a 150 seat theatre that’s as prestigious as Riverside Studios - I couldn’t have imagined that for a first showing!
When bringing a show like this to a venue like Riverside Studios do nerves ever set in or are you able to keep all that noise out and stay focused?
There’s definitely moments of nerves. I think being a writer is so exposing and vulnerable in the sense that these are your words, your ideas, and particularly for a first run you honestly have no idea how the audience is going to react to your show. I remember being in the wings right before I was going on stage opening night and thinking “I have no idea what people are going to think of this show?!”. At the same time it’s a brilliant feeling when you have the courage to share your work and get real time feedback from an audience.
What does theatre mean to you?
To me theatre is a place to get utterly lost in another world. I love how present I feel when watching a great show, and I find working in theatre can be a magical experience. There’s something about spending intensive time with other people who care deeply about making great work whilst having fun. You’re all working towards the same goal whilst enjoying the process, and that really is pure joy for me. I think of being in the theatre as my happy place.
When did you first discover Josephine Baker? For me it was Sylvain Chomet's Les Triplets de Belleville, 2003.
I grew up in London with an African American dad and Jamaican/English mum, so there was always a real importance in our household on knowing about black icons and history. I was the kid who was obsessed with old Hollywood movies and music from the 1930s-50s, but there was always a dearth of black women when watching classic films from that era. My parents introduced me to Josephine Baker and to see all this imagery of her, to see someone who looked like me from those times and who was an absolute glamour-puss, it was just wow.
What was it about her story that connected with you so much as a writer and performer?
Josephine Baker’s life story is honestly so astonishing it just felt ripe to tell. As an actor this is a dream role for me, to play such a vivacious and unstoppable woman who achieved so much despite a set of obstacles which for most people would be insurmountable. The more I researched her life story the more inspired I felt, and that gave me so much fuel to create this show. I also love how much of multi-hyphenate she was as a dancer/actor/singer/spy/activist (the list goes on!). She didn’t box herself in which is something I really relate to being an actor, writer, doctor and producer myself.
When did you realise you wanted to create a play centred around her early life in Paris?
I first got the idea for the show after looking at some of the famous lithographs by Paul Colin in his series Le Tumulte Noir. Seeing these images and thinking of Josephine Baker being painted in his studio in Paris suddenly sparked an idea for me. What was her early career and rise to fame like? What must it have been like to move from segregated 1920s America to Paris in the Jazz Age? Her life story is so multifaceted and rich but I instinctively felt I needed to pick a specific period and really hone in on that to do the story justice. I could also feel so many parallels with this period of her life. I’m a black female creative with African American heritage living in Europe and trying to forge my own career, so I think my own lived experience helped me to imagine what her emotional journey was on this path.
During your research at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts was there any thing you discovered about Ms Baker that really surprised you?
Doing a deep dive into the archives at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and the Schomburg Centre for Research in Black Culture was fascinating, and honestly it unearthed so many gems. One thing that surprised me was the number of old newspaper articles claiming she had died in the 1940s in Morocco during WW2! It was eye opening to think at the time people were reading this as contemporaneous news and would have believed it to be true – a real lesson for me in the power of media and shared narrative.
What can your audiences expect from The Rise of Josephine Baker?
The play is historical fiction in the sense that I’ve blended discoveries from the archives with imagined moments. Birthing the play from all this research means anyone seeing the show will likely learn a lot about the lesser known parts of Josephine Baker’s rise to fame. Whilst there’s the glitz, glamour and hedonism of 1920s Paris, there’s also an examination of the racism and exploitation Josephine Baker faced and how she navigated that. Often when I see stories told that are set in the roaring twenties there’s a complete absence of how black people may have experienced those times. In this show there’s more of a holistic view of that era, meaning it explores the good, the bad and the ugly.
Ms Baker isn’t just an iconic performer, she’s also a WW2 heroine in France, gaining the rank of Second Lieutenant in the women’s auxiliary corps. She famously wore her full military uniform when she spoke at the March on Washington in 1963, the only official woman speaker. With the increase in musicals and theatre productions that showcase other African-American performers that one would consider peers of Ms Baker, why do you think there isn’t as much attention given to Ms Baker and her continued legacy?
I think there’s a long history of black female stories often being lost with the passage of time, which ultimately reflects the societal structures we live in. It’s such a big question to me, what are the stories we value/don’t value and why? As part of my writing process for this play I researched the Harlem Renaissance, given that this was the world Josephine Baker was living in right before she left New York for Paris. It was noticeable that many of the phenomenal male creatives from this movement have much more of a ‘legend’ status in modern times compared to their female peers. I think timing is a part of it too. Josephine Baker came up during the silent movie era and early talkies, so slightly before the peak of the Hollywood Golden Age. Then just as now, many screen stars are remembered in a different way to performers who mainly work in theatre like Josephine did.
