‘As soon as people hear our postcode, we get labelled. That is the hardest thing living on the estate – that label.’ 

A powerful new verbatim play foregrounding the voices of a community fighting to be heard.   

A retired ballerina finds herself suddenly homeless. At university, a youth worker struggles against stereotypes. Resident ‘007’ can’t get the council to listen to them, and NJ dreams of being allowed to play the African Drums. 

Putting the voices from Islington’s Andover Estate centre stage, The Talking Drum is a captivating portrait of a vast and diverse neighbourhood.  

A blend of theatre, grassroots storytelling and digital media, the interwoven stories spanning more than 50 years offer an urgent and deeply personal counter-narrative to decades of negative media portrayal. The production explodes assumptions about class and identity to ask: what does community mean to residents now? 

Created from interviews conducted by a project team led by Professor John Gabriel with Dr Alya Khan and Gulser Rose Kaya (London Metropolitan University), adapted by writer-director Tony Graham.  

 

Presented by Park Theatre, London Metropolitan University and the Andover Estate Community Centre.  

  • Evenings

    19.00

    Thu & Sat

    15.15

  • Duration

    90 mins (no interval)

  • Tickets

    £25

  • Genre

    Drama

  • Content warnings

    Contains strong language; reference to domestic violence; discussion of violence and racism; use of racist language; brief reference to sexual assault; discussion of mental illness and drug addiction. Also contains loud noises, moments of flashing lights and some audience participation.