A “headline-grabbing”production that combines hip-hop and theatre is coming to Liverpool Playhouse

One of the most talked-about cultural events of 2023, Tambo & Bones comes to the Liverpool Playhouse for a strictly limited season from Wednesday 26 to Saturday 29 March. Directed by Olivier Award-winning director, composer, and DJ Matthew Xia.

Tambo & Bones is an exhilarating, darkly comic and provocative satire on capitalism and black performance. Written by spoken word poet and playwright from America, Dave Harris, it won the LA Drama Critics Award for Best New Play and was named one of TimeOut London’s Best Plays of 2023.

The story follows Tambo and Bones as they 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. Spanning 500 years of history,
The production laughs through our past, blows the roof off our present and imagines an explosive future for our world and for theatre.

Director Matthew Xia, Artistic Director and Joint CEO of ATC (Actors Touring Company) 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 it, I can’t wait to see how audiences in Liverpool respond to this sucker punch of a play.” 

Clifford Samuel (2:22 A Ghost Story, West End; McMafia, AMC/BBC) plays the role of Tambo and Daniel Ward (Cat on A Hot Tin Roof, Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester; Rebellion, RSC) reprises his role as Bones. 

A groundbreaking and satirical show, Tambo & Bones explores racism in a way that can be challenging. It contains sounds of gunfire, strong language, repeated use of a racial slur, references to ethnic violence and war crimes, and discusses themes
some may find upsetting relating to race. The age guidance is 14+.

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. On Wednesday 26 March, there will be a pre-show event before the evening performance. The event will be hosted by Nathan Powell, Creative Director of the Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse Theatres.

The event is free to attend with a ticket to the performance. Tickets for Tambo & Bones are priced from £11 to £36 and are available here.

Find out what else is coming to the stage across Liverpool here.