Lara Grace Ilori Talks … Runner Girl  @ THE HOUSEMATES FESTIVAL

This month, the Housemates Festival returns to Brixton House inviting artists to take over the House for three weeks from 1-19 Sep.

The Brixton House Housemates Festival 2026 explores themes of women’s healthcare, queer faith, politics, race, loneliness, and contemporary survival, while staying rooted in South London communities.

The festival is part of Brixton House’s deep commitment to invest in artists to develop their creative potential. Alongside new works, this year’s expanded Housemates Festival also includes three weeks of wrap-around events aimed at career and creative development.

We spoke to some of the wonderful cast and creatives involved in this year’s festival.

Please introduce yourself …
My name is Lara Grace Ilori, and I am a South-London born Yorùbá gal!

Tell us about your production and the story you’re bringing to Housemates Festival this year…
Runner Girl is a one-woman rhythmic spoken word story that I have written and perform in. It follows Àánu, a South-London born Yorùbá woman who uses running to look after her mental health after the overwhelm she experiences from a recent breakup of a long-term relationship, fighting anti-racism at school and deeply missing her Mum. Running is her way of processing all of her feelings that words can’t describe.

One of her runs takes a terrifying turn that causes her to unpack the things that have happened to her and the people that she loves. We watch Àánu on a journey to understand her mind and body again.

It feels extremely affirming. Brixton House is my local theatre, so to share this story in my local area with their support shows that my quest to make work that reflects my communities is working. All the writers in this festival are doing the same. The point of view of their work is so clear, which means mine must be too! I am extremely honoured to start my playwriting journey on home soil and in strong company.

Runner Girl brings together spoken word, movement, original music and prayer as a young Yoruba woman explores her relationship with her mind and body. How did you arrive at that combination of forms, and how does your Yoruba heritage shape the language of the piece?
I love using different creative mediums in my own work. It felt only right to create my first playby celebrating this. My writing journey started off with spoken word, where I write about Black diaspora experiences, mental health and empowerment. As a Yorùbá woman myself, it felt like a no-brainer to include the language. I can’t speak it though! I barely understand it. That’s where Mum came in. I honestly can’t wait for people to hear her in this. Our language is so poetic in nature. That’s another reason why it felt right to include my original poetry language in my spoken word play.

⁠What does this story mean to you personally?
The story is fictional, but draws on my own experiences. I wrote Runner Girl as a way to unpack them. I also wrote Runner Girl as a creative challenge to myself: I can write a play, perform it by myself, and put it on! This story means having the ability to wear my heart on my sleeve, to do it with care and to do it proudly. And hopefully, other Black women will feel encouraged to do the same.

Tell us a little about your team and the people helping you bring the production to life…
I have an absolute dream team. Ewa Dina is the director. She’s incredibly forensic when looking at text, which makes me and the rest of the team move the same way, working with associate director Tia-zakura Camilleri to tell this story and explore the themes it presents as truthfully as possible.

It’s the first time I’m working with a director on my own piece of work, let alone two! This experience has caused me to really think about the type of work I want to make, working side by side with dear friend and movement director Selina Jones, who has been working on Runner Girl with me from the very beginning. Piecing a production together is not an easy feat. Working with producer Mwansa Phiri (Visual Sauce production company) has allowed me to see all the moving parts needed to get this show out to an audience. I’ve done the production twice before in 2025, but this time around, the text is different, the team is different … I couldn’t do this without them all.

People are only hearing about this because of dear friend and social media manager Sèverine Howell-Meri. The content she’s making is top tier. It makes me even more excited for people to see the work. We bounce between various creative mediums in the text, including sound as a key role. Working with sound designer and composer Francesca Amewudah-Rivers will bring the sound world of this play to life in such an exciting way.

Yorùbá is spoken throughout the show through the voice of Àánu’s Mum, played by my own Mum! She reads her Mum with such humour and beauty. To have my Mum’s voice in my debut play means the world to me. Like I said…a team of dreams!

How does it feel to be part of Housemates Festival 2026 and to have Brixton House supporting the development of your work?

It feels extremely affirming. Brixton House is my local theatre, so to share this story in my local area with their support shows that my quest to make work that reflects my communities is working. All the writers in this festival are doing the same. The point of view of their work is so clear, which means mine must be too! I am extremely honoured to start my playwriting journey on home soil and in strong company.

Was there a particular moment, experience or conversation that first sparked the idea for the piece?
I wrote a monologue for my graduate showcase at my drama school, RADA. I wrote it based on a young girl with depression who was going to therapy. In the monologue, she speaks directly to her therapist. Mental health challenges was a running theme in my poetry by this point. One of my teachers at the time, Beth Tessema, encouraged me to take the monologue further and learn about playwriting. It was a path I hadn’t consider until that conversation with him. That conversation led me to finding out about Soho Writers’ Lab. I applied that year, got in, turned the monologue into a first draft of Runner Girl, and haven’t looked back!

