Work begins on next instalment of Sundiata Keita story!

If you saw the wonderfully uplifting and hugely popular, The Old Woman, the Buffalo and the Lion of Manding out on tour, you'll be as excited to hear as we are that Jan Blake, one of the world's leading storytellers, has been awarded a grant from Arts Council England and the National Lottery to work with Kouame Sereba, Raymond Sereba and an Adverse Camber creative team to develop the next installment of the Sundiata Keita story! Adverse Camber is commissioning Jan, Raymond and Kouame, with support from The Albany and mac birmingham, to move the story forward as Sundiata Keita, legendary leader of the Malian Empire, discovers what it means to be a leader, growing in skills, strength and wisdom whilst travelling in exile across many African kingdoms. Meanwhile Sundiata's faithful griot, Balafasake, endures an exile of his own, imprisoned by the despotic King of Sosso. The working title for this new show is, The Lion of Manding: Exile, Magic and Power, and we're keen to discover the new songs, music and passionate storytelling which will bring this magnificent African epic to life. From 3 March 2018, Jan, Raymond and Kouame are spending a week at The Albany and Canada Water Culture Space, working alongside creative team members who were part of the 'Old Woman Buffalo' journey, like Designer Matt Edwards, and Artistic Advisor Harmage Singh Kalirai as well as Adverse Camber Associate Producer Louisa Davies. They will be joined by members of the London International Gospel Choir to explore ways of interweaving Jan's vivid and dynamic storytelling with Raymond and Kouame's rich repertoire of traditional African songs and music - the gospel choir will add a whole new dynamic layer to the mix. The creative week concludes with a public performance of an extract of the new show at Canada Water Theatre on Friday 9 March, 7pm, you can book tickets on a 'pay-what-you-decide' basis here - Hatched: Jan Blake, Raymond Sereba & Kouame Sereba. We can't wait to see how this show will evolve over the coming weeks and promise to share some snippets with you along the way!