“The Right Choice”: Introducing Black Youth’s Struggle as Protest in Katori Hall’s Hurt Village and Bola Agbaje’s Gone Too Far!
“The Right Choice”: Introducing Black Youth’s Struggle as Protest in Katori Hall’s Hurt Village and Bola Agbaje’s Gone Too Far!

Summary/Abstract: This study discusses the ways in which an African American playwright – KatoriHall – and a Black British playwright – Bola Agbaje – represent the obstacles young people face as they strive to make “the right choice” and not be put down by the places in which they live: a housing project in Memphis, Tennessee, and a council estate in London.The demonstration shows that both female authors, born in 1981, create forms of protest theatre since they explore contemporary race and gender issues in the American and British communities they tackle, insightfully pointing to problematic aspects, but capitalizing on hope, the potential for self-fulfillment and confidence in the youth’s future.In Hurt Village (2007), Katori Hall’s young protagonist is a thirteen-year-old girl, Cookie,who resists following the route of her predecessors and even her peers. In Gone Too Far!(2007), Bola Agbaje captures the troubles of two teenage brothers, Yemi and Ikudayisi, as they interact with each other and other people in their neighborhood.

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