What To Watch: On Stage April 2023
New month with another massive list of shows to watch during the month. Remember to check out the last post here as some shows are still.
Sucker Punch at Queens Theatre, Hornchurch
Dates: 30 Mar - 15 Apr
About: This tender, bruising and funny play by leading British dramatist Roy Williams, brilliantly explores being young and black in the 80s.
> More information / Book tickets here.
Debate: Baldwin VS Buckley at Stone Nest, London
Dates: 15 Mar- 08 Apr 2023 (Extended to 15th Apr)
About: Following a critically acclaimed run in New York City, the american vicarious’ radically staged production of the historic debate between James Baldwin and William F. Buckley Jr. premieres at London’s Stone Nest.
>More information / Book tickets here
The Instrumentals at Little Angel Theatre, London
Dates: 08 Apr–16 Apr 2023
About: Aimed at ages 4 - 11. Bursting to life with brilliant puppetry and bold music, the Instrumentals is full of love and laughter, about the memories we hold and how we celebrate life. This is a show for all children with characters, story & inspiration from the African-Caribbean diaspora. It’s full of uplifting original music with soulful sounds and seventies groove.
> More information / Book tickets here
The Wedding Speech at The Space Theatre, London
Dates: 18 - 20 Apr 2023
About: Funny, charming and relatable, The Wedding Speech is a piece that speaks on the impact of primary relationships and the blind spots they create, even in the most self aware person.
> More information / Book tickets here
RICHARD III at Liverpool Playhouse, Liverpool
Dates: 06 — 22 April 2023
About: Bridgerton star Adjoa Andoh shifts the lens on Shakespeare’s most iconic villain Richard III, questioning what we think we know of him, in this blistering new production.
> More information / Book tickets here
Wonderland in Alice
Showing at: Theatre Peckham
When: 6 - 22 April 2023
About: CTC Dance Company will unpick the timeless story of Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice in Wonderland and reveal an eerie transcendent adaptation, displaying a constantly evolving world of: ‘No Rules. No Time. No Binary’.
Accessible and inclusive workshops, enabling aspiring creatives and performers from the LGBTQIA+ will be provided.
> More information here
Before I Go by Tobi Bakare
Showing at: Camden People's Theatre
When: 20 - 22 April 2023
About: Following Ajani, a young boy who tragically dies and gets stuck in limbo. On his journey, he is forced to undergo overcoming and acceptance in order to be revived into the living world.
> More information / Book tickets here
Bristol Old Vic: The Meaning of Zong at Barbican Theatre, London
Dates:
20-23 Apr 2023
About: Olivier Award-winner Giles Terera’s boldly inventive debut play celebrates the power of the human spirit against adversity, and the journey to understand our place in the world.
> More information / Book tickets here
Family Tree at Brixton House, London
Dates: 12 - 23 Apr 2023
About: Family Tree is a beautifully poetic drama about race, health, the environment, and the incredible legacy of one of the most influential Black women of modern times. Fearlessly honest, hilarious, and ultimately transformative, this award-winning play is both a remembrance and a celebration.
> More information / book tickets here
FURTHER THAN THE FURTHEST THING
Showing at: Young Vic, London
When: until 29 Apr 2023
About: On a remote volcanic island in the middle of the Atlantic, a community has lived undisturbed for centuries, defying the swirling currents of modernity and capitalism. Cut off and exposed to the elements, their survival has created a complex bind with their land. But when one of the inhabitants brings an outsider to the island, their way of life is changed forever.
> More information / book tickets here
Harvey Parker Trust: Love in Mind
When: 30 Apr 2023
Where: Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Cente
About:An illustrious line-up of artists across classical, pop, jazz, and dance music join forces on 30 April, in a symphony of sounds to support the mental wellbeing of young creatives.
> More information / book tickets here
BLACK SUPERHERO at Royal Court, London
Dates: 14 Mar - 29 Apr 2023
About: After an unexpected encounter David plunges himself into a world of sex, drugs and hero worship in the hope of being rescued, until fantasy and reality merge with devastating consequences.
> More information / book tickets here.
