Hit play with music Marie & Rosetta starring Beverley Knight and Ntombizodwa Ndlovu is coming to the West End.
Following a successful tour of the show this summer, Marie & Rosetta will play the @SohoPlace Theatre in London from 28 February to 11 April 2026.
Marie & Rosetta stars multi-award-winning singer and actor Beverley Knight (Memphis, The Drifters’ Girl, Sylvia, Sister Act) as the godmother of rock ’n’ roll, Rosetta Tharpe; and rising star Ntombizodwa Ndlovu (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Space Between Us, Mixtape, Nothing, The Mountaintop) as Marie Knight.
The show is produced in the West End by Jonathan Church Theatre Productions and Chichester Festival Theatre in association with Nica Burns. The show was originally presented by the Rose Theatre, Chichester Festival Theatre and ETT.
Trailer: Marie & Rosetta
George Brant’s (Grounded, The Land of Oz) critically acclaimed play Marie & Rosetta is a roof-raising play with music featuring gospel and blues hits, that tells the true story of American singer and songwriter, and the godmother of rock ’n’ roll, Rosetta Tharpe, and her protégé Marie Knight.
The show opened at the Rose Theatre in London to strong reviews from the critics, and then played in Wolverhampton and Chichester.
Photos: Marie & Rosetta
Marie & Rosetta is directed by Monique Touko (The Boy at the Back of the Class; School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play).
The creative team also includes Set Designer Lily Arnold, Costume Designer Jodie-Simone Howe, Movement Director Kloé Dean, Music Supervisor, Arranger & Orchestrator Liam Godwin, Lighting Designer Matt Haskins, Sound Designer Tony Gayle, Intimacy Director Bethan Clark, Voice & Dialect Coach Joel Trill, Casting Director Jacob Sparrow, Associate Director Jordi M. Carter, and Associate Lighting Designer Teresa Nagel.
The play is set in Mississippi in 1946. Sister Rosetta has changed the face of gospel music with her exuberant, electric guitar-playing style. Shunned by straitlaced church folk for performing in nightclubs and glorying in rhythm and blues, she’s persuaded the saintly young singer Marie to join her on a tour of the segregated southern States. But first she has to convert Marie’s pure Sunday sound into something that has just a little more swing…
What They Said
Beverley Knight said in a statement: “Sister Rosetta Tharpe and her legacy had long been overlooked in music history. She deserves her place as one of the architects of rock ‘n’ roll, a Gospel singing, guitar shredding heroine who helped to shape popular music as we know it today. I’m so proud that we get to tell her story and that of her co collaborator Marie Knight played by the incredibly talented Ntombizodwa Ndlovu who makes her debut in the West End. She is a star in the making!”
Jonathan Church said: “As the lights went down on the Rose Theatre’s premiere of this extraordinary show in Kingston, I witnessed something incredibly special. A show that delivered the joyous, celebratory quality of a musical alongside the depth of characterisation and detail of a great play . A unique and dazzling experience to be part of bringing Monique Touko’s exquisite production to the equally exquisite @sohoplace is a match made in heaven. I look forward to the sparks flying!”
Nica Burns said: “Two amazing actresses with spine tingling voices close up in the intimate auditorium of @sohoplace! Singing some of the greatest rock and roll songs, Beverley Knight and newcomer Ntombizodwa Ndolovu will give us performances to remember as their voices soar and thrill. Brilliant on their own and sensational together. It is only a 7 week season so book speedily as you really do not want to miss out.”
What’s on at @SohoPlace Theatre
Currently playing at @SohoPlace Theatre in London is Every Brilliant Thing, until 8 November 2025.
That show is followed by Chichester Festival Theatre’s acclaimed production of John le Carré’s The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, from 17 November 2025.
Marie & Rosetta is playing at London’s @SohoPlace Theatre from 28 February to 11 April 2026.
Tickets on sale here on 2 October.
More about tickets to Marie & Rosetta in London
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