Sunshine, Storms and Second Chances: Small Island sails into Leeds

From 11 to 28 March 2026, Small Island arrives at the Quarry Theatre at Leeds Playhouse, bringing Andrea Levy’s much-loved Windrush story vividly to life. Directed by Olivier Award winner Matthew Xia and adapted for the stage by Helen Edmundson, this sweeping production travels from sun-drenched Jamaica to post war Britain, following four lives that collide in ways that are funny, painful and unexpectedly tender.

At the centre of it all are Hortense and Gilbert, newly arrived in Britain with big dreams and even bigger determination, alongside Queenie and Bernard, an English couple navigating a country that is shifting beneath their feet. It is epic in scale but deeply personal at heart. Love crosses cultures. Expectations unravel. Hope refuses to disappear.

The world back then. The world right now.

Spending time with Matthew Xia and cast members Daniel Ward, who plays Gilbert, and Bronté Barbé, who plays Queenie, one thing kept coming up in conversation. This might be a story set in the nineteen forties, but it does not feel stuck there.

Back then, Britain was rebuilding after war. The country needed workers and invited people from across the Caribbean to help shape a new future. Many arrived believing they were coming home, only to discover that belonging was more complicated than promised. Today, we are still talking about immigration, about identity, about who gets to feel at home and who does not. The language might shift, the politics might change, but the emotional questions remain strikingly similar.

What Small Island offers is not a lecture, but a human story. It is about ambition and disappointment, pride and prejudice, fear and generosity. And crucially, it is about hope. The kind of hope that makes someone step onto a ship and cross an ocean. The kind of hope that says a shared future is possible, even when the present feels uncertain.

A Leeds story too

There is something special about this production opening in Leeds. This is a city shaped by movement and migration, by industry and reinvention, and by generations of students who arrive with suitcases and leave with stories.

Daniel Ward spoke warmly about wandering through Call Lane and the Corn Exchange, soaking up the character of the city. Bronté Barbé found her way to Kirkgate Market (most Fridays), drawn to its buzz and sense of community. For Matthew Xia, time in Leeds has meant exploring properly, taking in the energy of a city that feels proudly local and internationally minded all at once.

There was also a big nod to the students here. Their curiosity, their willingness to question and challenge, feels perfectly matched to a play that asks who we are and who we want to become.

With music that pulses with calypso rhythms and a design that shifts between Caribbean heat and grey British streets, Small Island promises to be visually striking and emotionally powerful. It is a story about four people, but it speaks to a nation.

You can watch our full interview with Matthew Xia, Daniel Ward and Bronté Barbé in the video embedded above. Then book your tickets and experience it for yourself when Small Island runs at Leeds Playhouse from 11 to 28 March 2026, before heading to Birmingham Rep and Nottingham Playhouse.

This is history that feels alive. And it could not be landing at a better time.