Talawa Theatre Company are creating an online experience featuring six brand new short pieces using verbatim interviews from Black key and frontline workers which explore the historic moment of the Covid-19 crisis and its impact on them.
An Open Letter has been written to Oliver Dowden, Secretary of State for Culture, from black, Asian, and ethnically diverse theatre artistic directors and cultural leaders. The letter was written to emphasize the importance of protecting representation in the sector.
For the last four years, the Royal Court Theatre's Participation team have been championing the use of current and representative texts and practitioners in the classroom. Working closely with exam boards, and in collaboration with Hamlett Films, the BBC Bitesize GCSE Drama resources were created.
Talawa Theatre Company will be opening the Talawa Studio at Fairfield Halls with a revival of their sell-out show Run It Back. Conceived and directed by Coral Messam, created with Gail Babb, and devised by TYPT:18, Run It Back brings rave to theatre, exploring how Black British music liberates, connects and divides while fighting to stay alive in the face of disappearing spaces and changing legislation.
With recent roles in Noises Off and Exit the King, Amy Morgan can now be seen at the Royal Court performing in Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti's A Kind of People. Set during a party on a Friday night, this new play examines seven people and asks wider questions about communities in Britain today. BroadwayWorld spoke with Amy about her character, Victoria, the rehearsal process and how the play compares to her previous work in theatre.
London is never short of temptations, whether splashy West End shows, epic dramas or bold fringe offerings. From a starry revival to musical comedies and an incendiary Pulitzer winner, here are some of this month's most eye-catching openings. Don't forget to check back for BroadwayWorld's reviews, interviews and features!
Richie Campbell, Thomas Coombes, Claire-Louise Cordwell, Asif Khan, Petra Letang, Amy Morgan and Manjinder Virk have been cast in the world premiere of A Kind of People by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, directed by Michael Buffong. With design by Anna Fleischle, lighting design by Aideen Malone and sound design by Emma Laxton. A Kind of People will be performed in the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Downstairs from Thursday 5 December 2019 to Saturday 18 January 2020, with press night on Wednesday 11 December 2019, 7pm.
Talawa Theatre Company has revealed the line up for Talawa Firsts 2019: the annual festival dedicated to new Black British theatre writers and makers. By offering a platform to present new work and participate in developmental workshops, Talawa Firsts champions the depth and breadth of new theatre making and writing, representing the diversity of Black voices in theatre and the performing arts. The festival will run from 19 June - 5 July 2019 at Shoreditch Town Hall.
For the first time in the company's thirty-three years, Talawa Theatre Company is to present its first ever show created exclusively for outdoor performance. Co-created by choreographer Jade Hackett and writer Ryan Cameron, The Tide explores the narratives and experiences of migration within The United Kingdom. The Tide is free to view and no booking is required.
Talawa Theatre Company today launches MAKE Online: an online community that exists to give Black British theatre artists ownership and agency of their careers. Created by Talawa, the UK's primary Black-led theatre company, MAKE Online will provide a dedicated virtual space for artists at all stages of their careers to encounter each other and to change the shape of British theatre. The platform will be available to artists across the UK. There will also be a space for members of the theatre industry to join and post jobs, commissions, opportunities, castings and more.
Talawa Theatre Company is to take up residence within the redeveloped Fairfield Halls in Croydon, giving the UK's primary Black theatre company a 200 seat studio and offices. This will be the first time since 1995 that Talawa's headquarters will feature an on-site performance space. The new spaces, opening to the public on 16 September 2019, will operate as a central hub for Black artists, develop a community outreach programme, and allow the company to create, develop and premiere new work.
The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize has announced 10 Finalists for its prestigious playwriting Award, the oldest and largest prize awarded to women playwrights.
Run It Back is a powerful, exciting, immersive new show from Talawa Theatre Company. Directed by movement director Coral Messam. Run It Back brings rave to theatre, exploring how Black British music liberates, connects and divides while fighting to stay alive in the face of disappearing spaces and changing legislation. Run It Back features dance, physical theatre and a live DJ set from award-winning DJ Conrad Kira to ignite the action.
This Christmas director Michael Buffong transports the smash-hit musical GUYS AND DOLLS up-town to 1939 Harlem in the UK's first all-Black cast production of this iconic show.
A consortium led by tiata fahodzi has been awarded Arts Council England's Sustained Theatre Fund, designed to support the development of established and emerging Black and minority ethnic theatre makers and to increase their representation across the wider theatre sector.
Soho Theatre, HighTide and Talawa Theatre Company present Theresa Ikoko's award-winning new play Girls, the funny and fiercely passionate new play by award-winning playwright Theresa Ikoko will premiere at HighTide Festival 2016 in September before its London premiere at Soho Theatre on 27 September. The production will also run at Birmingham Rep Theatre in between those dates.
Soho Theatre, HighTide and Talawa Theatre Company present Theresa Ikoko's award-winning new play Girls, the funny and fiercely passionate new play by award-winning playwright Theresa Ikoko will premiere at HighTide Festival 2016 in September before its London premiere at Soho Theatre on 27 September. The production will also run at Birmingham Rep Theatre in between those dates.
The Birmingham Rep present another exciting Shakespearean production to celebrate 400 years since the great writers' death; this time it was King Lear. Directed by Michael Buffong, this production has the audience gripped from the start.