Jake Mace
Jerome Scott’s upcoming show Do You Want Something To Cry For? arrives at Theatre Peckham Fringe later this month before transferring to Camden Fringe in July. The show, directed by Mya Onwugbonu, follows two black boys through different iterations of themselves—teen, adolescent, adult, navigating love, longing, and survival in what Jerome describes a “world that denies them softness”.
We caught up with Jerome and Mya for a pixelated pint to dive into the show and find out more about what inspired it.
You can catch Do You Want Something To Cry For? at Theatre Peckham – Main Theatre on Tuesday 20th May & Wednesday 21st May at 7:30pm (75mins). Tickets are available through the Venue’s Online Box Office. The show will then transfer to Theatro Technis as part of Camden Fringe between July 30th & 31st at 9pm (60mins). Tickets are available through the Camden Fringe Online Box Office.
Jake: Hi Jerome and Mya – can I start by asking you about your creative working relationship and how you ended up working on this show together?
Mya: Jerome and I first met in 2023 through Talawa Theatre Company’s TYPT cohort. It was a transformative experience for me — learning how to collaborate, working with other lack creatives and building confidence in my own voice.
Jerome: From then I said yeah, we must work together again in some capacity. I started writing something and was like BOOM Mya I have this thing.
Mya: Since then, Jerome and I have stayed close, both creatively and personally. At the end of last year, he approached me with the idea for Do You Want Something To Cry For — a project he envisioned existing across film, theatre, and poetry. I was immediately drawn to it. Jerome is a beautiful storyteller, and the theme of black male vulnerability was something I’d also been exploring in my own work. It felt natural that this piece would come to life between us. From there, we dove straight into building, planning, and writing.
Jerome: She gave me deadlines asked me to push and now here we are.
Jake: You describe Do You Want Something to Cry For as a poetic, movement-driven exploration of black boyhood, intimacy, and the weight of being seen – tell us about the inspiration behind the piece and the process of creating it.
Jerome: In terms of the process – a lot of it started out as poetry and really short snippets of dialogue, I began to then write into two different characters and attempted to build a world for them to exist in. Mya then prompted me to flesh them out and questioned me about the world and the characters and what was being said.
Mya: The writing was there but we need to find the story, so I asked Jerome what inspired it, what he wanted to tell.
Jerome: And the inspiration was the emotional and physical relationships I have with other black men, family/friends/strangers. How I lean or don’t lean into them, why I care what it looks when I’m seen with them and what this shared idea of our blackness looks like to the outside.
Jake: What are you hoping the audience might take away from the experience, if anything?
Mya: We’re in a time where there’s a lot of talk about ‘holding space’ — and this play is exactly that. It’s a capsule – catered especially for black male audiences; I want them to feel seen in the stories we tell, and free to sit in that truth.
Jerome: To hold onto their black male relatives/friends/strangers a little longer when they hug. For black men of all ages to know that they can lean into each other regardless of what it looks like.
Jake: Tell us about how the show has ended up being performed at Theatre Peckham and about your relationships with the other creatives involved.
Mya: Do You Want Something To Cry For was first developed through Omnibus Theatre’s Engine Room program, where we worked on a 20-minute extract with dramaturgical support from Sam Pout. That process really reshaped the world the play lives in.
Jerome: Our intention was to see how this lived with an audience, take that feedback and feed that into the show.
Mya: Working with Jerome Scott and Dia Peters as our performers, we built a strong relationship and developed a shared language of movement in the rehearsal room. It felt like the piece was already alive, even in its early form.
Jerome: We’ve both worked with Theatre Peckham in similar capacities and seen works that have been through previous fringes.
Mya: Theatre Peckham believed in the heart of the project from the beginning — they understood the need for these stories to be told. Now we’re lucky to have an incredible team around us — Abimbola Ikengboju (Performer), Jahmiko Marshall (Lighting Designer), Jack Darcy (Sound Designer), and Atlanta Sonson-Chapman (Show Operator).
Jerome: I have worked with all of them in different capacities and I’m a big believer of working with your people and bringing them in anyway I can.
Jake: Given the themes of Binge Fringe, if your show was a beverage of any kind (alcoholic, non-alcoholic – be as creative as you like!), what would it be and why?
Jerome: what a fun question. First thing that came to my head was Guinness punch – there’s a level of sweetness it has then BOOM you taste the alcohol but you keep going back for more.
Mya: I’m thinking similarly, if Do You Want Something To Cry For were a beverage, it would be something that feels warm and familiar but sweet. Like a rich, dark hot chocolate or mulled wine. Both familiar with hints of heat. Like the show, it’s something you don’t just sip — you feel it too.
A reminder – you can catch Do You Want Something To Cry For? at Theatre Peckham – Main Theatre on Tuesday 20th May & Wednesday 21st May at 7:30pm (75mins). Tickets are available through the Venue’s Online Box Office. The show will then transfer to Theatro Technis as part of Camden Fringe between July 30th & 31st at 9pm (60mins). Tickets are available through the Camden Fringe Online Box Office.
