A powerful production about one of the biggest moments in U.K. Black Civil Rights will be brought to the Playhouse from 3-6 April, by the U.K.’s leading black-led theatre company Eclipse.
Princess and The Hustler focuses on a family’s life during the 1963 Bristol bus boycott. Theatre company Eclipse have previously brought A Raisin in the Sun to the Playhouse in 2016.
The production is a part of Eclipse’s Revolution Mix movement, which aims to deliver new Black British productions in theatre, film and radio nationally. The movement was launched with Black Men Walking – a sell-out production that visited the Unity Theatre in 2018.
Written by Chinonyerem Odimba and directed by Dawn Walton, Princess and The Hustler follows Phyllis “Princess” James, and her family’s experiences of life of being black in 1960s Bristol.
Ten year-old Princess plans to win the Weston-Super-Mare Beauty Contest. Her busy mother works several jobs and her brother, a budding photographer, won’t even take her picture. Then The Hustler returns. With a backdrop of the British Civil Rights Movement in Bristol in 1963, Princess is set to find out what it really means to be black and beautiful.
Leading the cast as Phyllis “Princess” James is Kudzai Sitima, with Romayne Andrews as Leon, Donna Berlin as Mavis, Emily Burnett as Lorna, Seun Shote as Wendell “The Hustler”, Fode Simbo as Wendell “Junior”, and Jade Yourell as Margot.
Dawn Walton, artistic director of Eclipse, said, “The fact that we have assembled such a fantastic cast for this new play is another indication of the growing excitement that is being generated in theatre through the Revolution Mix movement. The history matters. There were colour bars openly operating in the U.K. so recently in Britain but it isn’t widely known. The actions and bravery of those involved in this protest should be celebrated across the country, and it’s incredibly important that we shine a light on the rich seam of material that completes the British story.”
Princess and the Hustler is on at the Playhouse for four performances from 3rd-6th April. Tickets are on sale now and available at: www.everymanplayhouse.com/princess-and-the-hustler or by calling 0151 709 4776.
The theatre company is also looking for members of the local community to be a part of the show and take part in the final production. You can find out more about how to get involved at: https://eclipsetheatre.org.uk/news/1466-princess-the-hustler-join-the-cast-on-stage/.