by Winsome Pinnock. Directed by Landé Belo
| They used to have the slave codes and now they have equality guidelines…. |
Wednesday 18 – Saturday 21 June and
Tuesday 24 – Saturday 28 June at 7.30pm
Matinées on Saturdays 21 and 28 June at 3pm
At the Tower Theatre, Stoke Newington
| Tell me what you see … A contemplation of a beautiful, yet grotesque painting, thus begins this sweeping tale of interlocking timelines, exploring identity, heritage, and the haunting legacy of slavery. It’s 2007, the bicentenary of the abolition of slavery. Hollywood ‘A Lister’, Lou, is back in England starring in a film about the transatlantic slave trade, featuring Turner’s painting, The Slave Ship. With each re-write of the script, her part is diminished, the focus shifting from the events depicted in the painting to Turner himself….. In 1840, sailor Thomas yearns for that one last voyage…but at what personal cost? Rockets and Blue Lights is a celebration of intergenerational strength, courage and resilience and rescuing stories from historical erasure. Its empowering message of hope will resonate with all audiences. |
Buy Tickets
Wednesday 18 June at 7.30pm
Thursday 19 June at 7.30pm
Friday 20 June at 7.30pm
Saturday 21 June at 3pm
Saturday 21 June at 7.30pm
Tuesday 24 June at 7.30pm
Wednesday 25 June at 7.30pm
Thursday 26 June at 7.30pm
Friday 27 June at 7.30pm
Saturday 28 June at 3pm
Saturday 28 June at 7.30pm
Join us on Saturday 21 June for a Q & A with Winsome Pinnock
There will be a Question and Answer session with Rockets and Blue Lights‘ award-winning author Winsome Pinnock immediately after the 3pm matinée performance!
It will be exclusive to the audience of this performance only … and WILL BE SOLD OUT! Book early!
Cast
Lou/Olu: Tiffany Ola
Essie/Lucy: Rinré Olusola
Trevor/Thomas: Akeem Maull-Nicol
Reuben/Caesar: Nvaron R. Anderson
Pearson/Benjamin/Clarke: Renford Warmington
J.M.W Turner/Roy/Peter Piper: Paul Kristovic
Johnson/Decker/Ruskin: Matteo Caporusso
Danby/Mary: Nina Sprigge
Meg/Vonnie: Fiona Makia
Billie: Daniel Ooko
Jeanie/Jess: Fiyin Ifebogun
Boy/Overseer/Sailor: Gareth Foynes
Other parts played by members of the cast
Production Team
Director : Landé Belo
Set Design : Jacqueline Knight
Costume Design: Laura Coulton
Lighting Design : Rob Hebblethwaite
Musical Director and Composer : Isabelle Ajani
Sound Design : Rob Ellis
Stage Manager : Norma Hewins
Assistant Director : Rebecca Dike
ASMs : Anna Kidd, Ebony Skerritt
Lighting Operator : Sophia Christafis
Wardrobe Assistant : Christine Bowmaker
Fight Directors : Richard Kirby , Lindsay Royan
Movement Director : Lydia Newman
Intimacy Coach : Elodie Foray
Accent Coaches: Landé Belo, Nancy P Touzé
PR & Marketing: Simi Belo
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Photography by Pau Ros
 This is Tiffany Ola‘s debut at the Tower Theatre. Growing up in Luton, she studied and earned a BA in Philosophy and Human Rights at the University of Essex before deciding to pursue a career in acting. She trained at the Identity School of Acting. During her time at IDSA she performed in showcases such as Romeo and Juliet and A Streetcar Named Desire. She has since gone on to work in short films and feature films. This will be her first role on stage which she is extremely excited for and is honoured to be part of the cast for Rockets and Blue Lights! |
 Rinré Olusola is an actor, writer and facilitator based in London. Rinré is a member of Go Live Theatre’s Youth Board and the National Youth theatre. She frequently reviews for A Youngish Perspective and won the Juliet Bernard Prize for Acting in 2022. She has most recently performed with SEDOS as Sofia in The Color Purple. Other credits include performing in Oxford’s Shakespeare Festival, The 25th Annual Putnam Spelling Bee, Frankenstein, Silver Lining and Carrie: the Musical. Her writing debut, Cut, Paste, Enter was performed in Modern Art Oxford in 2022 and her next play, VESSEL went on a national tour in 2023 with her production company, @dawnproductions. Rinré has recently completed a playwriting course under Mike Bartlett and is part of Talawa Theatre Introductory Writer’s Group. She has also participated in Tamasha Theatre’s first Creative Wellbeing Lab and is looking forward to assistant directing SEDOS’ production of Dreamgirls this November. This is Rinré’s first production with the Tower Theatre, and Rockets and Blue Lights is one of her favourite plays! |
 Akeem Maull-Nicol trained at Identity Drama School from 2010 to 2013. He has appeared in a Premier League Productions advert (January 2023) and is also a spoken word artist, performing across London. His poetry has taken him to the Fingal Poetry Festival in Dublin and the Southbank Centre. |
 Nvaron R. Anderson is an actor/songwriter from London who joined the Tower in 2024, following his studies at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Nvaron has accumulated vast choral experience performing in Venice, New York and Barcelona. This includes an unforgettable performance at the 2016 BBC Proms, featuring Destiny’s Child member Michelle Williams. Rockets and Blue Lights is his third show with the Tower; and he’s once again grateful for the opportunity to further his training alongside such a fantastic cast. |
