Actors Touring Company (ATC), the UK’s leading theatre producer of international plays, today announces a major Co-Production and National Tour with Belgrade Theatre Coventry, in association with Brixton House of a new stage production of Mojisola’s Adebayo’s play Family Tree.
Adebayo’s powerful and poetic drama explores race, health, the environment and the incredible legacy of one of the most influential Black women of modern times, Henrietta Lacks. Originally commissioned by ATC and the Young Vic in 2020, an outdoor work-in-progress piece was showcased at the 2021 Greenwich + Docklands International Festival. This new 2023 tour will be the fully-realised stage production.
The Belgrade Theatre Coventry will stage the World Premiere in March 2023 followed by a London premiere at Brixton House in April 2023. The play will then tour until June, visiting major venues across the country including performances in Keswick, Ipswich and Nottingham.
Family Tree is the current winner of the Alfred Fagon Award, the leading Black British Playwrighting prize, for best original stage play. ATC’s Artistic Director Matthew Xia, who will be directing the production says: “Mojisola Adebayo is an exceptional writer and I’m excited that her award-winning play will be seen by audiences far and wide. There’s a beauty in her work that responds so well to the present moment whilst also holding historical malpractice to account. It’s fearless, brutally honest, at turns hilarious, and ultimately transformative.
He adds: “Henrietta’s HeLa cell line forms the basis of the most important medical research and breakthroughs across the last 70 years, from Cancer and HIV to COVID, we owe our lives to her. Denied her place in history, now is the time to bring Henrietta’s epic legacy alive on stage.”
Full cast, creative team and tour schedule will be announced in the New Year.
Family Tree was jointly commissioned by ATC and Young Vic Theatre. The development production in 2021 was produced by ATC and Greenwich & Docklands International Festival, supported by the Young Vic.
