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Talawa Theatre Company
Formation
1986; 38 years ago (1986)
Type
Theatre group
Artistic director(s)
Michael Buffong
Website
www.talawa.com
Talawa Theatre Company is a Black British theatre company founded in 1986.[1][2]
The core of Talawa's work is championing reinterpretations of classic plays, developing new writing and directing talent, and developing and producing new plays from and about the Black British Community and Caribbean and African diaspora within Britain.[2][3][4][5]
Talawa Theatre Company is a National Portfolio Organisation, supported by funding from Arts Council England in recognition of consistently high-quality artistic work, and was one of very few organisations to receive an uplift in its grant for the period between 2018 and 2022 in recognition for its audience development.[6][7][8]
Since 2011, Talawa Theatre Company has been led by CEO and Artistic Director Michael Buffong, whose career spans theatre, television, radio and film.[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]
In February 2019, Buffong announced plans for a 200-seat on-site performance space at Croydon's Fairfield Halls, describing the move as enabling the organisation to "make outstanding work which will truly diversify and shape the cultural life of the whole country."[19][20][21] Carolyn ML Forsyth joined the organisation in November 2020 to work alongside Michael Buffong as Joint CEO and Executive Director.[22][23][24][18][25]
Talawa's 2021 season, coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic, highlighted a mix of livestreamed work and online workshops gradually building towards live performance later in the year.[26][27]
Following the Covid-19 pandemic, and along with all Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisations, Talawa was granted an additional year's grant extension to ensure stability.[28] The 2023-2026 investment programme from Arts Council England ensured that Talawa retained its NPO status with an enhanced grant in view of its audience development and community engagement activity.[29][30]
The name Talawa comes from a Jamaican patois saying "Me lickle but me talawa",[31] meaning to be small but strong.[4][32][33]
^"Black & Asian Performance in Britain 1970 onwards - Talawa Theatre Company". V&A.
^ ab"Records of Talawa Theatre Company, 1962-2007", Victoria and Albert Museum: Theatre Collections.
^Kolawole, Helen (26 July 2003). "Look who's taking the stage". The Guardian.
^ ab"New Black theatre companies", Moving Here – Migration histories.
^"Homepage". Talawa.
^"Case Study - Talawa Theatre Company". The Audience Agency.
^"Museums, libraries, artforms and the National Portfolio | Arts Council England". Artscouncil.org.uk. 3 July 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
^"The Editor's View: No alarms and no surprises in NPO funding - Opinion". The Stage. 27 June 2017.
^"Michael Buffong: 'Putting black actors on stage is the easy bit' - Interviews". The Stage. 28 March 2016.
^Woolman, Natalie (13 October 2011). "Michael Buffong appointed Talawa artistic director". The Stage.
^Gardner, Lyn (9 June 2015), "Do we need diversity quotas for theatre?", The Guardian.
^Snow, Georgia (5 June 2015), "Michael Buffong: 'Use diversity quotas or nothing will change'", The Stage.
^"Bringing Black into the Theatre Mainstream" (Michael Buffong profile), Arts Industry (AI), 16 December 2012.
^Bano, Tim (29 July 2020). "Michael Buffong: 'This has to be a moment of absolute change, of reset'". The Stage.
^"Oliver: Lagos To London". Media Centre. BBC. March 2020.
^"Talawa Stories | Three new audio dramas from Talawa Theatre Company and feral inc. for BBC Radio 4". Talawa.
^"BBC Radio 4 and Talawa Theatre Company showcase three new audio dramas by rising talents". Media Centre. BBC. 23 April 2021.
^ abAkbar, Arifa (26 March 2021). "Talawa theatre company: 'It's time to double down on Black Lives Matter pledges'". The Guardian.
^Brown, Mark (19 February 2019). "Head of Talawa theatre company criticises lack of diversity in arts". The Guardian.
^Snow, Georgia (20 February 2019). "Talawa to become resident company at Croydon's Fairfield Halls". The Stage.
^Wainwright, Oliver (18 September 2019). "From Basil Brush to Broadway: how Fairfield Halls came back from panto hell". The Guardian.
^"NEWS: Talawa Theatre Company Announces Senior Team". Love London Love Culture. 28 September 2020.
^"Talawa Theatre Company announces enhanced senior leadership team". ArtsPod. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
^"Talawa Theatre Company Announces Enhanced Senior Leadership Team". Broadway World. 28 September 2020.
^"Talawa: To build back better, theatre must empower Black artists and leaders". The Stage. 1 April 2021.
^"Talawa's 2021 Season Announcement". Talawa.
^Bosanquet, Theo (8 June 2021). "New Talawa season marks company's 35th anniversary". WhatsOnStage.
^"Requirements of funded organisations". Arts Council England. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
^"2023-26 Investment Programme". Arts Council England. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
^"NPO decisions rewarded diverse organisations, but was it enough?". The Stage. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
^"Our Story", Talawa website.
^Obano, Nisha, "Talawa Theatre Company". Encyclopedia of AfroEuropean Studies.
^Thompson, Tosin (2 March 2021). "Interview | Yvonne Brewster: 'I wasn't going to faff around the edges of the fringe'". The Guardian.
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including, The Lyric Theatre Hammersmith, The Unicorn Theatre, Half Moon Theatre, TalawaTheatreCompany, Oily Cart, and Theatre Centre. Coelho is also...
film Tulip Fever. Most recently Yerolemou played The Fool in the TalawaTheatreCompany and Royal Exchange Manchester co-production of King Lear, with Don...
would never want to see in any other human being, ever." In 2016, TalawaTheatreCompany and Royal Exchange Manchester co-produced a production of King Lear...
Blame made its début in Nigeria in 1968. The play was revived by TalawaTheatreCompany in a well received production in 1989, sparking interest in the...
episode 17.2 "Murder by Magic". In 2016, Ayres joined the cast of the TalawaTheatreCompany and Royal Exchange Manchester co-production of King Lear. The Daily...
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