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Marie & Rosetta

With Beverley Knight, directed by Monique Touko
Fri 2 May - Sat 24 May
2 May
-
24 May

God don’t want the Devil to have all the good music right?

A Rose Theatre, Chichester Festival Theatre, and ETT production

Written by George Brant
Directed by Monique Touko

Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the roof-raising ‘godmother of rock ‘n’ roll’, influenced countless musicians from Elvis to Johnny Cash. This sparkling, intimate portrait of Rosetta and her beloved singing partner, Marie Knight, restores these forgotten musical heroines to the spotlight as one of the most remarkable and revolutionary duos in music history.

Mississippi, 1946. Sister Rosetta has changed the face of gospel music with her exuberant, electric guitar-playing style. Shunned by straitlaced church folk for performing in nightclubs and glorying in rhythm and blues, she’s persuaded the saintly young singer Marie to join her on a tour of the segregated southern States. But first she has to convert Marie’s pure Sunday sound into something that has just a little more swing…

Featuring a wealth of joyous rock and gospel hits including Didn’t It Rain and Peace in the Valley, the show will feature live musicians accompanying Olivier Award-winning West End star Beverley Knight (Memphis, The Drifters Girl, Sylvia, Sister Act) as Rosetta Tharpe.

George Brant is an award-winning American playwright whose work includes Grounded (Fringe First and Off-West End Awards).

Monique Touko, winner of the 2022 Stage Debut Award for Best Director, whose acclaimed productions include The Boy at the Back of the Class, School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play, Wedding Band and G, directs this UK premiere.

Praise for American productions:

‘Dramatically rich, musically irresistible... one powerhouse number after another.’  - Chicago Sun-Times
‘Mighty music-making... when it sings, it really swings.’ - New York Times
‘Heavenly. You don’t have to be religious to know when you’re in the presence of glory.’ - Time Out New York

Event details

Running time: Approx. 1hr 40mins (no interval)
Age guidance: 12+

Audio Described Performances: Thursday 15 May, 8pm and Saturday 17 May, 3pm
Captioned by Veronika Hyks

Captioned Performance: Saturday 24 May, 3pm
Captioning Equipment supplied by StageText.
Captioned by Geert Rigters.

“Marie and Rosetta” is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd. on behalf of Samuel French Ltd. www.concordtheatricals.co.uk