Cast announced for Tambo & Bones, opening at Royal & Derngate in March
Casting has just been announced for the acclaimed production of David Harris’ Tambo & Bones which will open in Northampton on the Royal stage on Friday 7 March ahead of a national tour, following its European premiere at Stratford East in 2023.
Presented as part of the Made in Northampton season and 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.
Clifford Samuel (2:22 A Ghost Story, McMafia) will play the role of Tambo and Daniel Ward (Cat on A Hot Tin Roof, Rebellion) will reprise his role as Bones.
Clifford Samuel said: “Stepping into the role of Tambo is both a thrilling challenge and a privilege. Collaborating with such an extraordinary team fuels my passion for the craft. I’m eager to witness how audiences engage with the story and the production we’ve brought to life.”
Daniel Ward added: “The transitory nature of theatre means we do our best as artists to create moments that resonate with people and live long in their memories. Sometimes that happens, often it doesn't. But with T&B people have never stopped asking me about it. More than just ask - people have wanted to debate, dissect and argue. They have passionately told me all the ways in which the show moved them. They have told me that they have never forgotten the show and never will. What is special about returning is honouring those experiences and what is exciting is the opportunity to create new memories with new audiences that hopefully last a lifetime.”
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.
After opening in Northampton, from 7 to 15 March, the production tours to Liverpool, Manchester, Coventry, Stratford East and Leeds.
Director Matthew Xia 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 this show, I can’t wait to see how audiences in Northampton, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Coventry and London respond to this sucker punch of a play.”
Tickets for the Northampton dates can be booked at www.royalandderngate.co.uk or by calling Box Office on 01604 624811.
The Made in Northampton season is sponsored by Michael Jones Jeweller.