Blaze FM brings an explosive mix of theatre, Grime, Garage, Drill and Jungle to Coventry for Black History Month 2026, following its acclaimed debut at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2025.
Created by The Big House, the production takes audiences inside Blaze FM, a fictional pirate radio station broadcasting from a rundown council flat in Hackney. At the centre of the story is a group of young people using music and radio to speak honestly about the world around them, while fighting to protect the culture they are helping to create.
The production explores the foundations of Grime and the importance of pirate radio in giving young Black British artists a platform at a time when mainstream broadcasters often ignored their music. It also reflects the pressures faced by Black music scenes, from signal shutdowns and court orders to wider attempts to control or marginalise emerging forms of cultural expression.
Blaze FM is co-written by acclaimed Grime MC Jammz and playwright James Meteyard, whose previous work includes Electrolyte, and is directed by The Big House Artistic Director Maggie Norris.
The Big House works with care-experienced young people and creates theatre shaped by the lived experiences of its members. Its productions aim to challenge the systems that have failed them while giving young performers and creatives a platform to tell their own stories.
Blaze FM combines fast-paced performance, music and political theatre to explore identity, community, inequality, creativity and resistance. At the same time, it celebrates the cultural impact of Black British music and the communities that helped shape some of the country’s most influential contemporary sounds.
The production has received strong reviews, with critics praising its energy, lyricism, authenticity and political impact.
Audiences attending the performance on Wednesday 7th October are also invited to stay after the show for a special Q&A session.
Blaze FM is at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry on Wednesday 7th and Thursday 8th October 2026, with performances beginning at 7:45pm.
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