Talawa at The Cochrane: the Love Space Demands: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A playbill (a) for The Love Space Demands presented by Talawa Theatre Company at the Cochrane Theatre in London, England, with insert (b).

The playbill features a center black-and-white portrait of Jean “Binta” Breeze, whose face appears within a black silhouette figure against a white background, her hands raised along either side of her head. Text reads [Jean “Binta” / Breeze / in / Ntozake / Shange’s / the Love / Space / Demands]. There are bands of dark purple at the top and bottom. White text at the top reads [TALAWA / at THE COCHRANE] and text at the bottom reads [Thursday 1st October - / Saturday 31st October 1992 / Arts Council Funded]. The interior contents include a history of Talawa, an essay on the poetry in The Love Space Demands, a biography of Ntozake Shange, a listing of cast, production crew, and musicians, and a glossary of cultural references. The back cover features several advertisements, the largest of which is for the Theatre Royal Stratford East.

The playbill includes an insert (b) of black text printed on one side of an off-white sheet of paper. The insert advertises the [CLR JAMES FESTIVAL / 1-31 OCTOBER 1992] and the listing of productions includes [THE LOVE SPACE DEMANDS by Ntozake Shange / 1-31 October 7.30 pm / The Cochrane Theatre Southampton Row London] followed by a telephone number and ticket prices. There are several other events listed. The back of the insert is blank.

Also included is a ticket (c). The ticket is blue and white with [THE / COCHRANE / THE LOVE SPACE DEMANDS] with a date, time, price, and seat number and [Presented By Talawa Theater Company].

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1992
• Distributed by: Talawa Theatre Company, British, founded 1986
• Subject of: Ntozake Shange, American, 1948 - 2018
• Subject of: Cochrane Theatre, English, 1963 - 2012
• Subject of: Jean "Binta" Breeze MBE, Jamaican, 1956 - 2021
• Subject of: Yvonne Brewster OBE, Jamaican, born 1938
• Type: playbills
• Medium: ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W x D (a. Playbill): 8 1/4 × 5 7/8 × 1/16 in. (21 × 14.9 × 0.2 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (b. Insert): 8 1/4 × 5 7/8 in. (21 × 14.9 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (c. Ticket): 3 × 5 in. (7.6 × 12.7 cm)
• Place used: London, England, Europe
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Poetry
• Topic: Sexuality
• Topic: Theatre
• Topic: Theatre companies
• Object number: 2016.131.2.3abc
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Ntozake Shange
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Unknown - Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.