We Ain’t Movin’
by Travis Alabanza
Age range: 12 – 18
Cast Size: 6+
An angry overhead announcement. The sound of bulldozers. One drama block at risk of being demolished. Can the students save their building?
The school is demolishing the student drama building because no one cares about the arts. The students and their drama teacher chain themselves to the building, but as they start to squabble, the drama building transports them to protests throughout history, hoping that will convince them to not move – and fight for what they believe in.
Yet as they question whether they are brave enough to do it, the drama block takes on a life of its own. Transporting them through historic bus boycotts, to Nicola Sturgeon’s talking political wig, We Ain’t Movin is a fun and playful story about activism, friendship and solidarity.
About the Artist
Travis is a writer, performer and theatre maker from Bristol.
For stage, Travis wrote and performed in their debut show Burgerz which won the Total Theatre Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, sold out at Southbank Centre and Traverse Theatre and toured internationally. It was also voted one of The Guardian Readers Top Shows of The Year. The text is published by Oberon Books. Their play Overflow, which premiered at and streamed from The Bush, was met with critical acclaim including numerous four-star reviews and was shortlisted for the George Devine Award. Their latest theatre commission, Sound of the Underground, premiered as part of the Royal Court’s new season in 2023 to critical acclaim. Travis currently has a new show for stage in development with the Southbank Centre and Hackney Showrooms. For screen, Travis is developing projects with Lookout Point and See Saw.
Travis’ debut book None of the Above: Reflections on Life Beyond the Binary was published in 2022 by Canongate and in the US by Feminist Press in 2023. It won the Jhalak Literary Prize, the Somerset Maugham Award, and was listed in TIME Magazine’s 100 books of 2023.
Their work has also earned them a place on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list 2021, the Dazed100 list and in 2023 as an Evening Standard’s future stars of stage and screen.