Immersive outdoor drama and promenade created by Dervish Productions, based on original archival research.
This is a past event.
Spirits of the Black Meridian was a groundbreaking site-specific outdoor theatre production that took place every night 21st – 24th May 2025 in the grounds of the Old Royal Naval College.
This immersive and interactive promenade performance brings to life the hidden stories of Black people in Greenwich, Southeast London, uncovering their influence on British culture, cities, and world views.
Photo credit: Natalia Janula
Created and directed by writer and director Hassan Mahamdallie with a nationally and internationally acclaimed diverse team of creatives, Spirits of the Black Meridian is an evocative journey through time and space, mapping onto the historic landscape of the Royal Naval College and the old Hospital wing beside the Thames. The production breathes life into the submerged voices of the enslaved, freemen and women, sailors, political agitators, adventurers, and colonial subjects who came and settled in the UK.
Working with celebrated historian SI Martin, Dervish Productions masterfully combines history, geography, and astronomy to challenge perceptions and rethink the narratives tied to the iconic Greenwich Meridian. The result is a visually rich and thought-provoking experience that reimagines our collective past and its connection to our present. These are the spirits who walk amongst us unseen.
Black Greenwich Pensioners, Royal Collection Trust © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020
What Audiences Are Saying: History told, and retold through digital art and the spoken word – is this the future of British Theatre? I hope so. — Media DiversifiedAudiences and critics have praised previous productions by Dervish, describing them as “thought-provoking”,“evocative,” and “transformative.” Previous works, such as Quiet Rebels and The Crows Plucked Your Sinews, have toured nationally and internationally, earning acclaim for their powerful storytelling and innovative presentation.Supported by Culture& with funding from Arts Council England.Thanks to our partners Emergency Exit Arts, University of Greenwich, Royal Borough of Greenwich, Royal Museums Greenwich, Soul City Arts and Greenwich Caribbean Social Forum.
Access Information
Touch Tour and Audio Description:
On Friday May 23, Spirits of the Black Meridian offers a Touch Tour with audio description.
For Blue Badge holders: Park Row, London SE10 9NW. Parking bays where blue badges need to be displayed.
About the Creative Team
The production features an impressive creative team including:
- Hassan Mahamdallie – Director and Playwright
- SI Martin – Historian and Cultural Advisor
- Rachana Jadhav – Award-winning Theatre Designer
- Jeanefer Jean-Charles – Choreographer and Movement Director
- Isobel Hawson – Producer
- Cheng Qian – Assistant Producer
- Mohammed Ali / Soul City Arts – Outdoor Specialist
- Josh Garner / Inon Productions – Film, Animation and Projection Specialist
- Awate Abdalla– Acclaimed Eritrean Rapper and Composer
Featured Actors
Awate Abdalla – Acclaimed Eritrean refugee rapper and producer weaves together psychedelic melodies and sharp, witty lyrics. Born in Saudi Arabia and raised in Camden, he was The Roundhouse’s Resident Artist. His critically acclaimed Shine Ancient EP and Happiness LP have been praised and garnered with a nomination for Best Urban Act at the 2018 Unsigned Music Awards. He has performed on every continent and toured
extensively with Lowkey and Black Star, Ghetts and Shabazz Palaces. Awate was British Library’s Artist in Residence for Unlocking Our Sound Heritage, weaving together a genre-being piece exploring the diaspora.
Joe Conteh, born in Chelsea, is a model, actor and drama facilitator. He started out as a background actor in Family Affairs, The Bill and EastEnders and starred in a Vodafone commercial as a double for Lewis Hamilton. He worked in Theatre in Education joining Face Front Inclusive Theatre and starred as a main actor and facilitator in the plays Sex FM and Whisper Me. Joe was a stunt double in the season 8 of Trial and Retribution. He worked on Dervish/Vital Xposure’s Quiet Rebels, directed by Hassan Mahamdallie and Julie McNamara.
Tyrone Huggins is an actor, writer and director. He was co-founder of Impact Theatre and has written 17 plays. His theatre work includes Women & Theatre, Talking Birds, Forced Entertainment, Eclipse Theatre, Birmingham Rep, Leeds Playhouse, RNT, RSC, People Show, Improbable and Judy Owen Ltd. Screen credits include Run Fat Boy Run; Small-Axe: Mangrove; Death In Paradise; Seaview; Doctors, Last Day. Recent work includes Mademoiselle F (The Belgrade) AI (Young Vic), Trouble (National Film & Television School); Forced Entertainment’s To Move In Time. He directed Made In India Britain by Rinkoo Barpaga and dramaturged If All Else Fails and Signal To Noise (South Bank Oct 2024).
Monique Walker is a dynamic and versatile creative with a background in writing, acting, and poetry, honed at The Brit School and Rose Bruford Drama School. She uses theatre as a transformative tool to explore pressing social issues and passionately advocates for Global Majority Creatives to claim their rightful space in the arts. Monique made a powerful acting debut at the RNT in Hamlet, earning praise from The Stage as a “stand-out” performer. Her recent work includes a collaborative poetry project with Yomi Sode and Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu, inspired by Thomas J Price’s sculptures at the V&A Museum. She is currently writing a play with Talawa Theatre’s writers program.
Fiona Whitelaw: is an actress for screen and theatre, where her work includes: Quiet Rebels for Vital Xposure, Dead Quiet Immercity, A Love Story for Potboiler Theatre, This Wounded Island, Fix @ Edinburgh, national tour, Theatre Royal Stratford East; Tinned Goods Tea and Tenacity, The Knitting Circle for Vital Xposure, More Soup And Tart & HAND at the Barbican, The Last Pearly, Prometheus Awakes for Graeae/ Fura Dels Baus, Love On The Dole.
Please note that filming/photography is taking place on Thursday 22 May and Saturday 24 May for promotional and archival purposes. The photographs and recordings might appear on our website and social media. If you would prefer not to be photographed please let the photographer know.
Press Contact:
Yujia Wang – Info@cultureand.org
Featured Image Photography: Rehan Jamil