Re: Discover Festival

Join award-winning Streetwise Opera for a celebration of African and Caribbean heritage in Britain through the voices of people with lived experience of homelessness.

Inspired by the artistry and spirit of Black classical composers, from Ignatius Sancho to Shirley J. Thompson, Re:Discover Festival is a two-day festival at St John’s Waterloo celebrating the impact of African and Caribbean heritage on contemporary British culture.

A joyful and exhilarating musical celebration, the festival includes thrilling music performance,  interactive music workshops, shows for families and pop-up performances by Streetwise Opera, an inspiring company led by the voices of people with lived experience of homelessness.

Festival programme highlights

Monday 27 May  

A Family Adventure in Opera
2:30pm–3:30pm, tickets free, book online here

Dive into an exciting journey through the world of opera with an event that blends music, storytelling and fun for the whole family! Enjoy the world premiere of the Opera Express, a 15-minute opera inspired by the music of composers of African and Caribbean heritage.

Women of the Windrush
7:30pm–9:30pm, tickets £10-£15, book online here

An electrifying performance by soprano Abigail Kelly of Shirley J. Thompson’s celebratory opera Women of the Windrush. Portraying inspirational narratives from the lives of women who travelled to the UK from the West Indies between the 1940s and the 1960s, this special performance is interwoven with extraordinary documentary film footage.

Tuesday May 28 

Sancho & Me
7:30pm–9:30 pm, tickets £10-£15, book online here

Be inspired by the extraordinary story of 18th century abolitionist Ignatius Sancho, who was born on a slave ship on the Atlantic Ocean, and yet became a writer, composer, shopkeeper and the first Black man to vote in England. Part-biography and part-dramatized readings, the work stars writer and actor Paterson Joseph and is based on his novel ‘The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho’.