Talawa Theatre Company

rdf:langString Talawa Theatre Company

rdf:langString Talawa Theatre Company

rdf:langString Talawa Theatre Company is a Black British theatre company founded in 1986. 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. 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. Since 2011, Talawa Theatre Company has been led by CEO and Artistic Director Michael Buffong, whose career spans theatre, television, radio and film. 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." Carolyn ML Forsyth joined the organisation in November 2020 to work alongside Michael Buffong as Joint CEO and Executive Director. 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. 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. 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. The name Talawa comes from a Jamaican patois saying "Me lickle but me talawa", meaning to be small but strong.

rdf:langString Michael Buffong