In a new co-production between Leeds Playhouse, Birmingham Rep and Nottingham Playhouse, in association with Actors Touring Company, Small Island will come to audiences outside London for the first time. Directed by Olivier Award winning Matthew Xia, a talented company will take to the stage in Helen Edmundson’s adaptation of the novel by Andrea Levy.
The full cast includes Anna Crichlow as Hortense; CBBC presenter and Strictly Come Dancing semi-finalist Rhys Stephenson in his professional theatre debut as Michael; Mark Arends as Bernard; musical theatre star Bronté Barbé as Queenie; Daniel Ward as Gilbert; Paul Hawkyard as Arthur; Rosemary Boyle as Mrs Ryder; Marcia Mantack as Miss Jewel; Everal A Walsh as Kenneth and Mr Philip; Andre Squire as Elwood; Mara Allen as Miss Ma and Celia; Zoe Lambert as Aunt Dorothy and Miss Todd; Toby Webster as as Kip and Young Man; Phil Yarrow as Mr Buxton, Captain Soames and Sgt Thwaites; and Jordan Laviniere as Little Michael.
Joining director Matthew Xia on the creative team are Set & Costume Designer Simon Kenny; Lighting Designer Ciaràn Cunningham; Movement & Intimacy Director Asha Jennings-Grant; Voice & Dialect Coach Hazel Holder; Fight Director Kev McCurdy; WHAM Designer & Supervisor Dominique Hamilton; Casting Director Lucy Casson CDG; Composer Luke Bacchus; Music Mentor Ben Kwasi Burrell; and Video Designer Gino Green.
This bold new staging of Small Island will offer a fresh perspective on a world shaped by empire and entitlement, caught between belonging and unbelonging, disappointment and hope.
Four unforgettable characters bring this Windrush story to life: Hortense and Gilbert, determined Jamaican migrants in search of belonging and respect; Queenie, an Englishwoman who defies convention; and Bernard, her husband, struggling with change. Together, they discover love across culture, colour and class – and the fragile hope of a shared future.
Spanning decades and continents, this exhilarating new production draws on the joyful rhythms of calypso and the harsh realities of postwar Britain to explore the emotional truth of our collective history, brought vividly to life through music, striking visuals and a compelling story you will never forget.
Small Island premiers in the Quarry Theatre at Leeds Playhouse from 11th to 28th March, before transferring to Birmingham Rep from 1st to 18th April, and Nottingham Playhouse from 28th April to 16th May.
