The Black Smock Band – Daedalus Theatre Company

Artist Spotlight: The Black Smock Band

By DaedalusAdmin on Thursday, April 2, 2026

Photo of Paul Burgess, Dan Cox and Andy Bannister (left to right) by Tasnim Siddiqa Amin at a rehearsal in Deptford, 2026

Daedalus Theatre Company and the Black Smock Band have worked together on many projects. You may recognise our director, Paul Burgess, as one of the members of the band! After years of collaborations, we think it’s time to spotlight the band in their own right. Grab a cuppa and settle in because it’s a read as heart-warming as the band’s music, which incidentally, you can hear live – and sing along with – on Wednesday 22nd April 2026 at Camden People’s Theatre. Book your tickets for QUEER REVOLUTIONARY SINGALONG now:

Book here

Tell us about yourself and your creative practice.

Andy Bannister: In addition to being a musician, I’m a visual artist and a tutor working in higher education. I teach on a fine art course where I mainly work with students who focus on sculpture and combined media- this reflects what I do when I’m in my studio. In my current work, I’m exploring the impact of science and technology on culture and society, with a focus on the widespread civil opposition to the nuclear arms race during the Cold War period. There’s a crossover here with my activities as a musician, in terms of my interest in the role of folk music within protest movements and the emphasis on stories of resistance within the folk tradition.

Associate Artists Events Partners and Collaborators

Daedalus returns to Camden People’s Theatre with QUEER REVOLUTIONARY SINGALONG featuring The Black Smock Band

By DaedalusAdmin on Monday, March 16, 2026

Andy Bannister, Dan Cox and Paul Burgess at Deptford Pride 2019. Photo by Dino Paciulli

Daedalus returns to Camden People’s Theatre 15 years after their acclaimed immersive documentary drama A Place at the Table, to present QUEER REVOLUTIONARY SINGALONG with ecosocialist folk band The Black Smock Band.

Join us this April for fiery folk tunes and leftie singalong classics, from ‘Bread and Roses’ to ‘Solidarity Forever’. Bring your singing voice and your revolutionary fervour! There will also be a limited number of floor spots. If you have a song that fits the vibe, and you’d like to share it, get in touch with the band via this link.

Date: Weds 22 April 2026
Time: 8.30PM
Location: Camden People’s Theatre
Tickets are pay what you can, starting from £3

Book here

Major Projects Partners and Collaborators

Mobile Incitement in Exeter

By DaedalusAdmin on Saturday, October 25, 2025

Left to right: Jono Chant-Stevens, Dan Cox, Paul Burgess and Andy Bannister. Photo, Thomas Chant.

This summer, Daedalus performed its gig-theatre piece Gerrard Winstanley’s True and Righteous Mobile Incitement Unit at St Nicholas Priory, Exeter. Artistic director Paul Burgess reflects on the project.

We’ve been talking with the team at St Nicholas Priory for a while. It’s a fantastic building; the oldest in Exeter. Full of history, it felt like the perfect venue for Mobile Incitement. However, our first attempt, part of a planned tour in 2020, was cancelled due to Covid. This year, we finally made it. It was the first time we’d performed the show since we did it at the Freedom and Independence Theatre Festival in Whitechapel, East London, back in 2021. On that occasion, guest performer Saida Tani joined us to sing traditional Bengali songs.

Mobile Incitement, as we call it for short, was made in collaboration with The Black Smock Band – a gay eco-socialist folk band based in Deptford, South-east London. It tells the story of protest in England from the Peasants’ Revolt to the end of the Industrial Revolution, through historical texts, folk songs, and new writing. But what makes it particularly special is that everywhere we take it, we work with local people to make the show truly site-specific, with lots of local stories.

Events Major Projects

Mobile Incitement returns!

By DaedalusAdmin on Thursday, July 17, 2025

When the pandemic struck in 2020 we had a tour arranged for our gig-theatre piece Gerrard Winstanley’s True and Righteous Mobile Incitement Unit, and were in the middle of fundraising. That tour didn’t happen, obviously, but five years later one of the venues has invited us to perform. It will be part of a season of performances, talks and other events looking at the theme of protest and Exeter’s role in the Civil War period. The venue is St Nicholas Priory, a fantastic mediaeval building in the heart of Exeter. We will be working with local historians and performers to create a really special version of the show.

