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PROJECTS

The stories

Black Power Desk by Urielle Klein-Mekongo

Black Power Desk by Urielle Klein-Mekongo

Lesbian Pirates! by Natasha Sutton Williams
Live To Tell: (A Proposal for) The Madonna Jukebox Musical by Brian Mullin

Live To Tell: (A Proposal for) The Madonna Jukebox Musical by Brian Mullin

Very Special Guest Star by Tom Wright

Very Special Guest Star by Tom Wright

The Black Power Desk R&D cast dancing and singing in a rehearsal room at the Old Vic.

​​​PREMIERING IN 2025

Contact us for a link to the industry sharing video and an info pack.

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This UK Black British musical uses an original score of rap, grime, dancehall and soul to shine a light on a rarely explored part of Black British history. This story of belonging, set against a backdrop of 1970s Notting Hill, is inspired by the true events of London’s Black Power movement, and is an energetic call to arms against racial discrimination within the political system. 

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The show is about picking sides, loss, love and the fight against a racist and classist British system.  The score blends historical influences with the best of contemporary UK sounds. A serious message delivered via infectious beats and unforgettable hooks, with a real carnival atmosphere that has the audience on its feet.

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Co-composed by the award-winning Renell Shaw with additional lyrics and rapaturgy by Gerel Falconer. Directed by the award-winning Gbolahan Obisesan (The Last King of Scotland, Sheffield Crucible; Random, Leeds Playhouse; Cuttin' It, Young Vic, Sheffield Crucible, Birmingham Rep, Yard Theatre, Royal Court).

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Development supported by PlayWell Productions, Arts Council England, Brixton House, 1927  and Stage One.

Show poster for folk musical With Courage, showing an orange lifebelt against an ocean background.

WITH COURAGE

TOURING IN 2026

Premiered at The Other Palace in 2024.

Written to coincide with the 2024 bicentenary of the RNLI, this new folk musical draws on the stories, history and lives of the RNLI's coastal communities as a celebration and commemoration of this world-renowned organisation.

Show poster for Live To Tell: A Proposal for The Madonna Musical. Brian Mullin is on his knees, holding pill bottles under a neon image of pills and Madonna

LIVE TO TELL: (A PROPOSAL FOR) THE MADONNA JUKEBOX MUSICAL

Premiered at Omnibus Theatre and Camden People's Theatre in 2023

Trapped in a disabled body, Brian wants to reinvent himself - just like Madonna. But when real-life survival with HIV clashes with the pop musical form, things change quicker than a Ray of Light...

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For more than thirty years, Madonna has stayed on top, absorbing everything around her and endlessly replicating herself... like a retrovirus that won't go away. Brian's been living with HIV for eight years and counting, reliant on antiretroviral medications that seem to be compromising his brain. He's desperate to make something that will live forever. But before he can make his pitch to the Queen herself, he has to figure out what it really means to survive.

 

Originally developed at Pulse Festival and Yard Live Drafts, LIVE TO TELL is directed by Deirdre McLaughlin (Big Bad, In the Beginning), with digital design by Josh Anio Grigg (Fath Hope and Charity, Dirty Crusty). 

 

Supported by PlayWell Productions, BAC and artsdepot, with participation programme support from Camden People's Theatre.

A skull and crossbones on a rainbow flag

LESBIAN PIRATES!

A new musical based on the untold true story of the ruthless, maverick and lesbian pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read. These women met in the Caribbean in 1717 while cross-dressing as male pirates, fell in love, slaughtered swathes of men, stole treasure and escaped execution from the law.

 

Previously erased from history, this riotous, inspiring and incendiary female narrative uses original music and a cast of disabled performers to bring to life Anne and Mary’s sexy, violent and turbulent world.

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Development supported by Unlimited, artsdepot, Unity Theatre Trust, the High Commission for Canada in the UK, and New Wolsey Theatre Testing Ground.

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A PlayWell Productions and Working Birthday co-production.

Show poster for Very Special Guest Star: 3 actors sit on a sofa with their arms around each other, smiling at the camera

VERY SPECIAL GUEST STAR

Premiered at Omnibus Theatre in 2021

The third in Tom Wright's hugely successful coming-of-age trilogy, this is a provocative and darkly entertaining exploration of white and middle-class gay privilege.

 

Following the sold out runs of both Undetectable and My Dad’s Gap Year, this show is building to production in 2021/2, directed by Rikki Beadle-Blair MBE. Supported by PlayWell Productions and Arts Council England.

Show poster for I Ain't Dumb. A boy and a girl pose in school uniform against a backdrop of images from the city of Coventry.

Premiered at Belgrade Theatre in 2022​

This hard-hitting new play sees a proudly inclusive tough inner-city Coventry school explode into a rapidly escalating identity war. Sex secrets, hip-hop and hope fight for centre stage in this vibrant, in-yer-face, real talk rollercoaster.

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Supported by PlayWell Productions, Arts Council England and Belgrade Theatre Coventry.​

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