 This is Renford Warmington‘s debut Tower performance; he joined as a member earlier this year. He appeared as Dr Chasuble in The Importance of Being Earnest at the White Bear Theatre for the Daybreak Production company. He has mainly worked on screen, and his credits include the T.V series Ten Percent as Polonius. Up and Down as Louw for Evolution Films (premiered in Leicester) and Stolen Dreams as Henry which premiered at Genesis Cinema, London earlier this year. Renford is thrilled to be a part of the cast of this wonderful play, Rockets and Blue Lights. |
 This is Paul Kristovic‘s debut performance at the Tower Theatre. Paul is originally from Bradford in West Yorkshire. He’s from an artistic background and has a First Class BA Hons Degree in Fine Art. Paul last performed in a short play entitled A New Leaf which he also wrote and directed. As well as acting Paul has recently been doing Stand up Comedy of an Absurdist/Alternative nature. His influences are Joe Orton, David Lynch, The Mighty Boosh and Peter Cook amongst others. |
 Matteo Caporusso is an Italian actor raised in Switzerland, making his debut performance at the Tower Theatre. A graduate of the London College of Music (2021), he can speak five languages and has built a diverse performance portfolio across stage, screen and audio. Recent credits include Ain’t I A Woman at the Collective Fringe Festival (set to tour in May), Dysart in Equus, and Richie in Audible’s The Strange Case. |
 Nina Sprigge worked in theatre throughout her 20s. Productions included Antigone, Blue Remembered Hills, Mary Rose and numerous productions with the London New Play Festival. She toured Shakespeare round German schools, ran a touring Theatre Company, and worked as an Actor-guide at the Museum of the Moving Image. After having children, she retrained as a teacher and began work in Museum and Heritage Education, including story building at Discover, playing a Victorian school teacher at The Ragged School Museum, and managing the Primary School Programme at the Museum of London for 17 years. She now works part-time facilitating primary school sessions about the Romans and the Great Fire of London. She last performed at the Tower Theatre in Telling It, in 2024. |
 This is Fiona Makia’s second performance at the Tower Theatre after appearing in After Life earlier this year. She has always been a lover of the stage; while living and working in the UAE, Fiona was very active in the expat drama scene, winning a best actress award for her role in The Polygamist during the short and sweet theatre festival held in Abu Dhabi 2018. On her return to the UK she joined Pinner Players to play the bewitching Emily in Les Liaisons Dangereuses. She also played the part of the first-aider in One Man, Two Guvnors and her most recent role was as Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit. |
 Daniel Ooko has recently joined the Tower Theatre company, and Rockets and Blue Lights is his debut performance. He trained at the National Youth Theatre, at RAaW London, and currently trains at the Collective Acting Studio. Daniel has experience on stage, screen, and in voice-over, featuring in the Minute Shorts’ short film Geraldine and in Layered Reality’s immersive theatre experience The Gunpowder Plot. He is excited to build and develop his experience, as a working actor. |
 After showing a strong interest in theatre and performance in secondary school, Fiyin Ifebogun studied BA Drama at the University of Essex. She has previously acted in short films and amateur theatre shows. In 2020, Fiyin took part in the Tower Theatre’s Virtual Tower series; she played First Man in The Chip Woman’s Fortune, Black Baby in Poker, and Second Woman in The Assembly Women. Although she has taken a break from acting for a few years, she has recently been inspired to pursue opportunities again. |
 Gareth Foynes has just joined the Tower Theatre after some time spent at the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin. Gareth has enjoyed performing in theatre while at University and he is looking forward to performing in Rockets and Blue Lights; his first show at the Tower. |
 Izzy Ajani is a pianist and musician from London. She first worked with the Tower Theatre as Musical Director and composer of Ain’t I A Woman in the summer of 2024. Izzy has performed a wide range of repertoire in various spaces over the years; from Southwark Cathedral and Wigmore Hall to the South Bank Centre and CityLit. This has influenced how she utilises music to fill a space with emotion for all audiences to experience. |
 Landé Belo has been involved in theatre for the last two decades as an actor, director, producer, sound designer, stage manager, light and sound operator, costume designer and artistic director. Her directing credits include Fix Up (2019), I can’t breathe: Being Black in a Time of Covid (2021), Mules (2021), Leave Taking (2022), The Gift (2023), Princess & The Hustler (2024) and Associate Director on The Color Purple (2024) with SEDOS.. As part of her initiative to promote black, female voices in theatre, she produced In Hiding (2023) and devised and produced Ain’t I A Woman? (2024) and won an award for Best Producer at the Black British Theatre Awards 2024. She was also nominated for Best Director and the production was nominated for Best Production at the Black British Theatre Awards 2024. |