Louder, Larger and Electric: Brixton Calling Returns - Press Announcement

WRITTEN BY ALEX URWIN. DIRECTED BY BRONAGH LAGAN

● BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND. Brixton Calling returns for a seven-week run, transferring to The Large auditorium at Southwark Playhouse Borough.

● A REMARKABLE TRUE STORY. Inspired by Simon Parkes’ best-selling Memoir Live At The Brixton Academy.

● AN AWARD-WINNING CREATIVE TEAM. Originating producers Kick It Anywhere join forces with multi-award-winning producers Katy Lipson (KENREX) and Guy James, reuniting with acclaimed director Bronagh Lagan (Flowers for Mrs Harris, Cruise).

● SONIC POWERHOUSE SEAN GREEN (SYLVIA, MJ THE MUSICAL, GET UP STAND UP!) joins the creative line-up.

● TICKETS GO ON SALE 15 OCTOBER. AVAILABLE FROM £10.

Making a triumphant return following a sensational sold-out 2025 debut, Brixton Calling by writer Alex Urwin returns to the London stage in January 2027. Originating producers Kick It Anywhere are now joined by Aria Entertainment's Katy Lipson (the multi-award-winning producer behind two-time Olivier Award-winning hit KENREX), and new co-producer Guy James Theatrical. The play opens from 22 January to 13 March 2027. Press Night is on 27 January 2027 at 7pm.

Acclaimed director Bronagh Lagan (Flowers for Mrs Harris, Cruise) returns to helm this amplified vision which will be bigger, bolder, and significantly louder, ready to blow the roof off the Large auditorium at Southwark Playhouse Borough. This new staging follows a sell-out run where the play was crowned with the most wins of any single production at the 2026 Off West End Awards, clean-sweeping Best Overall Production, Best Lighting Design, and Best Sound and Music Design; a WhatsOnStage Award nomination, nine Fringe Theatre Awards, and an Ilfeld Prize for Playwriting shortlisting.

Inspired by Simon Parkes’ bestselling memoir Live at the Brixton Academy, Brixton Calling is a wild, deeply personal, and remarkable true story of rock ‘n’ roll survival. In 1983, Parkes was a 23-year-old outsider who bought a derelict Brixton cinema for just £1 and called it The Brixton Academy. Ten years later, he had transformed it into the world-famous music venue that changed British music forever.

Reprising their powerhouse roles, for which they won Off West End Awards for Best Sound and Music, are actor-musicians Max Runham (Mother Courage and Her Children, Shakespeare's Globe) and Tendai Humphrey Sitima (A Strange Loop, Barbican/West End). Trading lightning-fast dialogue while seamlessly shredding on guitars, the pair capture the true riotous spirit of the music scene. Their performance honours the deep bond between Simon Parkes and Johnny Lawes, the kindred spirits who built the iconic South London venue from the ground up. Accompanying the duo on stage is stellar musician Nadine Lee (Self Esteem, Lizzo, Stormzy, National Theatre’s Wuthering Heights). Lee’s addition injects a surge of live gig energy blurring the line between theatre and a raw concert experience.

Simon Parkes says: “Seeing my life and the wild history of the Brixton Academy explode onto the stage during the 2025 run was incredibly surreal. As someone who also navigates the world with one arm, seeing Max bring that same physical reality to the stage adds an undeniable level of authenticity. He creates an instant, powerful connection to the story. Both Max and Tendai are spectacular and I can't wait to see this larger, louder version blow audiences away.”

Music is the heartbeat of this story. Driven by an electrifying live soundtrack, this experience celebrates Brixton Academy's sonic history, blasting out seminal hits from The Clash, Blondie, Bob Marley, Bruce Springsteen, Fela Kuti, Billy Ocean, and The Prodigy. To recreate the epic scale of the legendary venue, the production enlists West End maestro Sean Green (Sylvia, Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York), MJ the Musical, Get Up Stand Up!) as musical supervisor.

Katy Lipson (KENREX at Southwark Playhouse Borough, The Other Palace, and Off-Broadway, as well as the Olivier-nominated Cruise at the Duchess Theatre) who reunites with Cruise director Bronagh Lagan on this production, adds: “I was completely struck by the raw, kinetic energy of the original run produced by Alex and Kick It Anywhere. This new production offers the perfect opportunity to bring the show to a grander canvas. By upscaling Brixton Calling to Southwark’s The Large auditorium, we are giving this incredible team the space to amplify everything that made it a hit. It’s exactly the kind of bold, high-octane theatre we pride ourselves on championing.”

The production will again be collaborating with grassroots groups across South London, including Raw Material Music, a vital community music and creative arts centre and with The Soulstice Collective, a community-focused music, events, and apparel organisation, to shine a light on the next generation of creative talent.

-ENDS-

Awards and accolades for the 2025 run include

• 2026 Off West End Awards: Winner of Best Overall Production, Best Lighting Design, and Best Sound and Music Design (recording the highest number of wins for any single production that year).
• What’s On Stage Awards: Nominated for Best Studio Production.
• Fringe Theatre Awards: Received 9 nominations across multiple categories.

★★★★★ "A night out... life-affirming entertainment." The Arts Desk ★★★★★ "An electric retelling driven by talent, creativity, and heart." LondonTheatre1 ★★★★ "Hugely enjoyable gig theatre." The Stage ★★★★ "Passionate and powerful... you're sure to find something to love." Broadway World ★★★★ "An essential and invigorating piece of London history." All That Dazzles

Praise for Simon Parkes’ 2014 best-selling memoir Live at the Brixton Academy: A riotous life in the music business ‘The king of gigs’, The Sunday Times

‘Full of raucous tales’, The Independent

‘Parkes has some astonishing and revealing stories to tell’, The Bookbag

‘London is a city of countless music venues but in my eyes playing Brixton was the true sign of a successful band. I've been fortunate enough to play there a number of times now, firstly as part of the NME Awards tour but subsequently as the headline act - and the feeling of prestige never gets old’ Russell Lissack, Bloc Party

‘Brixton was always the one. It was so authentic as a venue, it's when things became 'real'. A proper old Victorian beer hall of a place with a century's sweat and ale steeped into the woodwork and plaster, and the faded glamour of that mighty proscenium arch. The first time I stood on that stage was in The Libertines supporting Morrissey. All my life I'd wanted to be an actor playing to an adoring theatre crowd, and here I was in front of a sea of stony faces with beer cans bouncing off my head.’ Carl Barat, The Libertines

Cast Max Runham: Simon Parkes and multi-rolling characters Tendai Humphrey Sitima: Johnny Lawes and multi-rolling characters Nadine Lee: On stage musician

Creatives Playwright: Alex Urwin Director: Bronagh Lagan Set & Costume Designer: Nik Corrall Lighting: Derek Anderson Sound: Max Pappenheim AV Designer: Matt Powell Musical Supervisor: Sean Green Producers: Kick It Anywhere, Aria Entertainment and Guy James Gabbie Sills: General Manager (Seventh Productions)