Olivier Award-winning director Matthew Xia is set to direct a deeply personal and richly evocative take on Andrea Levy’s award-winning story, Small Island. In this powerful and intimate new adaptation from Helen Edmundson, audiences will journey from the sun-drenched shores of Jamaica to the cold, grey streets of 1940s London.
This new co-production from Leeds Playhouse, Birmingham Rep and Nottingham Playhouse, in association with Actors Touring Company, is the first to bring the story to audiences outside of London.
Directed by Olivier Award-winning director, composer and DJ Matthew Xia (Artistic Director and Joint CEO of Actors Touring Company), this bold staging offers a fresh perspective on a world shaped by empire and entitlement, caught between belonging and unbelonging, disappointment and hope.
Small Island runs at Leeds Playhouse from 11th to 28th March 2026, before moving to Birmingham Rep from 1st to 18th April 2026, and finally playing Nottingham Playhouse from 28th April to 16th May 2026.
