Slave uprising: Tula led a revolt against his Dutch colonisers. Film: Tula: The Revolt Cinema:: The Dutch Centre Director: Jeroen Leinders Screenplay: Curtis Holt Hawkins and Jeroen Leinders Review by Patsy Antoine Slave narratives are numerous in film, but less so are stories of the heroes that fought back and led uprisings against the colonists… Continue reading Tula: The Revolt

The mind of a killer: Noma Dumezweni (Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela) and Matthew Marsh (Eugene de Kock). Photo credit: Jesse Kate Kramer Play: A Human Being Died That Night Theatre: Hampstead Theatre Playwright: Nicholas Wright Director: Jonathan Munby Review by Natalie Gormally What makes a man commit deplorable crimes against humanity based on a person’s race? And… Continue reading A Human Being Died That Night

Bus tales: Danusia Samal (Demi) and Toyin Kinch (Malachi) steal the show. Photo credit: Graeme Braidwood Play: Circles Theatre: Tricycle Theatre Playwright: Rachel De-lahay Director: Tessa Walker Review by Natalie Gormally Rachel De-lahay’s powerful new play Circles depicts the cycle of violence across three generations of women.

The inaugural 2014 Fringe Saint Lucia programme is bringing a slice of the Caribbean to Brighton, London and Norwich in May. A partnership between Brighton Fringe, the Saint Lucia government, Fringe Saint Lucia, the Reciprocal Arts Partnership and Sable Lit Mag, the festival puts the literary focus squarely on talented St Lucia and UK writers.… Continue reading Fringe Saint Lucia

Tula the Revolt will have its first UK screening followed by a Q&A with its author and director, Jeroen Leinders and lead actors, Paul Bazely, DeObia Oparei, Natalie Simpson, Aden Gillett and Dona Croll. The film is based on the true story of the great slave revolt on Curacao in 1795 which was chronicled in… Continue reading Tula the Revolt screening

Tahirah Sharif (Talawa Theatre’s Moon on a Rainbow Shawl) takes the lead role in Max Katz’s Box Chicken, the only play to be set in and around a London fried chicken shop. Ailleen is about to turn 16. In the confines of a run-down fried chicken shop, she finds refuge from the pain left behind… Continue reading Box Chicken staged readings

Hedonism overload: Thomas Pickles in Dead Party Animals. Photo credit: Christopher Tribble Play: Dead Party Animals Theatre: The Hope Theatre Playwright: Thomas Pickles Director: Adam Spreadbury-Maher Review by Natalie Gormally Playwright and actor Thomas Pickles’ hour long monologue, Dead Party Animals, opens with a typical boozy night out in the North of England: sambuca-fuelled teenagers,… Continue reading Review of Dead Party Animals

Haitian-born US-based author Elsie Augustave’s hauntingly impressive debut The Roving Tree has been steadily garnering rave reviews, including praise from Edwidge Danticat in The New York Times and Kirkus Reviews. The novel charts the story of Iris, a young Haitian girl adopted by a wealthy white American couple, and her struggle for a cultural identity… Continue reading Interview Elsie Augustave

The work of the Inna Vision Film School, which produces community films challenging mental health stigma and discrimination, will be showcased in a series of participatory and celebratory events until June. Based in East London, the Inna Vision Film School was a year-long project working with adults with lived experience of mental health issues, and… Continue reading Innva Vision Film School screenings

Handbags at dawn. Marian Bailey (Queen), Stella Gonet (Thatcher). Photograph by Tristram Kenton Play: Handbagged Theatre: Vaudeville Theatre Playwright: Moira Buffini Playwright: Indhu Rubasingham Review by Samantha Watson Have you ever wondered what it would be like to eavesdrop on the private conversations of two of Britain’s most iconic and influential female figures? Playwright Moira… Continue reading Handbagged