Maimuna Memon on healing through music in 'Manic Street Creature'

Olivier Award winner Maimuna Memon talks about the journey of her deeply personal gig-theatre show Manic Street Creature.

Summary

• Maimuna Memon is bringing her personal gig-theatre piece to the Kiln in London
• Memon won an Olivier Award for Natasha Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
• She also starred in Standing at the Sky's Edge

Maimuna Memon is a well-known name to musical theatre lovers. Following her Olivier Award-nominated turn as the formidable Nikki in the Sheffield-based Standing at the Sky’s Edge, last year she went on to win the same award for her spellbinding performance as Sonya in sung-through musical Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812. Yet, six short years ago she was saving every penny to take her own show, Manic Street Creature, to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. A piece of deeply personal gig-theatre, it won several awards and after a sell-out run at Southwark Playhouse last year, the show now comes to the Kiln Theatre.

The idea for Manic Street Creature came to Memon during lockdown. In a relationship with someone really struggling with their mental health, it was an intense time, and Memon began having therapy to cope. “Often, we see a mental health toll from the perspective of someone going through a crisis,” she says. “But very seldom do we see the story of their support network or the people who are looking after them.” The experience left her inspired to write about mental healthcare and codependence.

Memon wrote four songs and then realised they could become a show. Manic Street Creature follows musician Ria, who comes to London full of ambition, but finds that life is taken over with caring responsibilities when her partner suffers a mental health crisis. The show is full of reflection and heartache, but also contains huge hope.

As an actor and writer, but also a composer and musician, creating a show with music was a given. “Music has been massively healing,” she reveals. “It’s been constant in my life when I’ve been struggling with my own mental health or feeling disempowered or a bit lost. I really wanted to share a story of self-discovery and, ultimately, healing through music.”

She wrote the show aged 27. Now 33, she is aware that she feels very differently to six years ago. “As women, we’re taught that we are the emotional caregivers,” she says thoughtfully. “I think society tells us that’s our role, that we have to hold everything together. When I was in my 20s, I gave far too much of myself.”

This run at the Kiln will be the second revival of the show and being such a personal endeavour, it has evolved along the way. “It’s changed in the sense of who I am as a person,” she explains. “The structure, the bones, the heart of the show is the same, but [with] each iteration I’ve done rewrites, I’ve tried to enhance it.”

Memon reveals that this latest version at the Kiln will feature some fresh elements, with a fully designed set, an extra cast member and possibly two new songs; “First Born Child” and “Father of Mine”. “I’m excited to see if they make the final cut and how they might change the show,” she says. “Especially ‘Father of Mine’ because we’ve never tried it with that song.”

Writing and performing such an intense show has been an emotional roller coaster for Memon and revisiting it has brought its own challenges. “It’s a weird feeling, it’s almost like breaking myself open again,” she explains carefully. “When I first brought the show to Edinburgh, I didn’t quite understand what I was trying to say to myself. Then I brought it to Southwark. Being very honest with you, I was in a very vulnerable place, and the show took quite a lot out of me. But I do feel like I can give myself a bit of distance this time.”

She credits regular therapy, healthy living, and yoga with being able to cope with the physical and mental rigours of the show. She also remains humble and a little surprised at all her success. “It’s so hard to see [success] from the inside,” she admits. “I’m really lucky that I’ve had people who supported me and believed in me, but I’ve also had times where I’ve felt like I’m never going to work again, like I’m not good enough.”

Despite these moments of self-doubt, Memon is determined the show can bring comfort to those going through something similar. “I just feel an instinct that people might connect with it,” she says. “I’d like the audience to take away that they’re not alone. That’s the big thing.”

Although grateful for all her other opportunities, Memon sees Manic Street Creature as her biggest achievement. “Getting to write my own work is the most creatively rewarding thing that I’ve ever done in my career,” she reveals enthusiastically. “It has been the biggest gift to be able to do this show, now for the third time. I’m extremely proud of it.”

Book Manic Street Creature tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

This article first appeared in the March 2026 issue of London Theatre Magazine.

Photo credit: Maimuna Memon. (Courtesy of production). Inset: in Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, Manic Street Creature at Southwark Playhouse Borough. (Photos by Johan Persson, Ali Wright)