It’s the summer of 1690, and it’s a time of uncertainty and bad temper. In London the new King and Queen, William and Mary are trying hard to look like permanencies, and parliament is issuing pardons for followers of the old regime. But across the Irish Sea William is fighting his predecessor, the exiled James II. Last April, William and Mary were crowned in splendour at Westminster Abbey. A few days later, the celebrated Aphra Behn was buried there, aged 48.
In the twenty-first century, Clio’s Company are among those who are fighting to rescue Aphra Behn’s work and her story from the cloud of obscurity and disapproval that hid them for far too long.Last year we joined with London children to take the advice of Virginia Woolf to let flowers fall on Behn’s grave at Westminster Abbey
This year we have been working to cast new light on Aphra Behn’s work with young people from East London Music Hub Young Composers Group, Stepney All Saints School, Our Lady and St George’s Primary School and Brunel University:
Brunel University Students
Ruby Wallace
Ruby is a London-based composer currently studying at BA Music at Brunel University London, where she will graduate in 2023. She has extensive performance experience such as with the Tri-borough Youth Orchestra, with whom she’s performed in numerous venues including the Royal Albert Hall for the premiere of Charlotte Harding’s “Convo”. In addition to this, she also works as assistant to the stage manager for events including Marylebone Music Festival and Rick Wakeman’s “Journey to the Centre of the Earth” at the Royal Festival Hall in 2019. She is also assistant to the CEO of the Orion Orchestra. Ruby plans to pursue a Master’s in Composition upon completing her studies at Brunel University.
Alice Degrassi
Alice Degrassi is a recent graduate from a film production course whose specialism falls under her deep interest in cameras and post-production practices. While working on different student productions, she worked as a videographer for events such as TEDx Kings Cross 2021 and an internal promotional video for the Heathrow Aviation Police. In her free time, she also enjoys photography, and some of her work has been featured in a few exhibitions, one of which she is working on at the moment.
Athina Bargkaoui
Athina moved from Greece in 2021 to study BA Theatre at Brunel University. She previously had experience in dance - particularly ballet which she had started at 3 years old, and in contemporary dance. Athina has danced on stage numerous times in different theatres including philanthropic Σ.Ι.Σ.Χ.Ε. events, winning the silver award at a national competition with her dance group. Looking forward, she aspires to be a performer and creator for different theatre forms, especially Physical and Musical theatre. Her interests extend to filmmaking and she has been involved in small productions as part of the preproduction and production crew and cast alongside her theatre studies.