Anansi The Spider
It’s a laugh-a-long tingly tangly 50 minutes of joy”
★★★★★ Bromsgrove Standard.
Superlative family theatre… is pure joy and delight”
★★★★★ The Stage
The greatest tales ever spun…
Sit under the canopy of the banyan tree and experience the laugh-out-loud West African and Caribbean tales of the infamous Anansi!
People say that in a time long, long ago, animals walked on two feet and spoke with words, like we do. And back then, it was known by everyone that the cleverest of all the animals in the kingdom was the spider. Anansi was the original trickster and the master spinner of yarns, although sometimes he was a little too clever for his own good…
Packed with live music, singing and dancing, Anansi The Spider is a magical introduction to the theatre for little ones this festive season.
Beautifully told”
★★★★★ Brum Hour
Venue
Presented by
Birmingham Rep and Unicorn Theatre
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Created by
Justin Audibert
Directed by
Robin Belfield
Price
Access Performances
Audio Described: Sun 11 Jan 3pm (described by Carolyn Smith)
A Free Touch Tour is available to book at 1.30pm before the Audio Described performance.
BSL Interpreted: Sat 3 Jan 3pm (interpreted by Hyacinth Powell)
Captioned: Thu 18 Dec 11am & 1.45pm (captioned by Cara Lawless)
Relaxed: Sat 10 Jan 10am
Age Guidance
Suitable for ages 4 – 8 and their families.
Babes in Arms
Babes In Arms tickets are available for infants under 2 years old and are charged at a nominal rate of £2. Children over 2 years old require a paid ticket.
To purchase a babe in arms ticket, please select the ‘Babe in Arms’ button at the bottom of the seating plan to add this to your booking’.
Please note Babes in arms tickets are limited so please ensure this is added on at the time of your booking.
Running Time
Approximately 50 minutes without an interval
Production Photography
Rehearsal Photography
Photography by Helen Murray
Freesheet
Cast
Cynthia Emeagi
Cynthia graduated from Manchester School of Theatre with a Ba(Hons) Acting in 2017.
Theatre credits include: The Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night & The Merchant of Venice (Shakespeare’s Globe UK and International Tour); Party Skills for the End of the World (MIF and Shoreditch Town Hall); The Manchester Project at Christmas (HOME Manchester); Box Braids (Hope Mill); Oliver Twist! (Chester Storyhouse); A Christmas Carol (Hull Truck) and Nest (M6 Theatre).
TV Credits include: Vera (ITV), EastEnders and Hip Hop’s Open Secret (BBC) and Fool Me Once (Netflix).
Voiceover credits include: Braids (BBC Radio 4)
Short Film credits include: Ladies’ Day (SkyArts) and White Wedding.
Becky Sanneh
Training; Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance.
Credits include: Iris in House of Cleopatra (Edinburgh Festival), Lead vocalist in Thursford Christmas Spectacular, Emilia in Upstart! Shakespeare’s Rebel Daughter Judith (Edinburgh Festival), Rose in Right Royal Rumpus (UK Tour), Luna in Luna Loves Library Day (Manchester), Polly in The Beggars Opera (Barnstaple Theatre), Kiki in Tommy on Top (Above The Stag).
Panto includes: title roles in Jack & The Beanstalk (Lichfield Garrick) and Cinderella (Theatre Royal Bury)
Elizabeth Peace
Training: Oxford School of Drama
Theatre credits include: Much Ado About Nothing (UK Tour), Fear and Misery of the Third Reich (OSD) and The Kitchen (OSD).
Other credits: Directive 8020 (Supermassive Games); Switchback VR (Supermassive Games) and The Devil In Me (Supermassive Games).
Creatives
Writer
Justin Audibert
Justin Audibert
Justin is Artistic Director of Chichester Festival Theatre, where he has directed Redlands, The Caretaker and The Three Billy Goats Gruff (also at The Unicorn).
Previously, he was Artistic Director of the Unicorn Theatre where he directed Pinocchio, The Canterville Ghost, Aesop’s Fables, Beowulf and My Mother Medea. He also wrote and directed Marvin’s Binoculars, Story Seekers and Anansi the Spider. Other directing credits include The Box of Delights, The Taming of the Shrew, Snow in Midsummer and The Jew of Malta for the RSC; Macbeth and The Winter’s Tale, both adapted by him for young audiences, for the National Theatre and now part of the National Theatre Collection; and Guardians of the Galaxy (Secret Cinema & Marvel).
He wrote and presented the two BBC Live Lessons on Shakespeare for the RSC. He is a trustee of Invisible Flock and the Peggy Ramsay Foundation.
Director
Robin Belfield
Robin Belfield
Robin is a theatre director, writer and the Associate Director at the Unicorn Theatre.
