Theatre

An opera about the life of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, activist and ex-wife of former South African president Nelson Mandela will premiere in Pretoria, South Africa this April 28th. The opera will feature a 60-piece orchestra performing western and traditional African music, while the lyrics will combine both the English and Xhosa languages. It is believed to [...]

The dreamscape bleeds freely into reality in Meat, playwright Matt Harris’ stage adaptation – or re-imagining – of Tennessee Williams’ short story Desire and the Black Masseur. Directed by Vernon Douglas, this current production is moving to The Lion and Unicorn Theatre, Kentish Town from 22 November, after completing its run at the Albany, Deptford [...]

The slippery definitions of sanity are at the centre of Joe Penhall’s audacious play, Blue/Orange. The piece premiered at the National Theatre in 2000, with an all-male cast including British titans Chiwetel Ejiofor and Bill Nighy. The production currently on at the Arcola Theatre, East London features an all-female line up, a device through which [...]

“I believe that me being involved in the For Colored Girls soundtrack was very serendipitous,” Janelle Monae tells Centric TV in conversation about her connection to Tyler Perry’s latest film. “As a high school theatre student, we read For Colored Girls monologues and I was very familiar with the play,” she says. “Growing into an [...]

As Poejazzi’s triumphunt Year of the Poet season draws to a close, the magnificent Eska headlines a line-up of “the UK’s finest singers and lyricists” at the Soho Theatre in London on Sunday 17th Oct. On the night, Eska is joined by fast-rising singer-songwriter Tanya Auclair alongside poets Hollie Mcnish, John Osborne, Robert Auton and [...]

John Steinbeck’s well-loved story of enduring companionship and shattered dreams Of Mice and Men has seen many a film and stage adaptation. South-East London’s Broadway Theatre is the latest to take on this staple of the UK’s GCSE syllabus. George Milton (Arron Kelly) and Lennie Small (Thomas Renshaw) form an unlikely friendship during the Great [...]

All right, so let me get a little confession out of the way. A bit of me groaned inwardly when I heard that the Oval House Theatre was staging Estate Walls. ‘Yet another dramatic piece about disadvantaged youth set in inner city London?’ I wondered. We’d heard and seen it all before… or so I [...]

If there’s anyone who could do with more than 24 hours in a day, it’s Hackney-based Renaissance man Arinze Kene.  He’s currently splitting his time between filming EastEnders in Hertfordshire and rehearsals for his new play Estate Walls which is being staged at the Oval House Theatre, South London. By the time we meet for [...]

Estate Walls @ Oval House Theatre, London (52 – 54 Kennington Oval, London SE11 5SW) 21st September – 9th October 2010 Written by Arinze Kene and directed by Ché Walker, Estate Walls is a set in “an inferior London estate” and  follows the story of Obi, a young writer who dreams of leaving his estate [...]

Hit comedy stage play Je’Caryous Johnson’s Cheaper to Keep Her kicks off on a US tour of more than 30 national tour dates, beginning September 18th at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. The twelfth play in a series of critically acclaimed stage plays from NAACP Award-winning writer and director Je’Caryous Johnson, Cheaper to Keep Her [...]