Talawa announces Black Joy season including new musical PLAY ON!

The UK’s outstanding Black theatre company, Talawa, has announced Black Joy 2024, a season of theatre and workshops celebrating Black stories and artists, including an exciting large scale musical production, Play On!

Play On! is at the centre of Talawa’s Black Joy season, epitomising the ethos of this exciting programme of work. This joyous retelling of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night vividly brings to life the 1940s New York jazz scene, set to a timeless, toe-tapping Duke Ellington soundtrack. This exciting jazz musical is conceived by Sheldon Epps, with a book by Cheryl L. West. In the Cotton Club, New York City, a young songwriter arrives ready to make her name – but disguising herself as a man will give her a better shot in a male-dominated music world. As she meets club owner, The Duke and sensational singer Lady Liv, Vy is swept up in a syncopated symphony of melodies, mistaken identities and romance.

Play On!, directed by Talawa’s Artistic Director Michael Buffong, will tour to the Belgrade Theatre, Birmingham Hippodrome, Bristol Old Vic, Liverpool Everyman, Salisbury Playhouse and Lyric Hammersmith Theatre from September 2024 – February 2025.

Artistic Director of Talawa, Michael Buffong, said: “We are incredibly proud to finally realise our vision of bringing this artistically ambitious body of work to theatres across the length and breadth of the UK. As a Black theatre company, now more than ever, we are determined to spotlight and celebrate great Black British talent, on and off stage, and ensure that Black talent and creativity are at the heart of building cohesion in our country. We hope this season will bring Joy wherever it goes…”

For full season information, please click here.