The production, adapted for the stage by Helen Edmundson, is a co-production between Leeds Playhouse, Birmingham Rep and Nottingham Playhouse, in association with Actors Touring Company. It opens at Leeds Playhouse in March 2026 before transferring to Birmingham and Nottingham later in the spring.
#Set between Jamaica and Britain, Small Island tells the intertwined stories of four characters whose lives are shaped by war, migration and the collapse of empire. Hortense and Gilbert leave Jamaica after the Second World War in search of opportunity and dignity in Britain, while Queenie, an Englishwoman, and her husband Bernard struggle to adapt to a country undergoing social and cultural change.
Matthew Xia described the project as a deeply personal creative journey. Speaking ahead of rehearsals, he said he was looking forward to working with “a talented, courageous and empathetic” group of artists to explore the story beyond nostalgia and heritage.
“I want audiences to feel the elemental force of this story,” Xia said. “The power of a Caribbean hurricane set against the post-war austerity of a Britain clinging to empire. But I also want them to feel the hope that drives people across oceans in search of belonging.”
The cast is led by Anna Crichlow as Hortense and Daniel Ward as Gilbert, with Bronté Barbé playing Queenie and Mark Arends as Bernard. CBBC presenter Rhys Stephenson makes his professional theatre debut as Michael. The company also includes Paul Hawkyard, Rosemary Boyle, Marcia Mantack, Everal A Walsh, Andre Squire, Mara Allen, Zoe Lambert, Toby Webster, Phil Yarrow and Jordan Laviniere.
The creative team includes set and costume designer Simon Kenny, lighting designer Ciaràn Cunningham, movement and intimacy director Asha Jennings-Grant, voice and dialect coach Hazel Holder, fight director Kev McCurdy and composer Luke Bacchus, alongside music mentor Ben Kwasi Burrell and video designer Gino Green.
First published in 2004, Small Island won the Orange Prize for Fiction and the Whitbread Book of the Year, and has become one of the most widely read novels exploring the Windrush generation and post-war Britain. Edmundson’s stage adaptation brings the story to life through music, movement and striking visual design, drawing on calypso rhythms alongside the harsher realities of life in 1940s London.
The production runs at Leeds Playhouse from 11 to 28 March, before performances at Birmingham Rep from 1 to 18 April and Nottingham Playhouse from 28 April to 16 May. A range of access performances, including captioned, audio described and BSL-interpreted shows, will be available across the tour.
Listings information
Small Island
By Andrea Levy
Adapted for the stage by Helen Edmundson
Directed by Matthew Xia
A Leeds Playhouse, Birmingham Rep and Nottingham Playhouse production
In association with Actors Touring Company
Leeds Playhouse
11–28 March 2026
Birmingham Rep
1–18 April 2026
Nottingham Playhouse
28 April–16 May 2026