Play On! at Liverpool Playhouse
Kristy Stott, Theatre Editor
Be transported to 1940s New York for an eagerly anticipated and stylish retelling of Twelfth Night. Boasting a magnificent creative team – with Talawa’s Artistic Director, Michael Buffong (All My Sons and Guys and Dolls, Talawa and the Royal Exchange) at the helm – Play On! is a new jazz-fuelled musical based on the much-loved Shakespearean comedy.
The show embarks on a UK tour from September 2024 until February 2025, and luckily for us Northerners, stops off at Liverpool Playhouse for seven spectacular performances this autumn.
Set within the soulful scene of New York’s Cotton Club, Play On! tells the story of Vy, a talented songwriter looking to make it big on the 1940s Harlem scene. When her uncle Jester expresses that women will never be taken seriously in a man’s world, Vy refuses to accept defeat. Meeting club owner The Duke and sensational nightclub singer Lady Liv, she is swept into a wild and entertaining world of melodies, mistaken identities and romance. What does it take for a woman to make it in a man’s world?
Joyous, sassy and boasting a thrilling soundtrack, Play On! is brought to Liverpool Playhouse by Talawa, the UK’s outstanding Black theatre company, and The Belgrade Theatre. Directed by the consistently brilliant Michael Buffong, the show blends Duke Ellington’s timeless, toe-tapping musical score with sharp, street dance-inspired movement by Kenrick Sandy (Free Your Mind, Aviva Studios).
The super talented cast are all set to deliver too with Tsemaye Bob-Egbe (SIX The Musical and Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, West End) taking the role of Viola; Kori Hedgemon (Hairspray, Pratville Theatre) as Lady Liv, and Earl Gregory (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, West End) as The Duke. The outstanding cast is completed by Llewellyn Jamal, Cameron Bernard Jones, Lifford Shillingford, Tanya Edwards and Gleanne Purcell-Brown, and an expressive ensemble of eight.
Play On! is a show that should definitely be on your radar. Don’t miss out when it dazzles in Liverpool this September.
