For four decades, Talawa Theatre Company has stood at the forefront of Black British theatre, reshaping an industry that offered too few opportunities for Black artists to be seen or celebrated. Founded in 1986 by Yvonne Brewster, Mona Hammond, Carmen Munroe and Inigo Espejel, Talawa was born from a determination to challenge exclusion and create a home for Black talent on Britain’s stages. This initial act of necessity has given us one of the country’s most influential cultural success stories.
Named after a Jamaican patois word meaning strong, fearless and resilient, Talawa has spent 40 years proving that Black theatre is not a side note to British theatre, but an essential part of it. Through landmark productions of Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde and Arthur Miller alongside new writing rooted in Black British, African and Caribbean experiences, the company has consistently expanded expectations of who gets to tell stories, and whose stories deserve to be told.
Its impact reaches far beyond the productions themselves. Generations of performers, writers, directors and creatives have found their voices through Talawa’s programmes, many going on to become leading figures across theatre, television and film. Long before diversity and representation became industry buzzwords, Talawa was demonstrating what a genuinely inclusive cultural landscape could look like.
That extraordinary legacy was celebrated last week at Hackney Empire, where artists from across the company’s history gathered for Talawa Iconic, a one-night anniversary showcase honouring four decades of pioneering work.
A showcase first and foremost, but one that beautifully honoured the company’s founder, Yvonne Brewster. A video of Yvonne being interviewed about the formation of Talawa opened proceedings and a touching tribute from former artistic directors brought the evening into it closing speech from current CEO’s Michael Buffong and Carolyn ML Forsyth. And it was Yvonne Brewster’s name that came in up in every speech given or story told, highlighting the incredible influence the late founder still plays on the organisation today.
The company highlighted their work on the classics with an excerpt of Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, and later, Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, where Ben Thomas and Tameka Empson’s ‘Interrogation of Jack Worthing’ drew the biggest laughs of the night.
Talawa’s support of new writing was also on display, with scenes from The Black Jacobins, the company’s inaugural production, alongside Girls, the Olivier Award nominated A Place for We, and Fragments of Us. Talawa alumni, Nonso Anozie, Khai Shaw and Jordan Duvigneau shared moving stories of how Talawa has supported their ongoing careers.
Drawing together these scenes, songs and memories from some of its most significant productions, the evening served not only as a celebration of the past, but as a reminder of Talawa’s continuing role in shaping the future of British theatre.
The company’s influence can be seen in the careers it has launched, the stories it has championed and the barriers it has helped dismantle. Forty years after its founding, Talawa remains both a guardian of Black theatrical excellence and a catalyst for change, ensuring that the stages of tomorrow are richer, more representative and more ambitious than those that inspired its creation.
