A dark ornate auditorium surrounds a small warmly lit room set isolated within a glowing white stage frame.

Theatre Royal Stratford East2024

The Big Life

The Production

The Big Life returned to Theatre Royal Stratford East in 2024, 20 years after its Stratford East premiere and subsequent West End transfer. This joyful Windrush ska musical reimagines Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost in 1950s London.

16 photographs in the curated edit

Director: Tinuke Craig
Musical Director: Ian Oakley
Choreographer: Ingrid Mackinnon
Lighting Design: Elliot Griggs
Set & Costume Design: Jasmine Swan
Sound Design: Emma Laxton
Commissioned by: Jasmine Swan
Photography: Steve Gregson

Dancers in orange costumes sweep across the stage in motion beneath red neon arches and a large street backdrop.

Performers gather in a warmly lit domestic room set, with figures seated and standing around furniture by a curtained window.

A wide theatre view shows a small ensemble on a glossy stage beneath purple neon arches and a central illuminated sign.

A performer in an ornate red theatre box leans forward under a small lamp, surrounded by deep shadow.

A group in pastel suits and hats poses inside a bus-shelter-like set against a cool blue patterned backdrop.

A full ensemble spreads across a streetfront backdrop, framed by glowing gold proscenium bulbs and blue haze.

Inside a warm room set, several performers react as a woman in a green dress stands high above the furniture.

A row of performers stands under a bright white arch with hazy figures on a raised platform behind them.

Skirted dancers spin through a magenta-lit stage picture while other performers move behind them.

A large colourful ensemble stands in a celebratory formation beneath bright arch lights and a theatre-front backdrop.

An ensemble dances across a street-style stage while musicians or performers are visible on an upper platform in blue haze.

A wide stage view shows a uniformed line of performers beneath a white light tunnel, with figures on an upper platform behind.

The cast gathers in a vivid group pose under rainbow light arches, with reflections on the polished stage floor.

From the auditorium, dancers move across a purple-lit stage framed by neon arches and theatre balconies.

A full company stands beneath rainbow and gold arch lights, framed by dark theatre balconies and a street backdrop.

Continue exploring

The Taxidermist's Daughter

Greenwich Theatre2024

Explore production photography