What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced bringing this show to the stage?
Time! Being the lead actor, playwright and producer for the show has been an indescribable amount of work. Straddling all three roles is a real challenge and not for the fainthearted, as you’re switching gears all the time and using very different skillsets for each role. Once the show had been programmed I had a relatively short timeline to get everything together, right from building the team, finalising the script, rehearsing, marketing the show… the list goes on and on! It was a mammoth task, but also so worth it and genuinely one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve ever had.
Being both writer and performer does that add any additional pressure on you, or are you able to keep some division between the roles?
I think being a writer/performer in an ensemble show like this requires a lot of navigation, so I found it helpful to have mental divisions between my roles at times. For example, during a table read I would have my writer hat on to see what was working or needed changing, but once the script was locked it was essential for me to make that transition to Shani the actor in the rehearsal room, so I could focus on creating the role from an actor’s perspective.
What’s the process been like working with your director Jordi M. Carter? How essential is the creative collaboration between a writer/performer and your director?
It’s been a real joy working with Jordi on this show. I think one of the most essential ingredients for a great collaboration between a writer/performer and director is trust. From the get go I felt Jordi had such a deep understanding of this play. He truly just knew the story I wanted to tell and that made our creative relationship incredibly smooth and enjoyable. I also found the energy he brings to the rehearsal room, his collaborative spirit and strong vision made for a fantastic creative experience.
As a writer are you open to some flexibility with the material once the show is running or do you like to keep to the text as it’s written?
During the rehearsal period I think it’s important to be open to changes, as the alchemy of a rehearsal room means you discover things which you can’t when you’re the writer sitting at your laptop. I also wanted to give space for the other actors to bring in their characters’ native language in moments where it felt right (two are French and one is Italian), and they created some lovely new moments in the show with this. That being said once the show is up and running the script is very much the script!
"Recently I discovered there’s a biopic being filmed in the latter part of this year about her, so Josephine’s energy is clearly around and finding new audiences."
Of all of Ms Baker’s early songs do you have a favourite?
A tough question! It’s a classic but when I listen to her sing J’ai Deux Amours it’s as if I can feel her heart coming through the music. It captures a beauty, a sadness, hope and courage so well that it has got to be my favourite early song of hers.
What do you think it was about Ms Baker that captivated Parisians, and the French as a whole, so much so that she’s still very much revered to this day?
She was a one off, there was simply no one like her. Josephine Baker was so effervescent from what I know of her, the kind of person that no one would forget after meeting. There are certain people who just light up a room when they’re in it and I think that was her. She also knew how to play into fascination, novelty and desire in a way that has kept people hooked on her over 100 years later. Josephine never did anything by halves, whether that was her activism, her performances or choice of pets (a cheetah!) and I think the gusto with which she approached life has led to her iconic status.
What was the message you wanted to say with The Rise of Josephine Baker, and do you think you and your team have achieved it?
First and foremost I really wanted to spotlight her incredible life. To me there’s something quite important about honouring our ancestors, those that came before us and through tremendous difficulty paved the way. It’s because of Josephine Baker’s tenacity and brilliance, along with many others, that someone like me can make theatre like this today. That connection to lineage is something I really hold onto in my work. I even discovered during my research that Josephine’s mum comes from the same place as my dad – Little Rock in Arkansas. Thinking about that shared ancestry and the journey she went through to become a star in Paris, it’s simply too rich a story not to tell, and I hope this show does her justice.
Would you ever consider turning this production into a film, short, or series?
I instinctively knew I wanted to start with a theatre show, but who knows where it may go next. Her story seems to be re-entering the zeitgeist. I started writing this play two years ago when it was a relatively sparse landscape in the way of productions about her life. Recently I discovered there’s a biopic being filmed in the latter part of this year about her, so Josephine’s energy is clearly around and finding new audiences. I think the beautiful thing is different artists can her take her story and no two tellings will be the same - each one will have their unique take on her life.
And finally, what do you hope your audiences will take away from The Rise of Josephine Baker?
I hope people will be inspired by her and intrigued to know more. After the show’s debut at Riverside Studios this August I’ve had so many people get in touch with me saying The Rise of Josephine Baker has triggered them to go down a rabbit hole looking up her whole life story as they wanted to know more. I love that. It’s wonderful to know this show is introducing a whole new audience to Josephine Baker and giving this incredible woman the flowers that she deserves.