Absolute Beginners

Adapted by
Roy Williams
Directed by
Liam Steel
Music by
Soweto Kinch
Sound by
Nick Manning
Dates
27 Apr 2007
Artist/Company
Roy Williams

Fuel presents Absolute Beginners 

Do you believe in Freedom?

London 1958. Teenagers are blowing away the cobwebs of post-war life – the absolute beginners are creating the world anew. A Vespa-riding young photographer takes a trip through the gritty and glamorous streets of West London chasing the love of his life. But behind the jazz, sex and drugs of the new age lies a simmering cauldron of racial hatred that threatens to ignite at any moment.

In Absolute Beginners, Roy Williams, one of the foremost Black playwrights of his generation (FallOut, Sing Yer Heart Out For The Lads) and dance theatre director, Liam Steel (Stan Won’t Dance, DV8) collaborated with Lizzie Clachan of Shunt and Mercury Music Prize winner Soweto Kinch to create a physical evocation of sexual liberalism, gang culture, and racial tension.

Based on the book by Colin MacInnes

Design by Lizzy Clachan

Produced by Fuel

#AbsoluteBeginners

"A vibrant reimagining of Colin MacInnes's novel about youth in Fifties London brings it to fresh life"

The Observer

ABB73C5B-A51C-4932-BDF3-C60C9D79146A Created with sketchtool.

Project History