Theatre highlights this April Love Steps written and directed by Anastasia Osei-Kuffour
You can also catch The Comeuppance with Tamara Lawrance and Anthony Welsh and Housemates Returns: Is Dat U Yh? Written and directed by dkfash
Player Kings with Toheeb Jimoh and Clare Perkins
Amidst a divided England, reluctant Has faces an unexpected destiny as King while grappling with loyalty, corruption, and impending war.
Player Kings runs Monday 1st April – Saturday 22nd June 2024 @ Noël Coward Theatre
No More Mr Nice Guy by Cal-I Jonel
Prepare to be captivated by the world premiere of the award-winning play No More Mr Nice Guy.
This gripping narrative revolves around Keloughn Douglas, a British-Caribbean Music Teacher entangled in the complexities of his aspirations for senior leadership, a burning passion for a successful music career, and his yearning to marry the love of his life.
As he grapples with the balancing act of work and personal life while navigating the day’s microaggressions, Keloughn’s world hangs in the balance. Audiences will be drawn into his psyche through a captivating blend of storytelling, movement, rap, RnB, and sound effects. Described as “funny,” “thought-provoking,” and “clever,” this experimental gig-theatre production is an experience not to be missed.
No More Mr Nice Guy runs Wednesday 3rd – Saturday 6th April @ Bristol Old Vic
Underdog: The Other Brontë Directed by Natalie Ibu.
Charlotte Brontë has a confession about how one sister became an idol and the other became known as the third sister. You know the one. No, not that one. The other, other … Anne. With Adele James and Kwaku Mills.
Underdog: The Other Brontë runs Wednesday 3rd April – Saturday 25th May 2024 @ National Theatre, South Bank
Romeo And Juliet starring Hayden Mampasi & Felixe Forde
Set in 2024, this is the most famous story about teenagers ever told: their intense passion lights up a world of increasing violence between rival gangs, the Montagues and the Capulets.
Caught in the spiral of hate and revenge, Romeo and Juliet connect across enemy lines. Can they break free of the bloodshed and find hope for a different future?
Romeo and Juliet runs Wednesday 3rd -Saturday 13th April @ Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre
Love Steps written and directed by Anastasia Osei-Kuffour
The drama fuses poetry, dance and music to tell the story of Anna, a young, ambitious woman, who sets out to redefine the ideal of love on her own terms. The semi-autobiographical work also explores Black female identity and racial perspectives on beauty.
Love Steps runs @ Omnibus Theatre (Wednesday 3rd – Saturday 20th April) and transfer to Talawa’s Studio Theatre Fairfield Halls (Wednesday 29th May to Saturday 1st June).
The Comeuppance – with Tamara Lawrance and Anthony Welsh
Autumn 2022. A group of friends gather hours before their high school reunion.
20 years have passed since graduation: some have had children; some have moved to the other side of the world; some have been to war.
But there’s another presence in their midst. And as they catch up and reminisce, it only takes a scratch for the scars of those school days to surface.
The Comeuppance – Saturday 6th April – Saturday 18th May 2024 @ Almeida Theatre
The Ballad of Hattie and James with Suzette Llewellyn
An epic, life-spanning tale of friendship, music, and the moments that change you forever.
At St Pancras International, a woman sits at the piano and begins to play. The music captivates commuters, tourists and, following a viral clip, people around the world. Behind the music is the incredible story of a lifelong duet – the ballad of Hattie and James.
Throughout their lives, Hattie and James find themselves inextricably linked, for better or worse, and cannot help but replay the experiences that have shaped them.
The Ballad of Hattie and James runs Thursday 11th April – Saturday 18th May 2024 @ Kiln Theatre
Cheeky Little Brown by Nkenna Akunna
Meet Lady, a determined sharp-tongued charmer who loves her best friend Gemma as much as she loves a late-night kebab. It’s Gemma’s birthday party. The two haven’t seen each other for six months.
With original songs, this coming-of-age story examines a friendship between two Black women on diverging paths of self-love and acceptance.
A tiata fahodzi production. Directed by Chinonyerem Odimba.
Cheeky Little Brown runs Tuesday 16th April – Saturday 20th April @ Stratford East
Doughnuts and Ice Cream by Tamzin Murray and directed by Danielle Kassaraté.
This work in progress supported by Nouveau Riche, is a play full of laughter and inside jokes, as three women take us on an exhilarating journey through poetic conversations about love and success – however, beyond surface-level conversations and smiling faces, there is something much deeper taking place in their lives.
As Noelle goes through a lengthy journey to diagnosis for endometriosis, we see it affect her dynamic with best friends Gabby and Jazz, as well as her relationship with partner Andre as they navigate difficult conversations around fertility.
Their friendship quickly becomes more than a place to thrive but also a safe place to break as they piece back together her faith and view of womanhood.
Doughnuts & Ice Cream runs Wednesday 17th – Sunday 21st April @ Catford’s Broadway Theatre
Housemates Returns: Is Dat U Yh? Written and directed by dkfash
Tamagotchi’s, Pokemon and alien babies.
“a time where laughter was free and nonsense was all we knew”
It’s when you couldn’t be on the phone and the internet at the same time
It’s where you learned insults were a love language
It’s when spittin battles at lunchtime could get you happy-slapped
Tolu and the “Back Of the Bus Queens” relive and rediscover their love of home, in this joyous and whacky adventure down memory lane. Surreal memories, short stories, and nonsense!
Housemates Returns: Is Dat U Yh? runs Wednesday 17th – Saturday 27th April @ Brixton House
Much Ado About Nothing With Ekow Quartey as BENEDICK
After years of war, an idyllic Italian town is finally back in bloom. But young lovers Claudio and Hero, and sparring singletons Beatrice and Benedick, soon discover that all is not as it seems in their beautiful surrounds as they become entangled in a series of mischievous games, pranks and plots.
Much Ado About Nothing runs Thursday 25th April – Saturday 24th August @ Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre
Boy Blue: Cycles by Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante and Kenrick ‘H2O’Sandy
Nine powerful dancers fill the space in what feels like unending motion. Celebrating the repetition and tenacity of our natural world, from day to night, birth and death, the tides, the ticking of time on a clock, the seasons and the steady rhythms of 1 2 3 4, Cycles is movement at its most fluid, distilled and skilled.
Boy Blue: Cycles runs Tuesday 30th April – Saturday 4th May 2024 @ Barbican Theatre