The Lockdown Monologues – Lucky by Leila Alkunshalie [Monologue 3]

Leila Alkunshalie has created a Lockdown Monologue based on her observations of working with young women in Haringey. It is deftly performed by Karta Kaur. What shines though is original and authentic voice of a Londoner growing up in dual heritage household. Her hair, she tells us, is half Arab and half English – and it is too much.

In the space of just few minutes we learn much more. We hear about the small of acts of rebellion that her peers perform as an escape from their strict traditional upbringings. But there are deeper secrets that have a lasting impact on the whole family shaking their faith.

Lucky is one of 8 Lockdown Monologues. With Arts Council England funding we were able to support new writers to create monologues. These videos help to chronicle the extraordinary events of 2020. Some monologues are voiced by their creators, but in this case, it’s voiced by an actor as she better reflected the age of the narrator.

Collage Communities has a series of on-going programmes that aim to give local people a voice and platform to be heard. Karta Kaur is part of the Collage Voice ensemble.

Full series of The Lockdown Monologues: www.collage-arts.org/the-lockdown-monologues.