Adura Onashile did not know much about science when she read Rebecca Skloot's book The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks.
Despite this, something in this little known story of the black working class woman, whose stem cells were taken without her permission in 1951, struck a chord with the actress who first came to prominence when she appeared in Cora Bissett and Stef Smith's multiple award-winning sex-trafficking drama Roadkill.
The result was HeLa, Onashile's first solo work, developed with director Graham Eatough. First seen as part of Edinburgh Science Festival in 2013, Iron-Oxide Ltd's production went on to an equally successful Edinburgh Festival Fringe run as part of the Made in Scotland programme.
Since then, the show has toured to India, Trinidad, Brazil, Jamaica and South Africa, with several dates in New Zealand forthcoming. Onashile has also managed to slot in some performances closer to home, and this weekend plays two nights at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh.
Responses to HeLa have been different depending on the sensibilities of the audience, as Onashile has discovered.
"In places in the Caribbean," she says, "the focus was whether Henrietta Lacks would be able to rest in peace, because burial rites are so important to people there. Then in India it became much more about ethics. In Scotland and England the issue has always been about what Henrietta's life was worth in terms of it contributing to medical progress. When we are in New Zealand, the performance is part of an event that looks at the nature of science and the arts, and I have been asked to give a lecture on the nature of truth in art and science.
"People always think the truth is very factual in science, but it is only factual until it is proved wrong."
As well as Edinburgh, Onashile has taken HeLa to the British Science Festival in Birmingham.
"Audiences there recognised we were pointing out that an injustice of some sort had been done," she says, "but they also recognised we are not making all of science out to be the bad guy."
Onashile was born in London, and grew up in Nigeria until she was 11, when she returned to the UK. She studied drama at the progressive Dartington College in Devon, where she explored many of the multi-disciplinary ideas she works with today.
"That is where a lot of my ideas about freedom in theatre came from," she says, "although in England I never felt like they were allowed to breathe. In Scotland," she says of the country she now calls home, "the scene seems to allow for that a lot more."
HeLa arrives in Edinburgh a week after Exhibit B, Brett Bailey's controversial contemporary re-imagining of 19th century human zoos, saw its London run at the Barbican cancelled following protests.
Exhibit B was previously seen as part of Edinburgh International Festival in association with assorted producers, including Iron-Oxide Ltd.
Having seen the show, Onashile's personal feelings about it are mixed.
"For me, anyone can make whatever art they want," she says, "but it has to have a dialogue, which for me Exhibit B lacked. In my mind I don't know how you marry the experience of someone who was in a human zoo with someone who picks up a bag and becomes an economic migrant. There are huge differences there in terms of agency and racial equality. I spoke to Brett Bailey in Edinburgh, and he couldn't see the controversy in the way he perhaps does now."
Beyond HeLa, Onashile plans on developing a new show, Expensive S***, inspired in part by nightclub toilet attendants, many of whom are of Nigerian descent.
"I became fascinated by the world they exist in," Onashile says. "They are often without papers, and they aren't paid very well, but work these six-hour shifts every night, having to deal with inebriated people."
The show's title is taken from a song by radical Nigerian musician Fela Kuti.
"Fela was an amazing guy," according to Onashile. "On one level he was a revolutionary, but he really fell down in his attitudes to women."
Onashile plans to set the play in three different places, "Glasgow, Lagos and these fantasy-type toilets at the end of the world. I like work that uses a lot of different styles, and to look at things that make me feel uncomfortable, so it means that you can't be on one side or the other, but can look at all the greys inbetween."
This is certainly the case with HeLa.
"It's good that audiences who go to HeLa come away knowing who Henrietta Lack was and what happened to her," Onashile says. "By putting her story out there, I would like the play to be a celebration of her life."
HeLa, Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, October 3-4.
www.traverse.co.uk
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article