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Princess & the Hustler
Meet Princess. A cheeky 10 year old, with a plan to win the Weston-Super-Mare Beauty Contest. Trouble is, her mum is busy working several jobs, her brother, a budding photographer, won't even take her picture and then... The Hustler returns. In 1963 Bristol, as Black British Civil Rights campaigners walk onto the streets, Princess finds out what it really means to be black and beautiful.
128 pages, Paperback
First published February 14, 2019
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52 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 14, 2023
Loved it! Read this play to consider teaching as modern text for GCSE English Lit. Moving themes of racism, political protest and social responsibility. Enjoyed it being about black civil rights in UK rather than USA-centred. Play set during the backdrop of 60s Bristol and a ‘colour ban’ put on by a private bus company. Also about a broken family repairing itself and children coming to terms with their own racial identity and sense of self confidence. Lots of opportunity for students to analyse language and dramatic methods. Excited that this text is now on offer from AQA for GCSE and hope to teach it next year instead of An Inspector Calls. Wish I could see a live performance of it somewhere!
October 15, 2022
A fantastic exploration of growing up and finding your identity (at a variety of ages!) against the back drop of struggling to defeat racism. The ending filled me with hope. Fabulous.
June 15, 2020
A really enjoyable read. The style is 60s kitchen sink and tells the story of a family involved in the bus ban in early 60s Bristol.
Mavis is a true matriarch who will make sure her children are happy and protected, and that includes Lorna, who she takes on as one of her own.
Wendell is (eventually) proved to be a loveable rogue who let circumstances beat him for a while until he realised the value of family.
Junior is a teenager with a cause and issues, bug with a strong sense of where he is going in life.
Princess is a contented ten-year-old who wants to be a beauty queen so she can buy her mum a nice house. She has a few hard life lessons to learn until she finds you can pursue your dream in your own way.
Just the sort of play to settle into at a night in the theatre.
Mavis is a true matriarch who will make sure her children are happy and protected, and that includes Lorna, who she takes on as one of her own.
Wendell is (eventually) proved to be a loveable rogue who let circumstances beat him for a while until he realised the value of family.
Junior is a teenager with a cause and issues, bug with a strong sense of where he is going in life.
Princess is a contented ten-year-old who wants to be a beauty queen so she can buy her mum a nice house. She has a few hard life lessons to learn until she finds you can pursue your dream in your own way.
Just the sort of play to settle into at a night in the theatre.
April 27, 2025
This play introduces us to a 10 year old black girl called Princess growing up in 1960s Bristol amid the ‘colour ban’ policy of not employing black people and the wider context of the civil rights movement.
Princess dreams of winning a beauty pageant but her world is thrown into chaos when her absent father ‘the hustler’ returns bringing his mixed race daughter with him. Soon Princess has to readjust her view of the world and herself, as well as dealing with the complicated changes and developments of her family relationships.
This play explores themes of identity, beauty and race, but ultimately offers a message of hope at the end. An engaging read - it would be good to see this one on stage.
Princess dreams of winning a beauty pageant but her world is thrown into chaos when her absent father ‘the hustler’ returns bringing his mixed race daughter with him. Soon Princess has to readjust her view of the world and herself, as well as dealing with the complicated changes and developments of her family relationships.
This play explores themes of identity, beauty and race, but ultimately offers a message of hope at the end. An engaging read - it would be good to see this one on stage.
October 31, 2022
AQA have just added this to their English Literature GCSE and it's an excellent choice.
Set in the early 1960s in Bristol at the time of the Bristol Bus Protest, it is a story of hope, prejudice and struggle. The complex relationships between the characters are interesting and the whole thing has a feeling of realism.
It feels a lot more relevant and interesting than some of the other 'modern texts' on the current GCSE specification. However, I do worry that there will not be enough support in the way of resources, audio and film versions and other factors that will make it a popular choice for schools.
Set in the early 1960s in Bristol at the time of the Bristol Bus Protest, it is a story of hope, prejudice and struggle. The complex relationships between the characters are interesting and the whole thing has a feeling of realism.
It feels a lot more relevant and interesting than some of the other 'modern texts' on the current GCSE specification. However, I do worry that there will not be enough support in the way of resources, audio and film versions and other factors that will make it a popular choice for schools.
June 17, 2020
Very heartwarming, although I’m not sure Wendell should have been forgiven? The last scene was a gorgeous encapsulation of hope and childhood dream yet still with a painful undertone of the struggle the James family and alike have had and will have for years to come. A little bit long in parts but on the other hand I liked the slower tone. Mavis is a great character and it’s sad to see what she will put up with for the happiness of her children- I suppose it’s an accurate reflection, unfortunately, of too many families.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 27, 2024
I read this for a seminar at uni and i am now considering writing my Master's Thesis about it! I fell in love with the princess instantly. The play is at the same time cute and warm but it also uncovers questions concerning everyday life and identity - all the while providing comic relief and plot. I loved it.
September 22, 2024
A brilliant play taking in themes of family, friendship, racism, beauty standards and more as a young girl's absent father returns against the backdrop of the '60s Bristol Bus Boycott. I was so emotionally invested in the characters and its message of hope.
August 7, 2020
Read for the NHB Playgroup
I completely love it!
I completely love it!
