Tones

Some stereotypes have an element of truth.
A presented set of rules but in the end you get to choose.

What happens if you're not Black enough for the ends, but too Black for the rest of the world? Gerel Falconer's Tones follows the pivotal moments of lead character Jerome, aka The Professor, and his upbringing from childhood to his departure from university. As he battles with his identity we go on a journey through the depths of Black-British culture, class, and belonging.

Tones combines the gritty underground sounds of Hip-Hop, Grime and Drill with the melodrama of opera to tell the story of a treacherous path to self-discovery. The original production was presented by award-winning Wound Up Theatre.

From writer and performer Gerel Falconer, winner of Best Book and Lyrics at the Black British Theatre Awards 2023 and nominee for The Stage Debut Awards 2023, Tones is a riveting exploration of the Black experience and the Mixed experience.

This edition was published to coincide with the run at Summerhall's Roundabout, at Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2024.


About the Author

Gerel Falconer is an award winning actor, writer and "Rapaturg". The cross pollination of Gerel's passion for theatre and roots in underground music scenes has flourished throughout his work with HighRise Theatre. Honing the skill set of story-telling through bars has earned Gerel the title of Rapaturg and resulted in him being at the forefront of evolving Musical Theatre industry. Gerel's theatre credits include: UK Drill Project (Barbican) Lil.Miss.Lady (Roundhouse, HighTide) The Concrete Jungle Book (Artsdepot, Edinburgh Fringe) Penny Lane (The Yard) Merryville (CPT, Latitude) Black Power Desk (Brixton House, Old Vic 12) Alice In Wonderland (Brixton House) & Messiah (Stratford Circus, Streatham Space, Chapter Arts- Cardiff, Bernie Grant). Hailing from Northwest London, representation of the socially disenfranchised is at the forefront of Gerel's work with Highise, resulting in him being a part of delivery teams working in partnership with venues/organisations including We are Spotlight, Centre Point & Artsdepot, working with young people across London. He studied at E15 Acting school, during which he was the winner of the 2012 Lilian Bayliss Award. Gerel's work composing and writing the book and lyrics for Brixton House's production of Alice in Wonderland has earned him a Stage Debut Theatre Award nomination. He has recently just completed a triumphant run of his first debut solo show Tones, at the Pleasance Courtyard at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, produced by Wound Up Theatre.

Jonny Kelly is a theatre director, dramaturg, producer and teacher. He trained as an actor at East15 Acting School. As Artistic Director of Wound Up, he has directed, developed and co-produced Bismillah! An ISIS Tragicomedy and It'll Be Alt-Right On The Night. As a director, his credits include: Redcoats and Revolting Women (Mikron Theatre Company) A Princess Undone (Park Theatre) The Passing Of The Third Floor Back and Proud (Finborough Theatre) Hyem (Northern Stage & Theatre 503) and Money Womb (Theatre 503). As an assistant/associate director he has assisted Justin Audibert and Nina Raine on productions at Trafalgar Studios and a No.1 tour, amongst others. Along with Sofi and Matt, he is an associate artist at The Pleasance Theatre Trust. He was the assistant director at Papatango Theatre company where he still works as a judge on the Papatango new writing prize, and is currently Artistic Director of Wound Up Theatre.