"For strong gripping drama and splendid, heartfelt acting, the show is hard to beat...outstanding"
Daily Telegraph

"A long-lost gem...an excellent company...a riverting production"
Daily Mail

Chicago, the Twenties, and Victor Mason is fighting to keep his dreams alive and his family together
His devotion to the separatist Back to Africa movement clashes with the family’s pursuit of the American Dream.
Set against the Great Depression and inescapable racism, Big White Fog is as poignant today as it was when it burst upon American 70 years ago.

Born in Louisiana in 1902, Theodore Ward was a pioneer among African-American playwrights. At age 12, he walked the rails north working his way across America as a bellhop and bootblack before writing over 30 plays including his most famous Our Lan’ which enjoyed a successful and award-winning run on Broadway.

In 1937, his first major work Big White Fog, opened amid controversy in Chicago. In 1938 Ward co-founded The Negro Playwrights’ Company in New York alongside Paul Robeson, Langston Hughes, Richard Wright and other prominent black dramatists, their first production at The Lincoln Theatre was Big White Fog.

Almeida Artistic Director Michael Attenborough’s acclaimed productions include Playing with Fire at the National Theatre, and The Mercy Seat, The Late Henry Moss, Enemies and There Came A Gypsy Riding for the Almeida Theatre.

Cast: Ayesha Antoine, Tony Armatrading, Martin Barron, Aaron Brown, Lenora Crichlow, Clint Dyer, Jenny Jules, Tunji Kasim, Al Matthews, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Novella Nelson, Susan Salmon, Danny Sapani, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Glynn Sweet, Tony Turner.

Watch the trailer, featuring film of rehearsals and exclusive interviews with the cast.