Name: Half Moon and Z-arts present Grandad Anansi
Start: 2025-10-11T13:00:00+01:00
Location: Whitby Hall, Stanney Lane, CH65 9 Ellesmere Port, United Kingdom

Half Moon and Z-arts present
Grandad Anansi
Dates
10th October (Schools) – Please email [email protected] for more details and to book
11th October 1pm – Book Tickets | 3pm – Book Tickets
Ages 4+
Running Approx. 50mins, no interval
Abi and her Grandad tell each other Anansi folktales. They play games as they work together in the garden among the beautiful flowers and tasty vegetables. As they plant memories, they share secrets and develop a bond that nothing can break.
Grandad is as smart and mischievous as the wily Anansi legend, a part human, part spider and the subject of many West African and Caribbean folk stories. Can he find a way to tell his granddaughter about his plans to return to Jamaica, his beloved homeland?
Join our intrepid characters as they step into the unexpected in this humorous and heartfelt inter-generational adventure. With captivating songs and joyous dancing, Grandad Anansi is an uplifting tale of love, courage and letting go that celebrates storytelling and shines a light on Jamaican culture and the Windrush generation.
Written by award-winning children’s author Elayne Ogbeta, Grandad Anansi is a Half Moon and Z-arts co-production: an exciting collaboration by the UK’s leading small-scale young people’s venue and touring company and Manchester’s unique venue for children and families.
Grandad Anansi won Best Performance at the Manchester Culture Awards 2023. It was developed in partnership with the African Caribbean Care Group and schools in Hulme, Manchester.
Reviews
★★★★ “Elayne Ogbeta’s warm, pleasing and thoughtful show…manages to pack in more layers than a good strudel…. Storytelling, and its extraordinary power, is at the centre of the piece.”
Sardines Magazine
“A colourful, amazing production”
The Guardian
“We laughed, we danced, we even shed a tear! Thank you for retelling such a wonderful story with such talent.”
Audience member
“Beautiful story that captured Anansi and explores heritage and loss. Thank you!”
Audience member
“Thoroughly enjoyed it. The story provoked deep emotions from my 8-year-old son, he shed a tear.”
Audience member
“The story, actors and set were all fantastic. My daughter enjoyed learning about a different culture.”
Audience member
ABOUT HALF MOON
Half Moon is the UK’s leading small-scale young people’s venue and touring company. It is a local organisation with a national remit, committed to supporting artists and young people at every stage of their creative development. Working from their base in East London, they specialise in new writing and artform development, acting as a gateway organisation that provides pathways for progression and experimentation. Their wide-ranging programme reaches around 50,000 annually and engages those who are often excluded from arts activity. Activity includes a season of professional plays for young audiences, national touring productions and an extensive creative learning programme, including eight youth theatres. Half Moon is a National Portfolio Organisation of Arts Council England and receives regular funding from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
www.halfmoon.org.uk
ABOUT Z-ARTS
With a year-round programme of arts activities and theatre productions, Z-arts is Manchester’s dedicated venue for children and families. From drama, dance, music, yoga and arts and crafts activities to high-quality theatre productions for families, their work is influenced by their audiences and customers. Through their participation activities and creative learning, both inside and outside the building, Z-arts hear what families want from art, and they follow their lead.
Z-arts leads the Big Imaginations network of venues across the North West to bring brilliant children’s theatre to the region. They commission and programme theatre that stimulates, reflects and entertains the rich diversity of modern family life.
Z-arts are strategically funded by Manchester City Council and is a National Portfolio Organisation of Arts Council England.
www.z-arts.org.org.uk