SUBMIT UPDATES
Recognition is the major new production from Talawa Theatre Company, bringing to light the incredible life and legacy of Black composer and Croydon resident Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, who was hugely successful in the Edwardian and Victorian eras, with admirers including President Roosevelt and Edward Elgar, but who is now not as well-known as his contemporaries. Talawa, the UK’s outstanding Black theatre company, is presenting Recognition as part of the Mayor of London’s London Borough of Culture 2023 – This Is Croydon.
Paul Adeyefa will play Coleridge-Taylor, with Kibong Tanji as Song, a young Black composer who discovers Coleridge-Taylor and learns she is joining a legacy of Black classical music in Britain she never knew existed. Recognition is co-created by Amanda Wilkin and Rachael Nanyonjo, written by Wilkin and directed by Nanyonjo. The show, at Fairfield Halls this June, will feature original music by Mercury Prize-nominated Cassie Kinoshi, as well as Coleridge-Taylor’s compositions.
David Monteith joins the cast with Barnaby Power, Matthew Romain, Alice Stokoe and Deborah Tracey. A band of musicians will bring the compositions to life, comprising British-Nigerian violinist Eve Abiodun, award-winning bassist Rio Kai, organist and jazz pianist Jonathan Liebeck, cellist Austen Scully, drummer Shakira Stellar and violinist Mikey Tsoukkas.
The UK Pantomime Association (UKPA) has announced the winners of The Pantomime Awards 2023 in association with Butlin’s at a star-studded ceremony which took place at the Trafalgar Theatre in London’s West End on the evening of Tuesday 11 April 2023.
Talawa Theatre Company, the UK’s outstanding Black theatre company, has an exciting 2023 ahead, including new productions, community projects in Croydon and the return of Talawa Stories and Talawa Firsts.
Award-winning actress Dame Judi Dench will be in Croydon next month to kick-off a week-long series of events celebrating the reopening of Fairfield Halls.