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Small Island

adapted by Helen Edmundson
based on the novel by Andrea Levy

24 February to 30 April 2022
Running Time: 3 hours 5 mins inc a 20 min interval

Olivier Theatre

Small Island poster. A photo of Leonie Elliott, cropped to the shape of Jamaica, surrounded by sea
5 star rating

Epic and inspiring. Small Island has found its ideal home.

Daily Telegraph
5 star rating

Extraordinary. A spectacular adaptation of Andrea Levy's Windrush novel.

Observer
5 star rating

Effortlessly enjoyable and everything a show should be. It speaks to all of us, today

Metro
5 star rating

A wonderful production.

Mail on Sunday
5 star rating

A tremendous, tragi-comic dance through a pivotal moment in British history.

The Telegraph
5 star rating

A triumphant, huge-hearted epic

i
5 star rating

vital and engrossing

Broadway World
5 star rating

Utterly sensational – an engrossing, all-embracing piece of theatre.

What's On Stage
4 star rating

A superb new cast show this story of love, war and racial prejudice has earned its place in the National Theatre pantheon

The Guardian
4 star rating

Balances fragile intimacy and sweeping breadth

Evening Standard
4 star rating

Lavish and moving

Time Out
3 star rating

there's much to savour

The Times

Small Island

The acclaimed, five-star production of Andrea Levy's prize-winning novel, Small Island, returns.

Hortense yearns for a new life away from rural Jamaica, Gilbert dreams of becoming a lawyer and Queenie longs to escape her Lincolnshire roots.

Small Island follows their lives through the Second World War until the arrival of HMT Empire Windrush at Tilbury, where hopes for the future soon meet the stubborn reality of post-war Britain.

Adapted by Helen Edmundson and directed by Rufus Norris, this 'resonant, funny and moving' (★★★★★ Mail on Sunday) play brings to life the tangled history of Jamaica and the UK.

 

Please note: This production contains strobe-like effects. As part of depicting the experience of Jamaican immigrants to Britain after the Second World War, at times characters in the play use language which is racially offensive; for more information please contact us via our Help centre.

Supported by the Garfield Weston Foundation through the Weston Culture Fund

 

Garfield Weston Foundation logo
 

The reopening of the Olivier theatre is generously supported by Areté Foundation / Betsy & Ed Cohen

Small Island 2022 production photos

Small Island 2022 production photo of Leonie Elliott

Photo by Johan Persson

Small Island 2022 production photo of Leonie Elliott, David Webber, Sandra James-Young, Flo Wilson and Elliot Barnes-Worrell, gathered round a dining table

Photo by Johan Persson

Small Island 2022 production photo of Leemore Marrett Jr and Courtney Winston in front of a large recruitment poster for the second World War

Photo by Johan Persson

Small Island 2022 production photo of Elliot Barnes-Worrell and Leonie Elliott

Photo by Johan Persson

Small Island 2022 production photo of Adan Ewan and Stephanie Jacob dressed for butchering

Photo by Johan Persson

Small Island 2022 production photo of Mirren Mack trying on clothes before a row of mirrors

Photo by Johan Persson

Small Island 2022 production photo of Mirren Mack and Rachel Lumberg in a sweet shop

Photo by Johan Persson

Small Island 2022 production photo of Leonie Elliott in silhouette against a projection of storm swept palm trees

Photo by Johan Persson

Small Island 2022 production photo of Alicia McKenzie and Leemore Marrett Jr, dancing together

Photo by Johan Persson

Small Island 2022 production photo of Mirren Mack and Martin Hutson, sat apart on a park bench

Photo by Johan Persson

Small Island 2022 production photo of Mirren Mack and cast members sat on a row of chairs with an image projected on a screen behind them, as if in a cinema

Photo by Johan Persson

Small Island 2022 production photo of Leemore Marrett Jr sat in an armchair in his lodgings, with Leonie Elliott standing at a sink, upstage

