Blue Plaques Talk Back
Blue Plaques Talk Back returns to Chelsea Arts Festival following its riveting launch event at the festival in 2025. This unique, immersive, live show celebrates four iconic – or intriguingly overlooked – blue plaques, chosen specifically for their connection to the surrounding neighbourhood. The result is a performance of history and culture, brought vividly to life.
Mishal Husain, celebrated broadcaster, writer and journalist, will be in conversation reflecting on the legacy of one of the 20th century’s defining political figures, Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India. Husain’s personal family history of the 1947 Partition of Pakistan and India is documented in her poignant memoir Broken Threads: My Family from Empire to Independence. The book traces the lives of her four grandparents during the fall of the British Empire.
Critically acclaimed comedian, TV presenter, and podcaster Nish Kumar joins the event to discuss the Blue Plaque of his idol Jimi Hendrix, the guitarist and songwriter whose influence on music endures to this day.
Ballet star Lauren Cuthbertson, Principal Dancer at the Royal Ballet, will join the line-up to discuss the work of Russian ballerina and teacher Princess Serafina Astafieva who laid the foundational bedrock for classical British ballet. Princess Serafina’s Blue Plaque adorns the famous Pheasantry building on the King’s Road, where her studio was located – there she taught Margot Fonteyn, Anton Dolin, Marie Rambert and other ballet greats.
More speakers to be announced soon.
Last year Sir Stephen Fry joined Hannah MacInnes in conversation about Oscar Wilde, Dennis Morris on Bob Marley, Lyse Doucet on Martha Gellhorn, and Kathryn Hughes on George Eliot.
*Please note that all artists appear subject to availability. Artists listed are correct at time of publication. In the unlikely event that an artist needs to cancel, we reserve the right to amend the lineup without notice and no refunds will be due.
Blue Plaques Talk Back is produced by Storystock Sounds.
This event is part of the 2026 Chelsea Arts Festival.
In partnership with
Duration: approx. 1 hour 15 mins (no interval)
Ticket Information
£33, £27
All prices include a £4.50 transaction fee per booking (not per ticket), which applies to all online bookings. No booking fee applies to Encore members or bookings made in person at the box office. See booking information for details, payment methods and delivery options.
Check out the view from your chosen seat on our interactive seating plan.
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Blue Plaques Talk Back
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Blue Plaques Talk Back returns to Chelsea Arts Festival following its riveting launch event at the festival in 2025. This unique, immersive, live show celebrates four iconic – or intriguingly overlooked – blue plaques, chosen specifically for the...
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Presented by the Women’s Prize
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with Asa Butterfield, Indira Varma, Tamsin Greig, Giles Terera MBE and Samantha Spiro
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