THE LOVE BOOK to Premiere at Sadler's Wells East

Sadler's Wells has announced the full cast and creative team for the world premiere of acclaimed choreographer Jade Hackett's The LOve Book, opening at Sadler's Wells East the week of Valentine's Day in February 2027. Featuring music from the king of British neo-soul, Omar Lyefook (known better as Omar) and told through hip hop and lyrical dance, the show, a Sadler's Wells production, celebrates a Windrush love story spanning four decades – traversing familial, community and romantic love. Following its run at Sadler's Wells East, The LOve Book tours to the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre in March 2027.

The LOve Book traces the relationship of a young couple starting with their arrival in 1950s Britain as part of the Windrush Generation and is told in four parts – like the four sides of a double LP record. The capitalised letters in the title both refer to the lead couple – whose names are Leonard and Olivia.

Leonard and Olivia will be played by Zec Luhana and Sia Gbamoi respectively. They are joined by six other dance artists: Nethra Menon (Jasmine/Ensemble), Jaih Betote (Ensemble), Tanaka Bingwa (Young Victor/Ensemble), Nnabiko Ejimofor (Present Day Victor), Oluwatosin Omotosho (Ensemble) and Malachi Welch (Ensemble) for a cast of eight.

The LOve Book features musical supervision and direction from Benjamin Kwasi Burrell, set design by Ti Green, costume design by Jodie-Simone Howe, lighting design by Zeynep Kepekli, and sound design by Benjamin Grant. Jaih Betote is also associate choreographer on the production, and Tevae Humphrey is the hair and make-up artist.

The LOve Book is the debut major dance production for creator and choreographer Jade Hackett, who has worked as both a choreographer and performer on a myriad of productions over the past two decades, most recently as Associate Director to Clint Dyer on One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Old Vic). Recent choreographic credits include Hex (National Theatre), Miss Saigon and Little Shop of Horrors (Sheffield Theatres), Black Power Desk (Brixton House), Titus Andronicus (Royal Shakespeare Company) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (Chichester Festival Theatre). Performance credits include Pied Piper (Boy Blue), Sylvia (Old Vic/ZooNation: The Kate Prince Company), and Nine Night (Trafalgar Studios).

Jade Hackett said she was beyond excited to bring her debut production to audiences in London and Wolverhampton in 2027.

'With this show, which is inspired by the true story of my grandparents who emigrated to the UK from Jamaica in the 1950s, I want to capture and preserve the feeling of love that our Windrush elders gifted us: the shared cups of bush tea, the treasured trinkets in the front living room that we weren't allowed to go into, the boisterous games of dominoes, and the example of a love that was built through patience, hard work and commitment, and that endured far longer than our swipe-era dating fatigue often allows us to imagine today,” Hackett said. “And what an absolute honour to be able to tell this story to the incredible music of Omar, which is so pivotal and recognisable especially for the Black British diaspora. Much of the media around our community focuses on our troubles and our woes, and those stories are of course important, but there is also an incredibly rich tapestry of joyous stories and that's what I want to focus on. To loudly celebrate love in all its forms – I want people to fall in love with love again.'

Omar Lyefook is a celebrated British soul singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, also known as Omar. Often dubbed the 'King of British neo-soul', he first rose to fame with his 1990 hit single 'There's Nothing Like This'; other major songs include 'Ghana Emotion' and 'There's Much Love in the World'.

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