Each of the productions this year tackles some pretty big themes, from race, identity and mental health to faith, healthcare and survival. How did you decide on the way you wanted to approach the themes within your own work?
Racism, sexual harassment and assault, and suicide are themes in my play that I don’t take lightly. I prayed a lot about it, cried a lot about it, spoke with close friends and my Mum about it, and then prayed some more about it. It can be extremely overwhelming to confront these themes daily as you’re writing a piece. In my work, I really want to reflect the things I’ve experienced and the people around me. Discussing these things feels like the most honest thing to do with where I’m at as a writer now, as a person now, and the types of stories I want to tell.

⁠What has been the most challenging part of developing this project, and was there a moment when you really had to dig deep to push through?
Deciding what happens with Àánu’s Mum. I had to be clear on exactly what my ‘why’ for writing her life journey the way I did, and what I want audiences to take from her. Prayer and music have really helped me stay grounded in my choice to explore mental health challenges and suicide amongst people that migrate to the UK. It’s a painful reality that I want to discuss in my work.

Tell us about a memorable moment from the development or rehearsal process so far…
THE WARM UPS! I LOVE THEM! Ewa really brings so much joy to this process. We start each day with a fun way to centre ourselves in the room. She has a strong intuition in knowing what a room needs. She’s a genius.

Is there a particular scene, character or moment that best represents what you love about this project?
Sade, Àánu’s best friend. She represents the beautiful dynamics in the friendships I have with my own girls: the laughing, the venting, the partying, the quiet moments, the tender moments. Sade represents the friendships we find that make up home.

Your work explores some very real subjects through theatre. How did you find the balance between entertaining an audience and giving the themes within the piece the weight they deserve?
The creative mediums really help. Using not only poetry but my body and music to tell the story. When we see that words don’t work for Àánu, the body tells the story. When we need to understand something about Mum and her mental health, we hear her speak in Yorùbá. Prayer as an act already is weighty in practice. Using different ways to discuss the themes keeps me entertained as a writer and maintain reverence in my work, so I hope the same for my audience.

Housemates is about championing new voices and new work. What do you think British theatre needs to be doing more of when it comes to supporting emerging artists and the stories they want to tell?
Give emerging artists time, money and space to flesh out work. Give them time to understand their writing language and taste, money to support this journey without requiring them to work to the point of burnout to make dreams come true, and space to take ideas out of a bedroom and into a studio.

⁠Considering your journey as a creative so far, where does this project sit for you personally?
I’m extremely proud of myself, and the people I’m working with right now to bring this play to life. I’m extremely proud. I’m really excited to continue writing more too! The next play I’m working on, a love story of a young Nigerian couple that migrate to the UK, is very different in form, but similar in theme. This project shows me I’m developing a taste for myself as a playwright, and I’m really excited about that.

What other production from this year’s Housemates Festival are you most looking forward to seeing?
All of them! Everyone is working so hard. I’m excited to see everyone’s visions come to life.

GETTING TO KNOW …

If not this, then what? A dancer. Or, an anthropologist – my Masters degree post RADA!

What’s made you sad, mad, & glad this week?
 Sad is the passing of so many influential artists, including Jason Arday. Mad is I spilt chia seeds in my bag, AGAIN! Glad is my sister is getting married. She is one of my biggest role models. I couldn’t be happier.

What are you watching?
 Abbot Elementary. I just finished Season 5!

What are you reading?
 The Bible. I just finished 1 Chronicles/ the story of David.

The last film you watched?
 The Odyssey.

The last play you saw?
 Eat The Rich (but Maybe Not Me Mates X) by Jade Franks

The last live music event? All Points East – Jorja Smith and Tems day. INCREDIBLE!

What’s currently on your playlist? Nia Archives – Feelingz Go Numb

What’s on your bucket list?
 To run a marathon with my sister and brother-in-law

Where’s your happy place? Anywhere by open water!

Celebrate someone else … My niece Naomi. She just graduated from BRIT School and is about to study Art Direction at university. She wants to creative direct more music videos, and is interested in set design for theatre. I am her biggest fan, and excited for the incredible work she’ll make, including a special commission she’s doing for Runner Girl!

Celebrate yourself … I’m working HARD to make my dreams come true. HARD! I love creating my own work, and sharing Runner Girl is just the beginning.

What’s next?
 To finally and properly learn Yorùbá! I am writing a play, a love story, about a Nigerian couple who are unashamedly in love, and move to London in their 20s during the Thatcher era. It discusses more closely mental health amongst Nigerian migrants, and the quest to keep your love strong in the midst of it all. I was learning Yorùbá for it, and will continue to once the Runner Girl is done.

Where can we find you?
IG: @ laragraceilori | TikTok: @ laragraceilorix 
IG: @BrxHouseTheatre | TikTok: @BrxHouseTheatre

Where can we watch you at work?
Runner Girl @ Brixton House – 15th-19th September. Tickets are selling fast. I am working with a GREAT team. I am so excited for you to see the work.

Runner Girl by Lara Grace Ilori is part of Brixton House’s flagship Housemates Festival for new work, 1-19 Sep. Tickets £17