Talawa mark 40 years and are painting the town Black for one night only: Showcasing Talawa's Art of Storytelling Across Four Decades.

Talawa, the UK’s leading Black British theatre company, invites you to celebrate four decades of cultural impact in a one-night-only collaboration with the award-winning 125 year old, Grade II listed Hackney Empire - "the most beautiful theatre in London." Join us on the Black carpet on Tue 13 Oct 2026 for an evening celebrating Black excellence, featuring a curated programme of live spectacle including theatre, music, dance and poetry.

The audience will be treated to excerpts and references to some of their most sensational works, including:

• The Black Jacobins (1986)

• The Importance of Being Earnest (1989)

• Antony & Cleopatra (1991)

• One Love (2001)

• Girls (2016)

• A Place for We (2021)

• Fragments of Us (2025)

Special guests will include: Josette Bushell-Mingo OBE (The Lion King, Olivier award nominee), Tameka Empson (Eastenders, Hackney Empire Pantomime since 2004), Ben Thomas, Theresa Ikoko, David Webber, Laurence Ubong Williams (The Motive and the Cue, National Theatre) and Doña Croll (Antony & Cleopatra, All My Sons) and the Poet Laureate of Jamaica Kwame Dawes.

The evening will mark one year since the passing of Talawa’s first Artistic Director and Founder, Yvonne Brewster OBE through a tribute of her work and legacy.