Unseen Unheard by Naomi Denny
Showing at: Theatre Peckham
When: 27 Apr - 04 May 2023
About: Award winning directors Simon Frederick and Suzann McLean come together to stage a new play based on the lived experiences of Black British women and their journeys with breast cancer.
Each performance will host a post-show panel discussion, which will be facilitated by award-winning community champion Leanne Pero, founder and CEO of Black Women Rising.
> More information / book tickets here
STARS: An Afrofuturist Space Odyssey by Mojisola Adebayo / ICA London
Showing at: ICA London
When: 13 April - 04 May 2023
About: A new afrofuturist music play about pleasure, desire and female orgasms.
STARS is a hilarious and moving mix of celebratory Black queer empowerment and arousal. Performed by one woman and a live DJ, with projected animations, we join in an old woman’s search for her lost orgasm, spanning across outer space, with dustings of African mythology and folklore in an unabashedly queer, feminist rallying call.
> More information / book tickets here
No I.D by Tatenda Shamiso
Showing at: Royal Court
When: 18 April - 6 May. 2023
About: Following a ★★★★★ run at VAULT Festival, NO I.D. transfers to the Royal Court for a limited three-week run. Tatenda Shamiso tells the story of his experience as a Black transgender immigrant in the UK. Using the songs he wrote throughout his first year on testosterone alongside letters, signatures and a whole lot of paperwork, he guides us through what it takes to validate Black and queer identities in the eyes of the law.
> More information / book tickets here
Big Aunty by Corey Campbell at Belgrade Theatre, Coventry
Dates: 24 Apr – 6 May 2023
About: Big Aunty’s dead. Her funeral’s back in Jamaica, where she returned some years ago. The children she brought up together long ago, but have lost touch and gone their separate ways, are now forced to come together again, all these years later.
> More information / book tickets here
Medea at Soho Place, London
Dates:
10 Feb – 22 Apr 2023
About: Medea tells the story of a woman laid bare by grief and rage, and her terrible quest for revenge against the men who have abandoned her.
> More information / book tickets here
Don't Clap For Me Mr. Johnson at Cockpit Theatre, London
Dates:
20-23 Apr 2023
About: Following on from the hugely successful tour of Windrush –The Betrayal, Agape Theatre Company are pleased to return to London with their latest production Don’t Clap For Me Mr. Johnson.
> More information / book tickets here
SPLINTERED at Soho Theatre, London
Dates: 18 – 29 Apr 2023
About: Part-play, part-cabaret, join our three MCs as they take you through a queer whirlwind of Caribbean history, sad truths and joyful lies.
> More information / book tickets here
A Play for the Living in a Time of Extinction at Barbican
Dates: 26 - 29 Apr 2023
About: Miranda Rose Hall’s darkly funny, life-affirming show starring Lydia West is directed by Katie Mitchell. This is a bold experiment in eco theatre-making, created with leading touring company Headlong.
> More information / book tickets here
For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy at Apollo Theatre, London
Dates: 25 Mar - 07 May 2023
About: Father figures and fashion tips. Lost loves and jollof rice. African empires and illicit sex. Good days and bad days. Six young Black men meet for group therapy, and let their hearts – and imaginations – run wild.
For Black Boys is located on the threshold of joyful fantasy and brutal reality: a world of music, movement, storytelling and verse – where six men clash and connect in a desperate bid for survival.
> More information / book tickets here
THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES at Almedia Theatre, London
Dates: 8 Apr – 27 May 2023
About: From the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer of Sweat, the Tony Award-winning composer of Spring Awakening, and Tony Award-nominated lyricist of Jelly’s Last Jam, comes a captivating new musical about a group of women ignited by rebellion and longing for acceptance.
> More information / book tickets here
August in England by Lenny Henry
Showing at: Bush Theatre
When: 28 April - 10 June.
About: Charming, flawed, and with the gift of the gab, we all know a man like August Henderson. Between his three kids, devoted wife-to-be, and part-ownership of a fruit and veg shop, he is proud of the life he has built since landing in his beloved West Bromwich.
So, when faced with deportation to a country he has no memory of, he isn’t prepared to go quietly. Listen up, he is ready to tell his own story.
> More information / book tickets here
Did you know these shows were happening or are they news to you? Let us know.
If you found this useful, please do send a tip so we can continue to connect audiences.