Directing credits include: Twelfth Night (Shakespeare’s Globe); Mother Goose (Windsor Theatre); Princess Essex (Shakespeare’s Globe); Twelfth Night, The Merchant of Venice, Sapho and Phao (The RSC); Blue/Orange, Red Velvet (Richard Burton Company, RWCMD); Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, The Adventures of Pinocchio, Arabian Nights, The Wind in the Willows, Treasure Island (Watermill Theatre); The Santa Trap, Here Be Monsters (UK Tour); Walking the Chains (Show of Strength, Bristol); The Twits, Charlotte’s Web, A Christmas Carol (Dukes Theatre, Lancaster); The Entertainer, Oleanna, Othello, Kiss of the Spiderwoman, Duck Variations (Nuffield Theatre, Southampton).
Writing and dramaturgy credits include: The Winter’s Tale (Tobacco Theatre Bristol); Romeo and Juliet, 37Plays project (The RSC); Hibiscus Hotel, Dat Bahamian Ting (Yellowtale Theatre, The Bahamas); Around the World in Eighty Days (Watermill Theatre); Telling the Truth: How to Make Verbatim Theatre (Nick Hern Books).
Designer
Sadeysa Greenaway-Bailey
Sadeysa Greenaway-Bailey
Sadeysa Greenaway-Bailey is a Production Designer, Storyteller and Artist. She has a background in scenic and carnival arts and trained at Rose Bruford College.
Theatre credits include: Tambo and Bones (Theatre Royal Stratford East and UK Tour); Death of England: Closing Time, Death of England : Delroy, and Death of England (National Theatre & Soho Place); The Odyssey: Episode 5 – The Underworld, If I Were Older (National Theatre) Anansi the Spider (Unicorn and Regents Park Open Air Theatre); Suckerpunch Boom Suite (Barbican); #Black is… and When this is Over which she also co-created (Company Three); NW Trilogy, Sugar and The Orphans of the Grange (Mapping Brent); Gargantua (Kiln); Open Doors (Harkers Studio); Bite your Tongue (Hackney Showroom); I Call My Brothers (The Gate); and The Legend of Hamba (Greenwich + Docklands International Festival).
Film credits include: Death of England : Closing Time, Death of England : Delroy, and Death of England (NT live); Anansi the Spider Respun (Unicorn Theatre and Guardian) and Twenty Twenty (Young Vic).
As an artist, co-creator of The Unforgotten, an outdoor and digital installation (Young Vic).
Awards include: Set Design Recognition from the Black British Theatre Awards and the UK Theatre Best Design Award 2023 for Tambo and Bones.
Movement Director
Asha Jennings-Grant
Asha Jennings-Grant
Training: Royal Central School of Speech and Drama & Middlesex University.
Theatre credits include: Till The Stars Come Down (West End/National Theatre); …blackbird hour (Bush Theatre & UK tour); Pinocchio (Watermill Theatre); Moulin Rouge (Piccadilly Theatre); The Comeuppance (Almeida Theatre); The Cord (Bush Theatre); MJ The Musical (Prince Edward Theatre); Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Burnt At The Stake, The Tempest, Julius Caesar (Shakespeare’s Globe); Twelfth Night, All’s Well That Ends Well (Royal Shakespeare Company); Constellations (Theatre Clwyd); Jitney (Old Vic/Leeds Playhouse); In Dreams, A Passionate Woman (Leeds Playhouse); Sucker Punch (Queens Theatre Hornchurch/UK Tour); The Architect (GDIF); Smoke (Southwark Playhouse); Around the World in 80 Days (York Theatre Royal/UK Tour); The Solid Life of Sugar Water, RICE (Orange Tree Theatre); Jekyll and Hyde (Guildford Shakespeare Company); Leopards (Rose Theatre); Shuck ‘n’ Jive (Soho Theatre); The Magna Carta Plays (Salisbury Playhouse); Watership Down (Watford Palace Theatre).
Lighting Designer
Will Monks
Will Monks
Will is a London based artist; he trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
Recent work includes: Beegu (Unicorn Theatre, London); …blackbird hour (National Tour); Christmas Comes To Moominvalley (Jacksons Lane, London); Toto Kerblammo (Unicorn Theatre, London); The Children’s Inquiry, Captain Amazing (Southwark Playhouse, London); Woodhill; Out Of Her Mouth (National Tours); Foxes (59E59, New York; Theatre 503, Seven Dials Playhouse, London); Cassie And The Lights (59E59, New York); The MP, Aunty Mandy & Me, Far Gone (National Tours); Petula (National Theatre Wales, Welsh Tour); Open Mic (Soho Theatre, London); Sunnymead Court (The Actors Centre and Digital); Trojan Horse (UK tour; Summerhall, Edinburgh; winner of Fringe First and Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Awards); Who Cares (winner of Sit-Up Award); We Live By The Sea, This Is Where We Live (international tours); The Benidorm Elvis Fiesta (Benidorm Palace); Chilcot (The Lowry, Battersea Arts Centre).
