Yasmine Porfolio

Hey there!

I'm Yasmine Dankwah

About me

I'm a British-Ghanaian neurodivergent, spoken word poet and performer who writes plays. I'm interested in fusing nostalgia, lyricism, and music in my writing to examine resistance (through the lens of identity-based discrimination) and use it as a springboard for joy in specifically Black-led and ethnically diverse narratives.

After (an admittedly!) rocky journey in higher education, and a late diagnosis of ADHD and dyslexia, I graduated from the Writing for Performance BA at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in 2022.

As a poet I have performed at the Roundhouse, as a Slam Finalist '22, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Lincoln Performing Arts Centre and John Lewis & the National Youth Theatre also. I have also been featured on BBC Radio London and The Last Word FM. I am also a recipient of the Francis Chagrin award.

I am currently an artist on Boundless Theatre's Accelerator Artist Programme and one of the recipients of Chronic Insanity Theatre's Digital Literary Theatre Department Commission. I am part of the UKNA Collective Taking Place Programme in Lincoln, this year.

Spoken Word Poetry

i love hip-hop but i think he hates

Fire

daughter, daughter

Race Safe

Bus Track

Plays in Development

i used to know H.I.M

A blend of music and spoken word, I used to know H.I.M will examine the origins and evolution of Hip-Hop up until the mid-90s from the perspective of H.E.R, as she celebrates, bares witness and slowly falls victim to his increasing popularity within a capitalistic Western society.

Seed commissioned by Chronic Insanity Theatre as part of the launch of the UK's first Digital Literary Theatre Department, the play is performed by the incredible Adelaide Banks, directed by Segen Yosef and written and sound designed by me

garage girls

Set in the early noughties, garage girls is a coming-of-age story which follows four British-Ghanaian sisters who run a garage in the backdrop of the gentrification of South West London and an impending recession. I am currently developing this story with Boundless Theatre as an Accelerator Artist as well as part of the London Library's Emerging Writers Programme. The pitch doc for the play was also shortlisted for the DYSPLA residency in 2022.

rite to party

rite to party is a spoken word period piece which follows two Black working-class brits on the precipice of adulthood. Developed on the Soho Writers Lab, the play was also longlisted within the top 11, as part of the Tony Craze Award in 2022. The play was directed by Segen Yosef and was performed as part of Omnibus Theatre's Engine Room programme and the Dear Black People Festival. The play was further developed at the North Wall Theatre in Oxford as part of Catalyst 2023, and was directed by Dale Edwards!

mixtape mind

mixtape mind was a one-act play that kicked off my desire to experiment with form and written musicality. It's a poetic coming-of-age story that examines grief from a working-class young person's perspective. The play was first performed at StuFF hosted at the Nottingham New Theatre. An extract of the play was then directed by the wicked Layla Madanat and performed as part of Tamasha Theatre's first-ever digital scratch night - Made at Home. mixtape mind reached the second round of the Papatango Prize in 2021.