BRIXTON CALLING
Southwark Playhouse Borough
★★★★
“funny, sharp, and full of twists and turns”
Growing up in South London in the early 2000s, Brixton Academy already had legendary status. My first gig was there: racing to the front barrier with friends to get as close as possible to the stage. The electric anticipation of entering a music venue has an affinity with stepping into a theatre, and the staging of this production of Brixton Calling, with the neon newspaper clippings and autographs scratched into the wall and floors (Nik Corrall), leaves you in no doubt for what’s in store.
Brixton Calling, adapted by Alex Urwin from Simon Parkes’ memoir, captures that feeling with exhilarating clarity. This high-energy production tells the true story of how Parkes, then a 23-year-old public school-educated outsider, bought a crumbling old cinema in Brixton for £1 and turned it into the cultural juggernaut that it still is today. From The Clash to Fela Kuti, the Academy became a cultural powerhouse, and this show captures the chaos and charisma behind the scenes.
Urwin’s script moves at pace, leaping from Parkes’ childhood in Grimsby to the privileged corridors of a Scottish boarding school, and eventually into the heart of 1980s Brixton. It’s funny, sharp, and full of twists and turns. Max Runham is compelling as Simon Parkes, and Tendai Humphrey Sitima brings spark and range as his friend and collaborator Johnny Lawes. Together they morph into dozens of characters, from posh schoolboys to gruff Glaswegians, often switching roles and accents with impressive agility.
Originally conceived as a solo show, director Bronagh Lagan wisely suggested expanding the cast to better reflect the diversity and energy of the Brixton scene. It works well, though the structure still leans heavily toward Runham, who steers much of the narrative via direct address, with Sitima often in more supporting parts. That doesn’t mean Sitima is not impactful. His portrayal of Lawes’ encounter with the police during the 1985 Brixton Riots is shockingly visceral.
What elevates Brixton Calling is its use of the music that makes the venue a success. Runham and Sitima, both accomplished musicians, weave live performance seamlessly into the storytelling – punctuating moments of revelation or emulating the many artists who’ve graced the Academy’s stage. They move easily between guitar, piano and vocals, infusing the production with authenticity and rhythm.
The play does lose momentum slightly in its final third. As the energy of 80s anarchism gives way to 90s hedonism, the focus shifts from Parkes’ personal journey to broader musical history, and the emotional momentum dips. A rave sequence suffers from muddy sound mixing (Max Pappenheim’s only real misstep), with dialogue often drowned out by overpowering bass.
This gives way to a series of near-misses – an expensive booking collapse, a violent attack, a brush with the IRA – that push Parkes to question if he can keep pouring everything into the Academy. He eventually decides to sell up, with the venue becoming the crown jewel of an expanding Academy chain. There’s a sense of bittersweet inevitability, a nod to how the independent culture that helped places like Brixton to thrive often gets swallowed by bigger fish with bigger pockets.
But Brixton Calling is, above all, a feel-good celebration of live music and bold risk-taking. It’s a rousing reminder that sometimes all it takes is a bit of luck, a lot of guts, and a deep love of the arts to make something out of nothing – at least in a corner of South London.
BRIXTON CALLING
Southwark Playhouse Borough
Reviewed on 25th July 2025
by Amber Woodward
Photography by Danny Kaan
Recently reviewed at Southwark Playhouse venues:
THE WHITE CHIP | ★★★★ | July 2025
WHO IS CLAUDE CAHUN? | ★★ | June 2025
THIS IS MY FAMILY | ★★½ | May 2025
THE FROGS | ★★★ | May 2025
RADIANT BOY | ★★½ | May 2025
SUPERSONIC MAN | ★★★★ | April 2025
MIDNIGHT COWBOY | ★★ | April 2025
WILKO | ★★★ | March 2025
SON OF A BITCH | ★★★★ | February 2025
SCISSORHANDZ | ★★★ | January 2025