Sound Designer
Esther Kehinde Ajayi
Esther Kehinde Ajayi
Esther Kehinde Ajayi is an interdisciplinary sound artist born in West London in 1996. She combines highly conceptual sound design with interactive
technology and custom sound system design across various formats, including film, music, audio installations, fashion, and sculpture. Since 2021,
she has focused on sound design for theatre in London, emphasising the spatial presentation of sound through hybrid systems that merge software,
hardware, and visual elements. Following extensive research during her Sound Arts BA (2024), she describes her practice as “sonic cultural technology design,” highlighting sound as a psycho-cultural tool for personal empowerment and community building when viewed beyond the realm of music.
Credits include: Anansi the Spider (Unicorn Theatre); The Promise (King’s College London); Positive (Southwark Playhouse); Watchtower (Tentastic festival); Twist the Fantasy (E.K.A.sounds); Hansel and Gretel (The Big House); Pitch (November Theatre); Under The Blanket (The Big House); Wordsong Collection (The Big House); Possession (Arcola Theatre); Hot In Here (The Gate Theatre); The Dry House (Marylebone theatre); My Brother’s Keeper (Theatre 503); Cash Money (The Big House); Talking About A Revolution (Lyric Hammersmith); Hot in here (Camden People’s Theatre); Yellowman (Orange Tree Theatre); Would You Bet Against Us (Birmingham Rep); When The Long Trick’s Over (High Tide); All of the conversations (ArtsEd); Athena (The Yard Theatre); STATEMENTS AFTER AN ARREST UNDER THE IMMORALITY ACT (Orange Tree Theatre); Alice (Landor_Space); Invisible Light (Tristan Bates Theatre); Dana is her name (E.K.A.Sounds).
Songs Composer and Musical Director
Duramaney Kamara
Duramaney Kamara
Duramaney Kamara is a multidisciplinary sound designer and composer. Under the pseudonym ‘D L K’, he is also a recording artist and producer who releases music under his indie label BE FREE 888 REPERTOIRE.
Theatre credits include: Bangers (Arcola/Soho/Edinburgh Fringe); Wolves On Road (Bush Theatre); Barcelona (West End); Grow Up, C3 Stories (Company Three); Mantelpeace (Young Vic Taking Part); Swim Aunty, Swim (Belgrade, Coventry); Love Steps (Omnibus/Wrested Veil); Cinderella (Brixton House); Clyde’s (Donmar Warehouse); August in England, House of Ife, Project 2036 (Bush); Suckerpunch (Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch); Bootycandy (Gate, Camden); Anansi The Spider (Unicorn/Regent’s Park Open Air); Christmas in the Sunshine (Unicorn); Moreno, Roman Candle (Theatre 503); Collection (Tara Arts); The Death of a Black Man, Hoes (Hampstead); The Dark (Fuel/Ovalhouse); Living Newspaper Edition 4 &5, Dismantle This Room, My Mum’s a Twat, Instructions for Correct Assembly, katzenmusik (Royal Court).
Voice and Dialect Coach
Joel Trill
Joel Trill
Associate Designer
Delyth Evans
Delyth Evans
Delyth Evans trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, graduating in 2018.
Credits as an Associate Set Designer include: Retrograde (The Apollo Theatre); The Odyssey: Episode 5, The Underworld (The National Theatre).
Credits as an Associate Set and Costume Designer include: Abigail’s Party (The Northern Stage) and Our Town Need’s a Nando’s (Liverpool Everyman).
Credits as a Set and Costume Designer include: Belly Of The Beast (Finborough Theatre); George (Omnibus Theatre); Mighty Atoms, Mosquitos, We Anchor in Hope and The Sewing Group (LAMDA); Zombiegate (Theatre503); Hela, American Nightmare and The Story (The Other Room); Juliet & Romeo, MSND, Excluded! & Much Ado About Nothing Remixed (Intermission Youth Theatre) and In LipstickI (The Pleasance Theatre).
Credits as a Costume Designer include: Anthem (The Wales Millennium Centre) and The Inbetween (Theatr Clwyd).
Casting Director
Saffeya Shebli
Saffeya Shebli
Saffeya is Casting Associate for the Royal Court Theatre, and was previously Casting Associate for The Old Vic.
Casting Director credits include: Anansi The Spider (Unicorn Theatre); The Three Little Pigs (Unicorn Theatre); Cow | Deer (Royal Court Theatre); Hundred Feet Tall (Old Vic Community Tour).
Casting Associate credits include: A Christmas Carol (Old Vic); Groundhog Day (Old Vic); Pygmalion (Old Vic); The Real Thing (Old Vic); The Brightening Air (Old Vic).
Children’s Casting Director credits include: Oedipus (Old Vic).