BAFTA-winning game-makers Coney announce brand new co-creation with theatre-maker Rhianna Ilube, 1884: an immersive anti-colonial playable theatre show inspired by the legacy of the 1884 Berlin Conference, which is coming to Shoreditch Town Hall from Wednesday 17 – Saturday 27 April.
140 years ago this year, in November 1884, representatives from 12 European nations, the Ottoman Empire and the U.S.A met at an international conference in Berlin. Before the conference, 80% of Africa remained under local and traditional control, but by 1902, 90% of the continent was under the colonial rule of the powers that met in Berlin.
Co-created by artists, historians and activists, 1884 is a groundbreaking game-theatre show inspired by this often-overlooked turning point in history for the African continent and the world. The experience explores the ways in which anti-colonial resistance movements have been excluded from our public history and collective historical narrative, and how this omission highlights a glaring oversight in how we memorialise the impacts of colonialism.
Welcome to Wilhelm Street. Make yourself at home!
Taking place in a modern fictionalised setting named Wilhelm Street, over the course of two and a half hours, 1884 immerses audiences in a world that echoes the dynamics of the conference. Played around tables in Shoreditch Town Hall’s iconic Council Chamber, participants form small family groups, collaborate on playful activities, and make choices about how to build their family community and make their house a home. However, as rules are gradually imposed on the groups and it becomes increasingly clear that not everything is within their control, they must decide how to respond. 1884 asks: how is history recorded, and who is left outside of the room where history is written?
Somewhere nearby, there’s a meeting going on. A very important meeting. Run by very important people. Making very important decisions about your lives. But you and your family are not allowed inside… it’s nothing you need to worry about.
Writer and project director, Rhianna Ilube commented: “1884 was inspired by the work of activists from the African diaspora in Berlin who have been raising awareness about how Germany has largely erased the memory of its role in the colonisation of Africa. I wanted to bring the story of the 1884 conference to the UK, but the nature and impact of this show have gone much further than I could’ve imagined. 1884, created over a year of debates, experimentation and playtests with Coney and amazing creative collaborators, touches on the heart of crucial questions about land ownership, memorial cultures, decolonisation, gentrification, protest and more. I’m so proud that it will finally be experienced – and shaped – by audiences.”
Acclaimed arts and social change charity Coney are The Stage 100 listed and BAFTA-winning game-makers (Nightmare High) on a mission to spark change through the power of play, with over 15 years experience in co-creating interactive experiences for a diverse range of audiences and environments. Playwright and theatre-maker Rhianna Ilube has been nominated for this year’s Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Playwriting and Highly Commended for the Soho Theatre’s Verity Bargate Award (Samuel Takes a Break… – The Yard Theatre, 2024); she is a member of the Soho Six, and an alumna of the Royal Court Writers Group and the Oxford Playmakers. Performance director Tatenda Shamiso won the Emerging Talent Award at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2023 (NO I.D. – Royal Court, 2023), and is the Associate Director on the upcoming West End return of For Black Boys… (Garrick Theatre, 2024).
