EXCLUSIVE: Writer and filmmaker Kalungi Ssebandeke will direct the revival of his 2017 play, Assata Taught Me, set to run at Riverside Studios in London from May 12–24.
Originally produced by The Gate Theatre in 2017 and directed by Lynette Linton (RSC The Boy Who Harnessed Wind) with Adjoa Andoh (Bridgerton) and Kenneth Omole (Testament) starring, the 2026 show will mark the first revival of the production.
The revival is a co‑production between Lucie Lutte (Phone Killer) of LLUTTE Productions and Ssebandeke’s Sse So Productions.
Susan Lawson‑Reynolds (Three Little Birds, Luther: The Fallen Sun) will star as Assata Shakur, an American activist, author, and former Black Panther member who lived in exile in Cuba until her death in 2025. Starring opposite Lawson‑Reynolds will be Ebenezer Gyau (Suspect), who will star as Fanuco Maceo, a disillusioned Cuban man unaware that his mentor has a $2m bounty on her head.
The fictional two-hander finds an aged Assata Shakur still exiled on a troubled Caribbean Island, where she’s approached by a local 21-year-old desperate to live the American Dream. Shakur died in September 2025, aged 78. Cuban officials cited the reason for her death as old age and health conditions. News of her death prompted widespread discussion of the U.S government’s actions in the legal case that led to Shakur’s exile.
Shakur was convicted of shooting and murdering a New Jersey State Trooper in 1977 and sentenced to life in prison. Shakur consistently argued that she was innocent, and a series of doctors testified on her behalf in court that the wounds she suffered during the fatal altercation supported her story that she couldn’t have shot the officer. Two years after her conviction, three members of the Black Liberation Army, disguised as visitors, helped her break out of Clinton Correctional Facility for Women in New Jersey. She later appeared in Cuba, where Fidel Castro’s government granted her asylum.
“This play is now more urgent than ever before, and exposes new audiences to the rarely told story of The FBI’s Most Wanted Woman,” Ssebandeke said in a statement.
The production’s creative team is rounded off by Set and Costume Designer Bolu Dairo (Brave Bettie), Movement Director Gabrielle Nimo (Red Pitch), Lighting Designer Chuma Emembolu (For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy), Sound Designer and Composer Jose Guillermo Puello (Meetings), Voice and Dialect Coach, Aundrea Fudge (Hunger Games on Stage) with Acosta Dance Centre’s Luanda Pau as Cuban Cultural Consultant.
The production has secured partial investment from Cyril Nri (Cucumber).
“At this time, the world needs those who stood up to be counted. This powerful play stands up, as did Assata Shakur, and fights back. Stand with it,” Nri said of the play in a statement.
Assata Taught Me opens 12 May 2026 and runs until 24 May 2026 at Riverside Studios in West London. The press night is 13 May.
English (US) ·