Following the success of last year’s two week festival of new and emerging Black work and artists, Talawa Firsts festival is returning. This July at their base in Croydon, Talawa Theatre Company will host two amazing weeks of new work, workshops, rooftop club nights, their first Don’t Flick short film screenings and more, themed around obsessions and chance encounters, encouraging all festivalgoers to stay curious!
Each week will see events including a writer’s showcase, a new short film night – Don’t Flick – and new poetry night – First Look – a double bill of new work, and even more events for the Croydon community to enjoy this summer, taking in culture, joining link ups and experiencing some of Croydon’s best up and coming artists!
Week One will start with the first Writer’s Showcase followed by a Black Theatremakers Link Up. The first ever Don’t Flick – a movie night screening short films Heaven Reaches Down to Earth by Tebogo Malebogo and Cab Ride by Femi Tiwo and Ola Jones – will follow mid-week. The first double bill on the 4th July will be Hannah Shury-Smith’s The Pool and Khai Shaw’s Aromatherapy. The Pool sees repressed memories surface when three best friends, Ella, Jada and Isra, are stranded by a flood near the pool of an English spa – and there’s no escaping the anger bubbling beneath the surface of this picture perfect friendship. In the hard-hitting Aromatherapy, Marcus – a perfume seller who hates his job – meets Sol, who promises money, power and glory. Marcus has the chance to be the man he’s always dreamed of – and stands to lose everything in the process. Week 1 will close out with a Masterclass facilitated by theatremaker Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu, providing skills for emerging artists, and BORN::FREE’s Veranda – an epic poetry and music jam featuring a house band of emerging London artists and experimental live performance prioritising Afrodiasporic narratives.
Week Two opens with the second Writers’ Showcase followed by a Black Dramaturgy Club hosted by Talawa’s New Work Team. On 10th July will be First Look – an experimental performance night featuring five new works: Hannah Montanna by Amani Cosmo; Danni Ebanks-Ingram’s to you, from us; Lou Robbin’s The Void; mandla rae’s CATEGORY: MISTAKE; and Say When by Regina Agard-Brathwaite.
The second double bill, followed by the second Masterclass led by Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu, features Daniel Ward’s Sandilands and Dee Williamson’s Under the Table. In Sandilands, two strangers meet on the streets of Croydon, both in desperate need of help – but they must work out if they trust each other. In Williamson’s Under the Table, a detective, a gangster and a vicar walk into a hospital… when Gloria is admitted to hospital in a coma, a young detective must work out who is there to wish her well, and who is there to wish her harm. Following the second Masterclass, the festival will finish with a bang, as BORN::FREE present GET::FREE, a bass-heavy Afrodiasporic club night with live percussion!
Talawa Firsts is aimed at both avid theatre-goers, and those who have never been to the theatre before. The festival aims to be accessible to everyone, and for regular culture vultures to enjoy and will be welcoming and fun for those who have never been to live theatre before, from new theatre, workshops and live music. Talawa Firsts invites anyone and everyone to enjoy this festival of culture in Croydon.
