Since 1999

Trusted News & Reviews

25

years

best of british theatre

Official
tickets

Pick
your seats

Since 1999

25 years

Official tickets

Pick seats

Since 1999

Trusted News & Reviews

25

years

best of british theatre

Official
tickets

Pick
your seats

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

2 Hours and 35 Minutes

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Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is currently playing at the National Theatre.

Chicago, 1927. In a recording studio on the city’s South Side, a battle of wills is raging.

Ma Rainey, Mother of the Blues, uses every trick in the book to fight her record producers for control of her music. Hardened by years of ill-treatment and bad deals, she’s determined that ‘Black Bottom’, the song that bears her name, will be recorded her way.

But Levee, the band’s swaggering young trumpet player, plans to catapult the band into the jazz age. His ambition puts them all in danger.

Inspired by the real-life Blues legend and infused with her music, 
August Wilson
’s play speaks powerfully of a struggle for self-determination against overwhelming odds.
Sharon D Clarke 
plays Ma Rainey.

Description

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is currently playing at the National Theatre.

Chicago, 1927. In a recording studio on the city’s South Side, a battle of wills is raging.

Ma Rainey, Mother of the Blues, uses every trick in the book to fight her record producers for control of her music. Hardened by years of ill-treatment and bad deals, she’s determined that ‘Black Bottom’, the song that bears her name, will be recorded her way.

But Levee, the band’s swaggering young trumpet player, plans to catapult the band into the jazz age. His ambition puts them all in danger.

Inspired by the real-life Blues legend and infused with her music, 
August Wilson
’s play speaks powerfully of a struggle for self-determination against overwhelming odds.
Sharon D Clarke 
plays Ma Rainey.

Description

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is currently playing at the National Theatre.

Chicago, 1927. In a recording studio on the city’s South Side, a battle of wills is raging.

Ma Rainey, Mother of the Blues, uses every trick in the book to fight her record producers for control of her music. Hardened by years of ill-treatment and bad deals, she’s determined that ‘Black Bottom’, the song that bears her name, will be recorded her way.

But Levee, the band’s swaggering young trumpet player, plans to catapult the band into the jazz age. His ambition puts them all in danger.

Inspired by the real-life Blues legend and infused with her music, 
August Wilson
’s play speaks powerfully of a struggle for self-determination against overwhelming odds.
Sharon D Clarke 
plays Ma Rainey.

Opening times

Monday to Saturday at 7.30pm Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday at 2.15pm

Opening times

Monday to Saturday at 7.30pm Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday at 2.15pm

Opening times

Monday to Saturday at 7.30pm Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday at 2.15pm

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