T21 Alchemy
T21 Alchemy: Stories of Down Syndrome, Parenting and Belonging
Real talk for parents, carers and allies raising children with Down syndrome, SEND or additional needs; newly diagnosed, pregnant, or supporting loved ones. Also for theatre makers exploring how lived experience becomes performance.
Join Oneness Sankara -a Black British mum, playwright, SEND advocate- as she shares raw family experiences (not leaflets), communication breakthroughs, Black SEND realities, and her spoken word musical *T21 Alchemy*.
New episodes cover:
• Communication and language development
• Independence and future planning
• Parenting identity and relationships
• Turning real stories into theatre
If you've wondered "what does this journey actually become?"—this podcast holds that conversation.
*Early episodes (The Purpose Pod) cover personal growth. New T21 Alchemy episodes focus on Down syndrome parenting, SEND advocacy and theatre.*
T21 Alchemy
From Family Story to Stage: How T21 Alchemy Was Born
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
In this episode, host Oneness Sankara shares how a personal family story became a spoken word musical through community workshops and collective storytelling.
From poetic notes born of isolation and exhaustion → conversations with SEND parents → first public sharing at Certain Blacks Afro Future Festival- to the being joined by and amazing creative team to rehearse and develop the piece and share at The Albany Deptford.
You'll hear:
• The moment her story became bigger than one family
• Why theatre (not blog/talks) was right
• How she protected privacy while staying authentic
• Research themes: isolation, fighting systems, fear for futures
• Why spoken word musical (X-Men revelation included)
SHOW NOTES:
About T21 Alchemy (the play):
Spoken word musical exploring disability parenting, inclusion and African Caribbean British identity through a mother raising a T21 child.
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Introduction to T21 Alchemy - the play
02:30 Why this story needed telling
05:45 Isolation disability parents face
08:20 From poetic notes → full play
11:15 Themes: unheard, judged, fighting systems
14:30 Why theatre? Collective power
17:00 Spoken word musical format
19:45 Personal vs community voices
22:30 Protecting family/community
25:00 Afro Future Festival debut (clip)
27:15 X-Men moment: possibility in diagnosis
R&D CREATIVES
Writer/Performer: Oneness Sankara
BSL Performer: Jacqui Beckford
Dramaturg: Kwame Kwei-Armah
Director: Matthew Xia
Composer: Christella Litras
Producer: Michaela Waldram-Jones
Key Themes:
Disability parenting • African Caribbean identity • Theatre as activism • Creative process
Connect:
Instagram: @t21alchemy @thepurposementor
www.onenesssankara.com
Supported by Arts Council England
T21 Alchemy podcast episodes and theatre R&D supported using public funding by Arts Council England.
Stay connected with T21 Alchemy: @t21alchemy @thepurposementor on Instagram