A new musical about a group of Black British activists who were targeted by the state comes to the region this month. Black Power Desk shines light on a little-known period of British history but also has ramifications for the present day, as the show’s rapperturg, Gerel Falconer, explains to What’s On...

Inspired by Black British activists who were tried for inciting a riot during a protest against police brutality, new musical Black Power Desk takes a fascinating look at a period of British history that has remained relatively, as well as surprisingly, unknown in the 50-plus years since the events took place.

Billed as the first ever British Black History musical, the show takes its title from the real-life undercover surveillance unit that operated out of New Scotland Yard in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The drama is also partly based on the Mangrove Nine, a group of Black British activists tried for inciting a riot while demonstrating against the police’s targeting of a Caribbean restaurant and community hub in Notting Hill that was run by a civil rights activist.

Taking place in the year after the trial, the musical is a fictional drama revolving around two sisters and set against the backdrop of real-life events and figures from the Black British civil rights movement in early-1970s London. The show was originally envisaged as a factual recounting of the trial, but ethical concerns about having the right to tell someone else’s story led playwright Urielle Klein-Mekongo and dramaturg Gail Babb to develop their own reimagining of what went on after.

Gerel Falconer, the show’s rapperturg - a combination of rap lyricist and dramaturg - as well as one of its nine-strong cast, says putting the two sisters front and centre was a nod to two key female figures: Althea Jones-LeCointe, head of the Black British Power movement, and Barbara Beese, a high-profile member of British Black Panthers.

“Urielle’s reasoning is that it was historically accurate,” says Gerel. “She thought it was very important to make sure they are the centrepiece of our equivalent to their story. Ours is historical fiction - our play exists in the same world as the Mangrove Nine, but we are telling a separate fictional story that sits alongside what was going on at the time.”

Those real-life events and the story of the British Black Power movement remain a little-known part of British history, and something that even Klein-Mekongo was initially unaware of.

“An American asked her and she didn’t know,” says Gerel. “She did a lot of research into Black British history and the British Black Panthers and all these movements that were coming through at the time that’s not taught in schools. Sometimes you hear about American civil rights movements, but not really the British equivalent. I had to do a lot of research too, both as a lyricist and an actor, in order to work out what was going on at the time.”

What was going on was pretty dark, he says.

“It was pretty intense - Teddy Boys, racial tensions and police harassment were all very prevalent, so the community had a lot to deal with. There was also a second generation of the British black community coming up - people that were born here but whose family had travelled over from the Caribbean - who were working out who they were. They were born in England but weren’t seen as English. They were told to go back home, but they only knew England, so there was a bit of an identity crisis going on.”

With so many elements in the mix, how did the writers find an angle or focus for the piece, and was making it relevant to contemporary society an important part of their thinking?

“It’s about activism and the idea of fighting for what you believe in - and the fight being systemic oppression, in this case that was the police force. And we wanted to see how that transcends generationally.”

Is that why the play’s title is primarily Power, since the other two words contain a strike-through on posters and other promotional materials?

“Yeah, it’s about power and the empowerment of a community to understand the education needed to stand up for themselves. What’s interesting is that, back then, there was a lot more education on the relevant rights and laws for people to fight their cause. For me, the idea of black and power is all about self-empowerment and how knowledge is power.

“It was mostly about equality, and that’s a fair fight, right? Surely everyone wants an equal and just world.”
Modern (populist) politics and the ongoing rise of the far right would suggest otherwise, making the play feel sadly prescient.

“Yeah, it feels like history is almost coming full circle in that sense. Back then it was the Teddy Boys. It’s important for communities to stand up against bigotry, racism and hatred - like people trying to attack immigrants. We have to make a stand against those things. I think that’s why the play is relevant and powerful.”

Any sort of production that has genuine heft and something important to say will always face the challenge of attracting wider audiences - so had the creators been concerned about the show coming across as ‘right on’ rather than entertaining?

“It’s a musical for a reason - we want people to not just deal with the weight of the fight and the battle, but also understand that there’s a joy in the community spirit aspect of it.

“The music at the time was phenomenal - despite being righteous and conscious, you could still dance to it. That’s something we really wanted to bring across - so it’s not about the weight.”

The show’s music is wide-ranging. It includes soulful lover’s rock, RnB, reggae, dub, soca (‘soul of calypso’, which originated in Trinidad & Tobago in the 1970s) and even punk, plus the raps that Gerel has put together, alongside musical composer Renell Shaw, to give it all a modern twist.

“It’s a fusion of period music and modern flows - rhythm of speech, however you want to describe it. The way rapperturgy works is that I’ll have a scene, and I’ll turn it into verse, rap the verse, and set it to music. My job is to translate the narrative beats, as well as the characters’ thought processes and intentions, into lyrical storytelling and then set it to music.”

And this is very much music with a message.

“Absolutely. It’s a call to arms for people to empower themselves and understand that knowledge is beautiful, powerful, and can actually cause change. [The show] is not heavy; it’s about how we come together and celebrate our similarities, rather than bear the weight of our differences.”

Black Power Desk shows at Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, on Tuesday 14 October, and then at Birmingham Hippodrome from Wednesday 22 to Saturday 25 October.

By Steve Adams