Events Major Projects Professional Development

Protest Song Exchange

By DaedalusAdmin on Saturday, January 29, 2022

When?

11:30am-1pm, Sunday 6th February 2022

What?

This is an exciting opportunity for musicians and others with an interest in current and historical protest to get together and share songs, music and knowledge. Hosted by Daedalus Theatre Company and The Black Smock Band as part of the Mobile Incitement project, and also connected with the storytelling project East, the session offers an open, creative space for cultural exchange and collaboration, and to develop new skills and ways of working.

This is paid professional development opportunity, not a public event. Places are limited. That said, do get in touch if you’re interested in taking part.

Associate Artists Major Projects Partners and Collaborators

Congrats to all for an amazing festival!

By DaedalusAdmin on Thursday, December 16, 2021

We had a great time performing Mobile Incitement at the Freedom and Independence Theatre Festival, with some amazing audience feedback. We feel deep gratitude to the many people who made it happen but especially Kazi Ruksana Begum, Tower Hamlets Arts Development Officer, who is an absolute force of nature, making amazing things like this festival happen on tiny budgets, while calmly dealing with the Herculean task of coordinating lot of artists and companies, both professional and amateur. Big thanks also to Mushahed Ahmed, Jules Deering, Ali Campbell and everyone else.

Events Major Projects Partners and Collaborators

Welcome to Guest Artist Saida Tani

By DaedalusAdmin on Thursday, November 4, 2021

We’re very excited to be joined by Saida Tani for our performances at Freedom and Independence Theatre Festival. Normally, at each place we visit with the project, we work with local people to create a bespoke version of the piece that reflects the radical history of the area. But here, well, we’re back in East London, our home territory. We’re the locals. So why not work with a locally much-loved star?

Make sure you get to see this! You can get your tickets here:

Book for ‘Mobile Incitement’

Hope to see you there!

Major Projects Partners and Collaborators

Mobile Incitement on Channel S

By DaedalusAdmin on Sunday, October 31, 2021

Our artistic director, Paul, was on Channel S last night to talk about bringing Mobile Incitement to Freedom and Independence Theatre Festival, along with representatives from some of the other companies involved. You can watch it on Facebook here:

Watch on Facebook

You can book your tickets for Mobile Incitement here:

Tickets on Eventbrite

We hope to see you there, for a unique combination of gig, theatre and celebration!

Major Projects Partners and Collaborators

Mobile Incitement returns to East London

By DaedalusAdmin on Saturday, October 30, 2021

After having its tour cancelled due to the pandemic, Gerrard Winstanley’s True & Righteous Mobile Incitement Unit is back! And not just that – it’s returning to Daedalus’s home turf: London’s East End.

The show, made in collaboration with The Black Smock Band and Rua Arts, with funding from Arts Council England, been invited to open the Freedom and Independence Theatre Festival with a bespoke version of the show, featuring guest artist Saida Tani. Who is amazing. It’s all quite an honour, frankly. It’s next Friday and Saturday at the Brady Centre in Whitechapel.

You can find out about the festival and download the brochure here – there are lots of great shows and other events. Do have a look.

You can also jump straight to buying a ticket for Mobile Incitement (as we call it for short) here on Eventbrite.

We hope to see you there!

Major Projects Participation Partners and Collaborators

(Im)Mobile Incitement

By DaedalusAdmin on Sunday, November 22, 2020

We should be on tour now with Gerrard Winstanley’s True and Righteous Mobile Incitement Unit. Today we would have been at Slung Low’s venue The Holbeck. Slung Low’s work during the pandemic has been a source of inspiration nationwide, and it’s hard to think of a better place for a piece of theatre that’s all about reclaiming the collective, progressive side of England’s chequered past. Hopefully we can be there in 2021.

Health and the preservation of life obviously come first so we’re happy to postpone. But one of the ironies of the situation is that the original version of Mobile Incitement, made well before the first case of Covid-19 was detected, was an outdoor show and naturally quite socially-distant. Not only our subject matter but our format are truly of our time! Still, we need to be confidently past the worst of the pandemic before we can tour. John Ball, during the Peasants’ Revolt, famously declared that “Now is the time”. But right now, no, it isn’t.

Tag Archives: The Black Smock Band