July 10, 2024
A fantastic, beautiful read for all.
July 12, 2023
Find the full review and reviews of all the new AQA texts at my blog here: https://hundredsandthousandsofbooks.b...
Did you know that AQA are updating their modern drama set texts for the GCSEs in 2025? The Princess and the Hustler is one of the proposed texts to add more diversity to a predominantly dead-white-men canon. While we shouldn’t be denouncing all texts by dead-white-men, it’s so important that students see themselves represented in the texts that they study. As a literature student who recently did her GCSEs, I’m reading the new proposed texts so you don’t have to! To see if, as with this play, these texts are well chosen and an insight into Black British identity.
Check out my reviews of the other texts, Leave Taking and My Name Is Leon, here. While there is still changes that could be made regarding diversity in the English Curriculum, The Princess and the Hustler is an excellent play and one students (such as myself!) will love. Here’s why.
The Princess and the Hustler appears, at least on a surface level, to be light and engaging. It is incredibly fun – it follows a cheeky girl called Princess who wants to be in the Weston-super-Mare beauty pageant. It also follows her family living in Bristol at the time of the Bristol Bus Boycotts. Princess made me laugh aloud multiple times, and I can see her dancing and the music translating super well to the stage.
However, underneath the lightness, there are also strong underlying messages in The Princess and the Hustler. The bonds between family members are poignant and well written, such as the father-son relationship between Wendell and Wendell Junior. Chinoyerem Odimba expertly gives each character’s point of view while keeping the focus on Princess; I was rooting for Wendell Junior throughout the play.
The play uncovered Black British history for me – have you heard of the Bristol Bus Boycotts? I had never even heard that Bristol Bus Services refused to hire Black drivers in the 1960s. This highlights the importance of these new plays for educating students on Black British identity.
Margot was a really interesting character: a white friend of Princess’ parents with opposing views to the bus boycotts. However she wasn’t a strictly unlikeable character, she was nuanced and complex.
Lorna was also a very interesting character and placed in contrast to Princess in many scenes, as her mixed-race half-sister. She is a product of her surroundings but still says damaging things to Princess. Should Mavis and Wendell have reacted differently to the school children bullying Princess and not Lorna?
As for my favorite part? I loved the celebration of Black beauty through the symbol of the Weston-super-Mare Beauty Contest. I believe students will resonate with Princess’ empowerment at the end of the play. However, it’s interesting that the Weston-super-Mare Beauty Contest is the focus of Princess’ character development. Where is the line between the outdated idea that beauty is the source of a woman’s value against challenging racial prejudice on beauty standards?
However, overall, The Princess and the Hustler is an incredibly fun play with serious themes running throughout. Students (such as myself!) are sure to love the humor and characters whilst being educated on Black British History.
Did you know that AQA are updating their modern drama set texts for the GCSEs in 2025? The Princess and the Hustler is one of the proposed texts to add more diversity to a predominantly dead-white-men canon. While we shouldn’t be denouncing all texts by dead-white-men, it’s so important that students see themselves represented in the texts that they study. As a literature student who recently did her GCSEs, I’m reading the new proposed texts so you don’t have to! To see if, as with this play, these texts are well chosen and an insight into Black British identity.
Check out my reviews of the other texts, Leave Taking and My Name Is Leon, here. While there is still changes that could be made regarding diversity in the English Curriculum, The Princess and the Hustler is an excellent play and one students (such as myself!) will love. Here’s why.
The Princess and the Hustler appears, at least on a surface level, to be light and engaging. It is incredibly fun – it follows a cheeky girl called Princess who wants to be in the Weston-super-Mare beauty pageant. It also follows her family living in Bristol at the time of the Bristol Bus Boycotts. Princess made me laugh aloud multiple times, and I can see her dancing and the music translating super well to the stage.
However, underneath the lightness, there are also strong underlying messages in The Princess and the Hustler. The bonds between family members are poignant and well written, such as the father-son relationship between Wendell and Wendell Junior. Chinoyerem Odimba expertly gives each character’s point of view while keeping the focus on Princess; I was rooting for Wendell Junior throughout the play.
The play uncovered Black British history for me – have you heard of the Bristol Bus Boycotts? I had never even heard that Bristol Bus Services refused to hire Black drivers in the 1960s. This highlights the importance of these new plays for educating students on Black British identity.
Margot was a really interesting character: a white friend of Princess’ parents with opposing views to the bus boycotts. However she wasn’t a strictly unlikeable character, she was nuanced and complex.
Lorna was also a very interesting character and placed in contrast to Princess in many scenes, as her mixed-race half-sister. She is a product of her surroundings but still says damaging things to Princess. Should Mavis and Wendell have reacted differently to the school children bullying Princess and not Lorna?
As for my favorite part? I loved the celebration of Black beauty through the symbol of the Weston-super-Mare Beauty Contest. I believe students will resonate with Princess’ empowerment at the end of the play. However, it’s interesting that the Weston-super-Mare Beauty Contest is the focus of Princess’ character development. Where is the line between the outdated idea that beauty is the source of a woman’s value against challenging racial prejudice on beauty standards?
However, overall, The Princess and the Hustler is an incredibly fun play with serious themes running throughout. Students (such as myself!) are sure to love the humor and characters whilst being educated on Black British History.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews