Talawa Firsts is heading on tour for the very first time, following a successful presentation in summer 2023. Talawa Firsts is Talawa’s annual programme celebrating new and emerging Black theatre. In 2023, at the organisation’s first two-week long Talawa Firsts festival, two double bills of new work were presented. Two of the shows, Love in Gravitational Waves and Bougie Lanre’s Boulangerie are now heading on tour as a double bill this summer.
By acclaimed playwright Testament, Love in Gravitational Waves is a play about love and identity, inspired by over 40 interviews with people in London on the subject of love and dating.
Bronwyn believes that society’s divisions could be healed by relationships with people outside her bubble or world view – ‘the Other’. Through a series of dates and dating app interactions, the audience will meet characters in search of something better. Love in Gravitational Waves stars Anyebe Godwin and Kamilah Storey, and is directed by Brigitte Adela.
Bougie Lanre’s Boulangerie, by Kareem Parkins-Brown, is an uproarious comedy about the behind the scenes of a restaurant. This fizzing whirlwind round the kitchen exposes a world of raging waiters, kind cooks, rude customers and gentrifying pop-ups, putting the ‘cuss dem’ in customer. Bougie Lanre’s Boulangerie stars Kareem Parkins-Brown, and is directed by Philip J Morris, with remastered sound and music by Lo-Wu.
The Talawa Firsts on Tour double bill is produced by Samantha Nurse, kicking off with select dates at Talawa’s Croydon HQ in May, before going to Nottingham Playhouse and Bristol Old Vic, and heading back to Talawa HQ in June.
