Queen Jodith must decide which of her twin sons – Caleb or Negus – should succeed her on the throne, while she struggles with social and economic upheaval and conflicting beliefs about religion and rights. There is also romance.
“Queen Jodith … is complex, regal, cunning, raw, sensual and compelling,” says Danielle Deadweiler, the Bafta-nominated film star who played the role.
The character of Jodith was somewhat inspired by the real Queen Jodith – or Judith – who reigned at a different time than the play’s setting.
She is a figure shrouded in mystery due to the lack of historical records and conflicting folklore about who she was.
Some see her as dictatorial and instrumental in the fall of Axum, says Desta, who traveled to Ethiopia as part of her research for the play.
“I thought she was a good starting point for that type of character,” says Desta.
“I think often female lead characters need to be so ‘on point’ – and I love the idea of a woman being a tyrant in this period of history.”
Writer James Baldwin once said that artists are “emotional or spiritual historians” — and those words resonated deeply with Desta as she wrote the play.
“I wanted to explore the whole range of human emotions – the personal feelings of the characters, the things they struggle with as people that have nothing to do with their public roles,” she tells the BBC.
Queen Jodith was a character that Desta felt didn’t have much love in her life.
“A lot of her reactions to the world come from not being valued as a partner and not necessarily feeling like she has a place or that she’s chosen to be a leader,” Desta says.
