Alright! I’m Maria Ferguson, and I’m a poet and theatre maker from Romford in Essex. My début one-woman show ‘Fat Girls Don’t Dance’ won the Saboteur Award for Best Spoken Word Show in 2017, and I’m currently performing my new show ‘Essex Girl’ around the UK.
‘Essex Girl’ wins Show of the Week award at VAULT Festival
I am beyond surprised/excited/jubilated/losing my f**king shit that ‘Essex Girl’ won ‘Show of the Week’ for Week 2 at VAULT Festival 2019. I am so proud, so happy, so astounded, so pleased. This isn’t the last you’ve seen of it, babes 😄💙💋🙌🏼💪🏼💪🏼🎉🥂🐼
About the show…
“Essex Girl: a young working-class woman from the Essex area, typically considered as being unintelligent, materialistic, devoid of taste and sexually promiscuous.” Collins English Dictionary
Kirsty is a sixteen-year-old girl growing up in ’00s Brentwood. She likes WKD, Elton John, Pie & Mash and Charlie Red body spray. She’s on a quest to win Sexy Ricky’s heart and pass her GCSEs. She also has a secret to tell you. One she can’t tell anyone else.
Follow Kirsty’s story through the house parties and Irish pubs of Essex. From West Ham matches to choir practice, pre-drinks to registration, she will tell you what it’s really like to be an Essex Girl.
Shortlisted for Tony Craze Award 2018
Show of the Week at VAULT Festival 2019
Developed with Battersea Arts Centre and Soho Young Company
Directed by Lucy Bairstow • Photo by Suzi Corker
‘Fat Girls Don’t Dance’ out now on Oberon Books
The play text of ‘Fat Girls Don’t Dance’ was published by Oberon Books in 2017 and is available to purchase below. It also includes a small poetry collection called ‘Mirrors’.
