Audio play, Music, Drama, Theatre, Historical, Storytelling - Dunedin Fringe

Paul Robeson’s Love Song – an audio play

Tayo Aluko & Friends (Nigeria/UK)

Clearing out their late mother’s belongings, two siblings in Kenosha discover a package containing a record, suggesting a possible hidden romantic link between their grandmother and African-American singer and activist Paul Robeson, dating back to 1949. Watching coverage of protests at the latest police shooting happening in their city, they recall her story of racist, anti-Semitic and anti-Communist protests at a Robeson concert outside Peekskill, NY. The tense and uncertain run-up to the November 2020 elections reveals the best and the worst of their country in violent conflict, in a repeat of that hot summer of 1949.

This is an imagined story based around the Peekskill and Kenosha happenings.

‘A political and cultural feast, delivered with panache, humour and plenty of sumptuous baritone’ ***** (Morning Star)

‘The writing was authentic and the dialogue delivered incredibly well by the cast. [An] emotional and powerful piece of theatre’ (Number9Reviews.blogspot.com)

‘Thoroughly compelling and highly educational’ (Writebase.co.uk)

Written by | Tayo Aluko

Cast in order of appearance
Adele Spears | Ananda Bena-Weber
George Simons | Bob Weick
Paul Robeson | Tayo Aluko
Charlie Daniels | Nils Swanson
Benjamin Winger | Michael Bias
Jessica Winger | Lisa Merrill
Essie Robeson | Leslie McCurdy
Paul Robeson, Jr | Mark Atkinson
Lloyd Brown | Darryl Van Leer
Helen Rosen | Michelle Pauls
Sidney Danis | David Rovics


Pianist | Dennis Nelson
Directed by | Olusola Oyeleye

www.tayoalukoandfriends.com
www.robesonslovesong.com
www.facebook.com/TayoAlukoandFriends
www.instagram.com/tayoalukoinliverpool/

Watch Trailer

• Theatre
• £12.00
• 29 September 2022
• 56 minutes
• C ARTS | C venues | C digital
• portal – on demand
• 12+ (guidance)
• 
  Contains distressing themes, contains some anti-Semitic and racist language