Blood of my Blood by Joy Nesbitt - ★★★★☆
“I am root of your root, soil of your soil and blood of your blood.”
Ancestry rarely sits at the forefront of our minds.
Few of us spend much time considering our great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmother, let alone the experiences and burdens they carried - yet the lives of those who came before us continue to shape our own.
They inform our relationships, influence our beliefs and establish patterns that are passed down through generations, often without our knowledge. We may know very little about our ancestors, but their lives leave an imprint on ours all the same.
Joy Nesbitt’s Blood of My Blood explores this inheritance through two women living more than 160 years apart, whose lives are bound together by a shared lineage. Ginnie and Talulah inhabit vastly different worlds, yet their stories converge around questions of identity, ownership, love and freedom. Moving between two timelines, the play brings the legacy of slavery into conversation with contemporary Black life, asking what it means to inherit a history that remains inseparable from who we are.
Set in South Carolina in 1862, during the American Civil War, and the present day, the play follows both women as they navigate their respective circumstances. Ginnie, played by Ronkẹ Adékọluẹ́jọ, is an enslaved woman raising her five children on a plantation owned by John “Doc” Good, played by Patrick Vaill. Their relationship is deeply complicated by the unequal power dynamic between them. Doc considers himself capable of love, yet he is also Ginnie's enslaver, with control over her body, choices and future. Any affection between them must be understood within this reality, particularly as Ginnie's decisions have consequences for the lives of her children.
In the present day, Talulah, played by Jodie Campbell, is a young Black British woman from West London who travels to South Carolina in search of answers about her ancestry. Staying in a cabin on the former plantation, now operating as an Airbnb, she finds herself confronting a history that is both deeply personal and difficult to reconcile. Through the practice of Conjure, Talulah communicates with her ancestors, seeking direction from Ginnie as the distance between past and present begins to dissolve.
Discussing slavery on stage is no easy feat, yet Nesbitt approaches the subject with considerable nuance. The characters are allowed to exist in all their contradictions, and the audience is not instructed on whom to condemn or sympathise with. Instead, we are invited to sit with discomfort and arrive at our own conclusions. The movement between 1862 and 2026 is particularly effective, allowing us to recognise the parallels between the two timelines and consider how the circumstances of one generation can reverberate through another.
Nesbitt also demonstrates a keen understanding of contemporary dialogue. The writing is sharp, witty and refreshingly natural. For a play dealing with such weighty subject matter, the humour provides welcome relief without diminishing the gravity of the issues at hand. These lighter moments give the characters room to breathe, making them feel all the more human and allowing the more difficult exchanges to land with greater force.
At the heart of the play is the contrast between Ginnie and Talulah. Ginnie is forced to navigate a world that denies her autonomy, while Talulah has greater freedom to determine the course of her own life. Yet freedom does not necessarily bring understanding, just as the passage of time does not guarantee that the past has been reckoned with. Through their connection, Nesbitt explores what it means to inherit both the resilience and suffering of those who came before us, and whether understanding that inheritance can change how we live.
Tatenda Shamiso’s direction brings these ideas to life with sensitivity and imagination. The transitions between the two timelines feel fluid without diminishing the significance of either, and the balance between humour and more heated conversations about slavery is handled with care. Set within the intimate Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, the production makes effective use of the space, drawing the audience closer to the characters and their experiences. The set feels purposeful and relevant to the play's world, while the costume design helps distinguish the two periods and establish each character's identity. Together, these elements support the storytelling without distracting from it.
The performances are equally compelling. Ronkẹ Adékọluẹ́jọ is formidable as Ginnie, delivering a captivating portrayal that reveals the complexities of a woman navigating extraordinary circumstances. Her interactions with the other characters are particularly engaging, balancing strength with vulnerability. Jodie Campbell is equally effective as Talulah, capturing the confusion of a woman trying to make sense of her identity and inherited history. Hannah Morris brings an uncomfortable familiarity to Nora/Amanda, the well-meaning yet awkward white neighbour who also happens to be Talulah's Airbnb host. Patrick Vaill brings considerable weight to his dual portrayal of Doc and James, while Karene Peter provides a grounding presence as Bertha and Necey, helping to connect the play's two timelines.
Ultimately, Blood of My Blood is weighty, thought-provoking and genuinely enjoyable theatre. It tackles difficult subjects without becoming heavy-handed, trusting its characters and audience to navigate the complexities of the material. Nesbitt's writing balances humour with seriousness, while the performances and Shamiso's direction bring the production together with confidence. Most importantly, the play refuses to treat slavery and generational trauma as matters confined to history. Instead, it asks us to consider how their legacies continue to shape our identities, relationships and understanding of ourselves.
In Akan, the term and sybmol Sankofa is commonly translated as “go back and get”. It speaks to the importance of returning to the past to understand what must be carried forward.
Through Blood of My Blood, Nesbitt reminds us that looking back is not simply about understanding where we came from, but recognising how that history continues to shape where we stand today.
By Eniola Edusi
★★★★☆
Blood of my Blood is showing at Royal Court Theatre until 01 November
