Queen Yodit must decide which of her twin sons – Kaleb or Negus – must succeed her to the throne, just as she is contending with social and economic upheaval and clashing beliefs about religion and rights. There is also romance.

“Queen Yodit is… complex, regal, cunning, raw, sensual and compelling,” says Danielle Deadwyler – the Bafta-nominated movie star who played the role.

The character of Yodit was loosely inspired by the real Queen Yodit – or Judith – who reigned at a different time to the period in which the play is set.

She is a figure shrouded in mystery because of the lack of historical records and conflicting folklore about who she was.

She is seen by some as dictatorial and instrumental in Aksum’s downfall, says Desta – who travelled to Ethiopia as part of her research for the play.

“I thought that she was a good jumping-off point for that type of character,” Desta says.

“I think a lot of times the characters of female leaders have 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 profoundly with Desta as she wrote the play.

“I wanted to explore the full spectrum of human emotions – the characters’ private feelings, the things that they struggle with as human beings that have nothing to do with their public roles,” she tells the BBC.

Queen Yodit was a character who Desta felt did not have much love in her life.

“A lot of her reactions to the world are coming from that place of not being cherished as a partner and not really necessarily feeling like she has a place or that she has chosen to be a leader,” Desta says.