”Funeral Flowers”
Award-Winning Play Directed by Amarachi Rachel Nwokoro (2018–2019)
🏆 Fringe First Winner | 🏆Filipa Bragança Award Winner
Written & Performed by Emma Dennis-Edwards
“A raw, poetic coming-of-age story exploring survival, beauty, and Black girlhood in London.”
Produced by: Power Play Theatre & Harts Theatre Company
Tour: Nationwide – including Edinburgh Fringe (2018), The Bunker Theatre, London (2019), Free Word Centre and Bernie Grant Arts Centre
Playwright / Performer: Emma Dennis‑Edwards
Overview
In Funeral Flowers, we meet Angelique — a 17-year-old with a passion for floristry, caught in the complexities of foster care, a mother in prison, and a toxic relationship that demands too much. When survival becomes her only option, Angelique must find a way to bloom in the cracks. This bold, hybrid production blends theatre and spoken word to explore themes of trauma, identity, sexual violence, and resilience. Originally staged as an immersive experience, audiences walked room to room, arranging flowers and witnessing Angelique’s story unfold in intimate proximity. Inspired by the real-life journey of florist and former inmate Gina Moffat, Funeral Flowers asks what it means to dream beyond your circumstances — and how beauty can grow in the most unexpected places. Directed with care, nuance, and vision by Amarachi Rachel Nwokoro
Production Snapshot
Synopsis:
In Funeral Flowers, Angelique navigates foster care, parental imprisonment, and toxic relationships while pursuing her passion for floristry. Each room in the performance space becomes part of her narrative—audiences walk, arrange flowers, engage, and witness her life unfold in close quarters. The production blends poetry and theatre to explore trauma, agency, identity, and hope.
Key Achievements
**Turnkey Direction for Sold-Out Tour**
• Led full production direction from concept through delivery, managing logistics, staging, and performance execution across a sold‑out national tour.• Delivered compelling direction across unique venues—real homes and venue spaces—keeping audiences fully immersed.
Nationwide sold‑out performances, including daily sell‑outs at Edinburgh Fringe.
Award-Winning Excellence
• Recipient of the Scotsman Fringe First Award (2018) and Filipa Bragança Award (2018)—markers of outstanding new writing and solo performance.Budget & Venue Strategy
• Managed a budget of £11,000, overseeing logistics, production design, travel and shepherding teams across venues while maintaining integrity and impact.Inclusive & Socially Engaged Storytelling
• Worked closely with Emma Dennis‑Edwards to centre health and gender inequality within performance and campaign strategy
• Aligned dramaturgy with Power Play’s activism, contributing to data-driven gender-equality
”She Elevated the Show”: On Directing Funeral Flowers
Directing Funeral Flowers was a profound and powerful experience, tackling challenging themes of sexual violence with honesty and care. Working closely with playwright Emma Dennis-Edwards, we developed a shared vision that respected the complexity of the story and the strength of its characters. This collaborative process pushed the production to new heights—something Emma herself has acknowledged with generosity and respect. Here’s what she said about our work together:
“The play explores sexual violence in quite an explicit way. I actually approached the original directors to enquire about Black and WOC female-identifying directors, and Amarachi (Rachel) was on both their lists. She wasn’t originally available to direct Funeral Flowers but she read the script — and here we are today!
Amarachi (Rachel) is a really special artist with a big brain, and she has definitely elevated the show in ways I couldn’t imagine. I would say that we very much have a shared vision about the play and the characters, so it’s not so much adhering to rules — rather, it’s a collaboration in terms of us finding the best way to tell this story.” — Emma Dennis-Edwards, Writer of Funeral Flowers (Quoted in The British Blacklist, April 2019)
What They Said
Critical Acclaim Across Media:
“…Funeral Flowers is an unforgettable, intense experience, skilfully directed by Amarachi Rachel Nwokoro.”
— British Theatre (★★★★★)“I loved the direction from Amarachi Rachel Nwokoro… Audience members are brought into the world of the play… I was impressed with how much more alive a show can feel.”
— Everything Theatre (★★★★)“Nwokoro directs with sensitivity”
— The Stage (★★★★)“Amarachi Rachel Nwokoro direction gives the play a wave like energy.” — A Younger Theatre (★★★★★)
“Shocking themes of rape and consent are challenged in this space… Amarachi Rachel Nwokoro’s direction ensures that the audience cannot simply shy away from these themes: it is real, and it happens far more frequently than we can ignore. — Upper Circle (★★★★★)