Something a bit different is coming to The Winchester next week, as literary and theatre performances at the venue will mark Black History Month.

This is a remembrance of important people and events in the history of the African communities throughout the world that are descended from the historic movement of peoples from Africa.

Award winning writer, Bernardine Evaristo MBE, has given permission to a local not-for-profit theatre production company for extracts of her latest novel, Mr Loverman, to be read at the venue.

Doppelganger Productions will be staging two plays, in addition to the readings from Evaristo’s Mr Loverman, at The Winchester Pub and Mary Shelley Theatre. You Know What You Are by Dominic Armstrong is a one-act play that explores the theme of racism in football and asks what it means to wear club colours.

Blackbird on a Bus is a powerful monologue from Rosa Parks that looks back on the seminal event that changed her life and the lives of many others. Rosa was jailed in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man, a violation of Alabama’s racial segregation laws.

Artistic director, John Foster, explains: “I have long wanted to mount a production celebrating Black History Month, especially in Bournemouth where there is such little debate about ethnicity, despite the rapidly changing tide of the town’s population.

“We are keen to avoid parochialism and nationalism but to embrace an international context, reflecting both the positive and negative aspects of Black history and contemporary experiences. Above all, the showcase should be a celebration of diversity and uniqueness.”

Performances will take place from Sunday, October 20 until Tuesday, October 22 at The Winchester Pub and on Wednesday, October 23 at the Mary Shelley Theatre in Boscombe.