Actors Touring Company (ATC) have today announced that their acclaimed production of David Harris’ Tambo & Bones will return for a national tour from 7 March – 24 May 2025, following its European premiere at Stratford East in 2023. Directed by Olivier-award-winning Director, Composer and DJ Matthew Xia (Artistic Director and Joint CEO of ATC) Tambo & Bones is an Actors Touring Company, Stratford East and Royal & Derngate, Northampton Co-Production in association with Belgrade Theatre, Leeds Playhouse and Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse.
Tambo and Bones are stuck in a minstrel show.
It’s hard to know what’s real when you’re stuck in a minstrel show.
Their escape plan: get out, get rich, get even
One of the most talked-about cultural events of 2023, Tambo & Bones is an exhilarating, darkly comic and provocative satire on capitalism and black performance, that explores the commodification of the black experience through the mediums of minstrelsy, hip-hop and afro-futurism. Spanning 500 years, Tambo and Bones journey from comedy double-act, to hip-hop superstars to activists in a future America, contending with the alarming repercussions of a nation torn apart by race. Harris’ blistering play laughs through our past, blows the roof off our present and imagines an explosive future for our world and for theatre.
The production will tour to Royal & Derngate, Northampton (7 – 15 March 2025), Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse (26 – 29 March 2025), HOME Manchester (1 – 5 April 2025), Belgrade Theatre (9 – 12 April 2025), Stratford East (29 April – 11 May 2025) and Leeds Playhouse (14 – 24 May 2025). Tickets go on sale from 25 September 2024.
Completing the creative team are set and costume designers Sadeysa Greenaway-Bailey and ULTZ, with lighting design by Ciarán Cunningham, Hip-Hop Beats produced by Excalibah* and Roly Botha sound design and additional composition by Richard Hammarton, magic and illusion consultancy by Chris Cox and puppetry design by Hugh Purves.
Tambo & Bones is the latest in a series of acclaimed productions from ATC, one of the only British theatre companies dedicated to producing international plays and presenting them throughout the UK. ATC’s recently celebrated work includes The Architect (2023), Family Tree (2023) and Bodies of Water (2024).
Matthew Xia, Artistic Director and Joint CEO of ATC said, “I’m so excited that Tambo & Bones – our genre-busting headline-grabbing production – is getting a second outing. Tambo & Bones is a truly audacious satire, both ridiculous and profound, which combines my greatest passions: hip-hop and theatre, to interrogate perceptions of race in the past, present and future. There is truly no experience quite like it, I can’t wait to see how audiences in Northampton, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Coventry and London respond to this sucker punch of a play.”
Schedule:
Royal & Derngate, Northampton
Friday 7 – Saturday 15 March 2025
https://www.royalandderngate.co.uk/
Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse
Wednesday 26 – Saturday 29 March 2025
https://www.everymanplayhouse.com/
HOME Manchester
Tuesday 1 – Saturday 5 April 2025
https://homemcr.org/
Belgrade Theatre
Wednesday 9 – Saturday 12 April 2025
https://www.belgrade.co.uk/
Stratford East
Tuesday 29 April – Saturday 10 May 2025
https://www.stratfordeast.com/
Leeds Playhouse
Wednesday 14 – Saturday 24 May 2025
https://www.leedsplayhouse.org.uk/
Please check venue websites for details of show times, ticket prices and access performances.
Running Time: 2 hours inc interval, approx
Age Guidance: 14+ (This show contains sounds of gunfire, violence, ethnic violence, strong language, strong racial language and discusses themes some may find upsetting relating to race.)
