Theatre Peckham Announces its 7th Annual Young, Gifted and Black Season
The season kicks off with Routes.
Theatre Peckham in South London today announced the line-up for its 2025 Young, Gifted and Black season, celebrating the exciting talent of young Black British artists and aligning with the Black History Month 2025 theme, Standing Firm in Power and Pride.
The season runs from Thursday 2 October – Sunday 2 November and is a vibrant programme of theatre, spokenword and cultural exchange. This year’s theme, recognised by Southwark Council, speaks directly to Theatre Peckham’s mission to spotlight untold stories, celebrate cultural identity, and empower future generations through the arts.
As Theatre Peckham looks ahead to its 40th anniversary in 2026, Young, Gifted & Black builds on its rich legacy of platforming emerging Black talent, while honouring the trailblazers whose courage and creativity continue to shape our cultural landscape.
Dr Suzann McLean MBE said: “In 2025, we stand firm in pride and in purpose. This theme resonates deeply with what we’ve been building at Theatre Peckham for decades: an empowering space for Black excellence to thrive. We’re especially proud that this year, YGB has extended to Canada Water Theatre, allowing us to further our commitment to platforming local talent. With a focus on Southwark-based artists, we’re celebrating the richness of creativity within our own borough and creating even more opportunities for underrepresented voices to be seen, heard, and valued.”
Last year’s season set a high bar with The Power of Representation, a landmark event that brought together the cast of Netflix’s hit series Supacell and the Sickle Cell Society with an open community discussion on creativity and Sickle Cell awareness. It was a moment where art and activism converged, reflecting the role Theatre Peckham plays in the cultural and social life of South London.
This year, Theatre Peckham proudly spotlights the Elevating Spoken Word Theatre project, funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. The project seeks to position Spoken Word Theatre as a recognised and respected genre within the wider theatre landscape, pushing the boundaries of form, voice, and visibility.
Theatre Peckham has long championed Spoken Word as a legitimate theatrical form, having previously produced impactful productions such as MenTall, Sunny Side Up, and Brother’s Keeper, all of which use lyrical storytelling to give voice to lived experiences and expand traditional theatre.
This year’s Young, Gifted and Black season will feature two new spoken word plays: Made You Look by Ty’roneHaughton, a visceral and explosive exploration of what it means to be both Jamaican and a man in a split Britain, and Runner Girl by Lara Grace Ilori, a piece full of poems and prayers, rhymes and rhythms, and music and movement, visiting love lost, old wounds, and new truths. These rising artists perform alongside the regular Poetry Foyer, an intimate space for audiences to engage with poetry and Spoken Word in a live, accessible setting.
Lauryn-Joy Williams, project lead of Elevating Spoken Word Theatre, shares: “Spoken Word is theatre, raw, immediate, and rooted in truth. This project is about carving out space for artists whose voices have always mattered, even when the industry failed to recognise them. I hope that through this project we can empower artists and support innovation in the theatre sector, which resonates with my practice and ambitions as a poet, actress, and creative producer. To see this work uplifted at Theatre Peckham, a home for community and creativity, is both powerful and poetic.” With this focus, Theatre Peckham continues its commitment diversifying the voices, forms, and narratives that take centre stage within British Theatre.
The Season - celebrating young Black British brilliance
The season launches with a double bill of plays titled ROUTES, written, performed and produced by Theatre Peckham Alumni, from Thursday 2 – Saturday 4 October. ROUTES explores identity, struggle, and survival through two strikingly different lenses; The Rose That Grew by Olamide Ajisafe and BLAQ CARD by Adiel Boboye. Together, these two original plays form a theatrical experience capturing the quiet and chaotic ways we survive, adapt, and grow.
Over at Canada Water Theatre the season launches with Stroke in The Sun by Nico Bowden, presented on Thursday 2 & Friday 3 October. The play explores what it means to be truly representative of the Black community, through a lens of love and joy.
It is followed by One More Track by Emeka Diamond on Thursday 9 & Friday 10 October. With the anniversary of Trevor’s death looming, his son Gabriel, a small time DJ with big potential, struggles with his place in the world and starts to question if he can live up to the legacy that his father left behind.
The first in the Spoken Word Theatre series is Made You Look by Ty’rone Haughton, a fiercely honest and lyrically rich piece that dives deep into masculinity, identity, vulnerability, and survival. This play pushes the boundaries and standards of modern Spoken Word by infusing poetry with movement, visual art, and sound. It is presented on Tuesday 21 October.
Whilst over at Canada Water Theatre THE INSTITUTION OF FAILED ARTISTS by Chanel McKenzie is presented on Thursday 23 & Friday 24 October. After years of rejections, Rapper & Musician “Rubes” is abducted into a militant institution designed to give failing artists one last chance to make it. Rubes has big dreams, but with the institution getting more dangerous by the day, does Rubes have what it takes to be a star?
Next up for Spoken Word Theatre is Runner Girl, Tuesday 28 October which returns for a one-night-only special after a sold-out run at Lion and Unicorn Theatre as part of Camden Fringe Festival 2025. A story of a young woman whoseroutine jog takes a terrifying turn, triggering long-buried wounds she’s fought hard to keep hidden.
Poetry Foyer on Thursday 30 October amplifies the brilliance of emerging Black poets. Highlighting heritage, resilience and creativity. The night provides opportunities for Open Mic alongside headline acts.
The season closes with Sierra Leone Arts & Culture Festival 2025 (SLACfest), a cultural exchange and showcaseof multidisciplinary art from Sierra Leoneans in the UK and globally, returning to Theatre Peckham from Friday 31 October – Sunday 2 November. This year’s festival theme is Roots & Renaissance, speaking to the need to look back at what history has taught us and look forward to what the future has in store.
Southwark is home to the largest population of Sierra Leoneans in the UK. The joyful weekend will celebrate Sierra Leonean art, culture, history, and heritage, featuring music, poetry, panel talks, comedy, food, exhibitions, vendors, and activities for the whole family.
Videos
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