Intercultural performing arts company
Founded 2010
Co-founded in 2010 with John Agard and Grace Nichols, Crosspath aims to bridge poetry and theatre through a celebration of resonant text and orality. Fusing a range of traditions and linking cultures, Crosspath brings the communal energy of folk narrative, mythology, panto and the carnivalesque to contemporary issues and hidden histories. The company is focused particularly on adaptations of work by John Agard and Grace Nichols.
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Productions and projects to date
PUSHKIN'S HALF HOUR (2018)
Written by John Agard
Directed by Mark C. Hewitt
Whimsical whirlwind homage to mixed race Russian poet, Pushkin, in which John Agard plays all the parts. Not just Pushkin and his alter-ego Onegin, but love interest Tatyana and the old nursemaid Filipevna! With live incidental music by Sophia Poznansky (accordion) & cabaret chanteuse Pam Hewitt.
ROLL OVER ATLANTIC (2015)
Written by John Agard
Directed by Mark C. Hewitt
Satirical revisiting of the voyages of Christopher Columbus presented as a one man show by John Agard. A voyage in verse with songs, performed against an evocative soundscape of Atlantic murmurings, with Agard variously taking on the voices of Columbus, The Atlantic Ocean and The Mighty Mosquito.
Photo © François Norris, 2016
DORA vs PICASSO (2015/2018)
Written by Grace Nichols
Directed by Mark C. Hewitt
A highly theatrical multimedia production that features live flamenco music & dance alongside powerful acting and projected images. Set against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War, the work explores the intense relationship between surrealist photographer Dora Maar and painter Pablo Picasso.
Below: Cast photo © Philip James, 2018
Below: Cast photo © Philip James, 2015
BARON SAMEDI & MAMAN BRIGITTE (2014)
Written by John Agard
Directed by Marc Matthews
A cabaret play steeped in Caribbean folklore. Baron Samedi & Maman Brigitte are gatekeepers to the underworld and guardians of the souls of the dead.
PUFF (2013)
Written by John Agard
Directed by Mark C. Hewitt
A satirical imagining of the famously flirtatious romance between Elizabeth I and Sir Walter Ralegh. Puff is set in a period of Elizabethan enchantment with the wonders of the New World - in particular, tobacco - the Queen herself having been introduced to the puffing habit by the adventurer, Sir Walter Raleigh.
Below: Leann O’Kasi as Elizabeth, Christopher Paddon as Ralegh. Photo © Josh Pulman
CALIBANIA (2011)
Written by John Agard
Directed by Jeremy Stockwell
An entertaining and thought-provoking spin on The Tempest; true to the spirit of magic in Shakespeare yet bringing a modern focus to still relevant questions of language, power and difference.
Below: Peter Faulkner as President Caliban. Photo by Oscar Hewitt
THE PIED PIPER OF LONDINIUM (2010)
Written by John Agard
Directed by Rikki Tarascas
Musical direction by Peter Faulkner
A bawdy satirical comedy set in a multicultural Roman London.
Can the posh North African Romano-Brits cope with the new pagan arrivals?
What to do about the plague of rats? Who will save Londinium?
Above: poster for The Pied Piper of Londinium by ‘another fine mesh’