Photo by Johan Persson

Small Island 2022 production photo of Elliot Barnes-Worrell

Photo by Johan Persson

Small Island 2022 production photo of Leonie Elliott

Photo by Johan Persson

Small Island 2022 production photo of Leonie Elliott, David Webber, Sandra James-Young, Flo Wilson and Elliot Barnes-Worrell, gathered round a dining table

Photo by Johan Persson

Small Island 2022 production photo of Leemore Marrett Jr and Courtney Winston in front of a large recruitment poster for the second World War

Photo by Johan Persson

Small Island 2022 production photo of Elliot Barnes-Worrell and Leonie Elliott

Photo by Johan Persson

Small Island 2022 production photo of Adan Ewan and Stephanie Jacob dressed for butchering

Photo by Johan Persson

Small Island 2022 production photo of Mirren Mack trying on clothes before a row of mirrors

Photo by Johan Persson

Small Island 2022 production photo of Mirren Mack and Rachel Lumberg in a sweet shop

Photo by Johan Persson

Small Island 2022 production photo of Leonie Elliott in silhouette against a projection of storm swept palm trees

Photo by Johan Persson

Small Island 2022 production photo of Alicia McKenzie and Leemore Marrett Jr, dancing together

Photo by Johan Persson

Small Island 2022 production photo of Mirren Mack and Martin Hutson, sat apart on a park bench

Photo by Johan Persson

Small Island 2022 production photo of Mirren Mack and cast members sat on a row of chairs with an image projected on a screen behind them, as if in a cinema

Photo by Johan Persson

Small Island 2022 production photo of Leemore Marrett Jr sat in an armchair in his lodgings, with Leonie Elliott standing at a sink, upstage

Photo by Johan Persson

Small Island 2022 production photo of Elliot Barnes-Worrell

Photo by Johan Persson

Connecting Cultures with the Cast of Small Island (2022)

What does your culture mean to you?

More info

Ticket prices

Monday - Thursday evenings and all matinees:
£86, £66, £56, £46, £36, £20

Friday & Saturday evenings:
£89, £69, £59, £49, £39, £20

Cast

Darrel Bailey portrait
Swing
Darrel Bailey
Elliot Barnes-Worrell portrait
Michael
Elliot Barnes-Worrell
Woman
Chereen Buckley
Cavan Clarke portrait
Kip
Cavan Clarke
Leonie Elliott portrait
Hortense
Leonie Elliott
Adam Ewan portrait
Mr Buxton
Adam Ewan
Arthur
David Fielder
Mrs Ryder
Amy Forrest
Soames / Officer
Andrew Frame
Martin Hutson portrait
Bernard
Martin Hutson
Stephanie Jacob portrait
Mrs Buxton / Mrs Todd
Stephanie Jacob
Sandra James-Young portrait
Miss Jewel
Sandra James-Young
CJ Johnson portrait
Usherette
CJ Johnson
Franny
Rebecca Lee
Rachel Lumberg portrait
Aunt Dorothy
Rachel Lumberg
Mirren Mack portrait
Queenie
Mirren Mack
Leemore Marrett Jr portrait
Gilbert
Leemore Marrett Jr
Alicia McKenzie portrait
Celia
Alicia McKenzie
Male Ensemble
Daniel Norford
Tom Page portrait
G.I. / Ensemble
Tom Page
Virginia Thompson portrait
Swing
Virginia Thompson
David Webber portrait
Mr Philip
David Webber
Marcel White portrait
Male Ensemble
Marcel White
Flo Wilson
Miss Ma / Ensemble
Flo Wilson
Courtney Winston photo portrait
Elwood
Courtney Winston

Production team

Photo of Leonie Elliott by Franklyn Rodgers

The footage used in the production, from 'Terminus 1961' and 'West Indies Calling', is Crown copyright and is reproduced with the permission of The British Film Institute under delegated authority from The Keeper of Public Records.

 All other archive footage courtesy of British Pathé.

Help Centre

For general ticket information

Browse the frequently asked questions for tickets

For general ticket information

Browse the frequently asked questions for tickets

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