Josephine appears at Bath's Egg Theatre

Josephine, a brand new play about the iconic entertainer, spy and civil rights activist, Josephine Baker, will be staged at The Egg theatre from Friday 5th November to Monday 8th November.

Using original music, dancing from the Harlem Renaissance and a hatful of historical figures, Josephine follows one woman’s incredible journey from the oppressive slums of St Louis to the bright lights of Paris and beyond. 

Performer, campaigner, spy and mother to the multicultural “Rainbow Tribe”, Josephine Baker broke the mould during her lifetime to become a 20th century icon. But almost 50 years after her death, Café Josephine, a down-at-heel New York eatery dedicated to her memory, faces closure. Nobody remembers Josephine, who she was or what she did. Co-owners Jack and Marie and former Rainbow Tribe members are determined to turn the business around but have wildly different opinions on how to do it. That is until a knock at the door, an unexpected visitor and a tumble back through their family history that some would prefer forgotten... 

The cast for Josephine are Ebony Feare as Josephine, Sadi Masego as Marie and Daniel Kofi Wealthyland as Jack, directed by Holm Theatre’s Jesse Briton. Bath’s Egg Theatre teamed up with Holm Theatre (Wales and South West) to commission and tour Josephine which is set to visit more than 25 venues across England and Wales before April 2022. In Josephine, writers Leona Allen and Jesse Briton have embraced all aspects of Josephine Baker’s extraordinary and at times controversial life in a bid to artistically address anti-racism and diversity training in schools.

Josephine tours to The Egg in the month that Josephine Baker will become the first Black woman to be entered into France’s hallowed Panthéon mausoleum, a memorial in Paris for great national figures in French history from the world of politics, culture and science.

Playwrights Leona Allen and Jesse Briton said: “When we stumbled across the story of Josephine Baker, we were amazed by two things: how could she have done so much and how could we not have heard of her? We wrote Josephine to answer those questions and inspire a whole new generation to reimagine their relationship with the past.”

Born in St Louis, Missouri in 1906, Josephine Baker performed in the chorus line in New York before sailing to Paris in 1925 where she found fame and won legions of admirers including Ernest Hemingway and Pablo Picasso. In 1927 Baker was the first Black woman to star in a major motion picture. In 1937 she became a French national, raising her 12 internationally adopted children dubbed the “Rainbow Tribe” in France. She aided the French Resistance during WWII for which she was awarded the Croix de Guerre, the Rosette de la Résistance and the highest French order of merit, the Chevailer of the Légion d’honneur by General Charles de Gaulle. In 1963 she spoke at the historic March on Washington alongside Martin Luther King.

Josephine is directed by Holm Theatre’s Jesse Briton, with music composed by Nadine and Simon Lee (Wise Children), choreography by Ingrid MacKinnon and design by Debbie Duru. With additional support from ACE and Innovate UK, the live production comes with a brand new digital education innovation: The Learning Portal.

Josephine appears at The Egg at the Theatre Royal Bath from Friday 5th November to Monday 8th November. Tickets are on sale at The Egg on 01225 823 409, the Theatre Royal Bath Box Office on 01225 448844 and online at www.theatreroyal.org.uk