May — July 2025

God don’t want the Devil to have all the good music, right?

A Rose Theatre, English Touring Theatre, and Chichester Festival Theatre co-production. Directed by Monique Touko.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the roof-raising ‘godmother of rock ‘n’ roll’, influenced countless musicians from Elvis Presley to Johnny Cash. This sparkling, intimate portrait of Rosetta and her beloved singing partner, Marie Knight, restores these forgotten musical heroines to the spotlight as one of the most remarkable and revolutionary duos in music history.

Mississippi, 1946. Sister Rosetta has changed the face of gospel music with her exuberant, electric guitar-playing style. Shunned by straitlaced church folk for performing in nightclubs and glorying in rhythm and blues, she’s persuaded the saintly young singer Marie to join her on a tour of the segregated Southern states. But first she has to convert Marie’s pure Sunday sound into something that has just a little more swing…

Featuring a wealth of joyous rock and gospel hits including Didn’t It Rain and Peace In The Valley, the show will feature live musicians accompanying Olivier Award-winning West End star Beverley Knight (Memphis, The Drifters Girl, Sylvia, Sister Act) as Rosetta Tharpe.

Cast

Sister Rosetta Tharpe — Beverley Knight
Marie Knight — Ntombizodwa Ndlovu

Creative Team

Writer — George Brant
Director — Monique Touko
Set Designer — Lily Arnold
Costume Designer — Jodie-Simone Howe
Movement Director — Kloe Dean
Music Supervisor, Arranger & Orchestrator — Liam Godwin
Lighting Designer — Matt Haskins
Sound Designer — Tony Gayle
Intimacy Director — Bethan Clark
Voice & Dialect Coach — Joel Trill
Casting Director — Jacob Sparrow CDG
Associate Director — Jordi M. Carter
Associate Movement Director — Cache Thake
Associate Lighting Designer — Teresa Nagel