Black Men Walking at Oldham Coliseum
Kristy Stott, Theatre Editor
Black Men Walking, conceived by Eclipse Theatre Company, returns for a second UK tour following its huge sell-out success last year. Rambling into Oldham Coliseum, Black Men Walking is a new play inspired by a Sheffield-based Black men’s walking group. With an original soundtrack by Testament – witty and accomplished – the vivid storytelling is as dramatic as the landscape the group walks through.
A bold and ambitious exploration of what it means to be both Black and British today.
On the first Saturday of every month, a group of Black men meet to ramble through the Peak District. Taking in Yorkshire’s breathtaking landscape – it’s a way of escaping the day to day, making new friends and sharing their identity as Black and British together. Talking about their own personal life experiences, they discuss stories of the Black people who walked Yorkshire long before them.
On this particular Saturday, the rest of the group cancel – leaving just Thomas, Matthew and Richard to ramble through the rugged Yorkshire countryside. Walking for health, well-being and friendship – the men find themselves compelled to walk back through two thousand years of history before they can start to move forward. Black Men Walking is a bold and ambitious exploration of what it means to be both Black and British today.
Directed by Dawn Walton, Black Men Walking is part of Revolution Mix – an initiative to place the Black narrative at the fore of British Theatre. Eclipse Theatre Company are pleased to be at the fore of the scheme, spearheading the largest ever national delivery of new Black British productions in regional theatres.
The issue of diversity in the arts has never been more urgent – dedicated to the Black men’s walking group that inspired it – this is a much needed, influential show which seeks to illuminate Britain’s important and missing histories.
