About Monique Touko (director)
Monique Touko has three productions she’ll be directing in 2026, in addition to making her West End directorial debut with Marie and Rosetta; she is directing the UK Tour of The Boy at the Back of the Class and Jaja’s African Hair Braiding at the Lyric Hammersmith.
In 2022 Monique received The Stage Debut Award for Best Director. Her directing credits include Liberation (Royal Exchange), G (Royal Court, Jerwood Theatre Upstairs); UK Premiere of Wedding Band: A Love Hate Story in Black and White (Lyric Hammersmith); UK Premiere of School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play (Lyric Hammersmith); We Need New Names (National Tour); Gone Too Far! (Theatre Royal Stratford East); The Clinic (Almeida Theatre); Fair Play (Bush Theatre), and Malindadzimu (Hampstead Theatre). As an assistant she has worked with Matthew Xia, Christopher Haydon, Kate Hewitt, Lynette Linton, Adjoa Andoh and Ian Rickson. She is also part of The Ubunifu Space – a definitive guide to music and culture from the youth of Africa and the diaspora – the Ubunifu way. Monique is project manager for the Space and regular member of the UK reaction team on the YouTube channel which has a global following of 320K+ subscribers and over 50 million views.
About Marie and Rosetta
Marie and Rosetta story follows Sister Rosetta Tharpe – the godmother of rock ‘n’ roll, a gospel singer and guitar heroine who helped shape popular music as we know today influencing musicians from Elvis 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. 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.
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…
Need to know: Marie and Rosetta runs @sohoplace theatre from 28 February to 11 April 2026 | Visit Afridiziak Theatre News for our full theatre listings
