What To Watch: On Stage Jan 2023
Our first theatre list of the year and it’s full of great shows, some ending this month! Want an evening out with friends or family, or to see something new, we got you covered with our list. Remember to check out our Black exhibitions list here too
Dugsi Dayz @ Rich Mix
Dates: 14 Jan - 15 Jan 2023
About: It’s a Saturday afternoon and four students have ended up at dugsi detention, reasons unknown. Meet Salma, Yasmin, Munira and Hani, four girls who see the world and their place in it in radically different ways. The hour they spend together allows them to realise that they have more in common than they thought. What did they each do to deserve detention? Apparently, getting to know one another is the only way to find
On The Ropes @ Park Theatre
Tickets: from £15
Dates: 06th Jan - 04th Feb 2023
About: Pulsating with the rhythmic energies of blues, reggae and boxing, On the Ropes is an uplifting musical drama telling the extraordinary story of Vernon Vanriel who arrived in Britain aged 6 with his family as part of the Windrush Generation, and rose to prominence as one of the most charismatic and influential Black British boxers of the 70s and 80s.
You Can’t Understand @ Brockley Jack Theatre
Tickets: from £14
Dates: 17 - 21 Jan 2023
About: You Can’t Understand is a cheeky coming-of-age story about a young woman named Keika, aka Keika Freika, aka genius, aka quirky babe.
KEMI FROM THE BLOCK @ Theatre Peckham
Tickets: From £11.37
Dates: 19 - 20 Jan 2023
About: Set in 2006, ‘Kemi from the Block’ is a play which follows the life of Kemi; a young black girl who lives on a council estate referred to as ‘the block’ in inner city London. She is the first-generation child of a Nigerian immigrant mother and a Jamaican father who has been absent for most of her life. The play follows her transition from a young girl who is focused in school, to being targeted and exploited by the wrong crowd and becoming a notorious drug dealer.
imaginary natural beings @ Network Theatre
Tickets: from £11.50
Dates: 24 - 27 Jan 2023
About: ‘imaginary natural beings’ is a journey of self-exploration through an indifferent world. The Girl becomes a woman, The Boy becomes a man, and they both shape each other’s lives – or at least, that is how it is supposed to work. Within a fluid, deconstructed theatre space, the boundaries of character and actor become blurred. In a work inspired by contemporary poetry and absurdist theatre, ‘imaginary natural beings’ explores the nature of Blackness, womanhood, and coming-of-age in modern Britain.
The Girl, our Girl, is not alright. But she is trying to be.
Sound of the Underground @ Royal Court
Tickets: from £12
Dates: 19 Jan - 25 Feb 2023
About: Out to the electric night, where the base line jumps in the backstreet light and the beat goes round and round. The sound of the underground is the sound of duct tape, lighting cigarettes, jangling tips and a whole lot of chaos. This is not your average night at the theatre.
Travis Alabanza’s first play for the Royal Court spotlights London’s iconic underground club culture and questions what it means to get your money’s worth when it comes to art.
The Wife of Willesden @ Kiln Theatre
Dates: 14th Dec - 28th Jan 2023
About: A play that celebrates the human knack for telling elaborate tales, especially about our own lives. Returning after a sold-out run in 2021.
Best of Enemies @ Noel Coward Theatre
Tickets: from £17.50
Dates: 14 Nov 2022 - 18 Feb 2023
About: 1968 – a year of protest that divided America. As two men fight to become the next President, all eyes are on the battle between two others: the cunningly conservative William F. Buckley Jr., and the iconoclastic liberal Gore Vidal. Beliefs are challenged and slurs slung as these political idols feud nightly in a new television format, debating the moral landscape of a shattered nation. Little do they know they're about to open up a new frontier in American politics, and transform television news forever
Mandela @ Young Vic, London, UK
Tickets: from £12.50
Dates: 29 Nov 2022 - 04 Feb 2023
About: Infused with the rhythms of South Africa, this soaring new musical tells the extraordinary story of a man who changed the course of modern history - the sacrifices he made as a husband and father, and the global movement that inspired him and his comrades to keep fighting. The production is presented in proud partnership with Nandi Mandela, Luvuyo Madasa and the Mandela family.
Othello @ The National Theatre, London, UK
Tickets: from £20
Dates: 23 Nov 2022 - 21 Jan 2023
About: A bright, headstrong daughter of a senator; elevated by her status but stifled by its expectations. A refugee of slavery; having risen to the top of a white world, he finds that love across racial lines has a cost. Wed in secret, Desdemona and Othello crave a new life together. But as unseen forces conspire against them, they find their future is not theirs to decide.
WATCH ON THE RHINE @ Donmar Warehouse
Dates: 9 Dec 2022 - 4 Feb 2023
About: Summer 1940. On a peaceful morning in her Washington D.C. living room, widow Fanny Farrelly anxiously awaits the return of her daughter and her German husband, fleeing Europe with their children.
As night falls, dark secrets emerge, and this American sanctuary becomes even more dangerous than what they left behind.
Did you know these shows were happening or are they news to you? Let us know in the comments.