Enhance your students’ learning experience with our dynamic range of activities tailored for various key stages. We offer:
- In-school workshops
- Tickets to Brixton House productions
- Professional development (CPD) for teachers
This Autumn, to mark the world premiere of original musical BLACK POWER DESK set in 1970s, we have a brand-new package! Join us for a workshop and get tickets to the show for just £250.
We are also thrilled to announce our subsidised ticket offer for BLACK POWER DESK with free tickets available to Lambeth schools visiting us for the first time or £5 tickets to students from Lambeth schools who have previously seen a Brixton House production, generously supported by AXIS.
About Black Power Desk and schools’ workshops
Rooted in political unrest and soulful lover’s rock, RnB and reggae, schools can accompany this production about two sisteres divided by grief and radical politics with archival workshops about the Black Power Movement led by Brixton-based Black Cultural Archives, and music workshops led by theatre production company, HighRise Entertainment.
For all schools workshop enquiries, please contact [email protected].
Schools theatre bookings
Please see below for schools’ matinee dates, times and content warnings:
- 2.30pm, Wednesday 10 September
- 2.30pm, Wednesday 17 September
- 2.30pm, Wednesday 24 September
- Recommended age: 12+
- Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
- Content warnings: Strong language, racialised slurs, potential depiction of violence, suggested sexual assault.
Supplementary workshop: 90 minute ‘British Black Power’ workshop at Black Cultural Archives
Interested in learning more about the history behind the show? Book a 90-minute educational workshop with Black Cultural Archives and further immerse your students in the history of Britain’s Black Power movement.
Situated just around the corner from Brixton House at 1 Windrush Square, the Black Cultural Archives is the UK’s only national heritage centre dedicated to preserving and celebrating the histories of people of African and Caribbean descent in Britain.
This 90-minute workshop has been designed to sit alongside the AQA, Edexcel and OCR GSCE curricula but content can be adapted to suit the requirements of your group. Give your students the opportunity to examine the similarities and differences between Britain’s various Black Power organisations and to think critically about their ongoing legacies.
Workshops can be booked for the same day you see the performance at either 10am or 12pm. If you would like to book for a different day, additional slots are available every Monday-Wednesday in September at 10.30am and 1pm. Advanced booking is required.
Location: 1 Windrush Square, Brixton, SW2 1EF
Supplementary workshop: 90 minute ‘Sounds of the Struggle’ workshop with HighRise UK
Music was not just a soundtrack to the British Black Power movement—it was a tool of resistance, solidarity and cultural pride. This workshop explores the music that inspired, reflected and shaped the activism of the British Black Panthers and their allies during the 1960s and 70s.
Students will engage with rare archival recordings, lyrics, flyers and interviews that showcase how reggae, ska, soul, calypso and spoken word became powerful mediums of protest and community expression. They’ll learn about the pioneering figures who used music as a form of political organising—and how grassroots events like sound system parties and poetry nights became spaces of resistance and radical education.
Key themes:
- Music as a form of protest and political education
- The cultural roots of British Black Panther music—from the Caribbean to UK
- The influence of Jamaican sound system culture on the Black British music we know today
- Analysis of lyrics from key tracks and spoken word performances
- The role of music in community building, resistance and legacy
Activities include:
- Lyric annotation and discussion: What is being resisted, reclaimed or reimagined?
- Listening sessions with guided historical context
- Creative writing: Students craft their own verse or spoken word piece in response to themes of resistance, identity or injustice
- Group reflection: How does music today carry forward the legacy of the British Black Power movement?
Location: Brixton House, 385 Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, SW9 8GL
Curriculum links
This workshop enriches the AQA, Edexcel and OCR History, English and Music curricula by spotlighting the cultural dimension of the Black Power movement in Britain. It encourages cross-disciplinary learning by linking political history with creative expression, and challenges students to consider how music acts as both a historical source and a living tradition of resistance.