Kwame kwei-armah artistic director positions

Actor, playwright, singer, and broadcaster (born 1967)

Kwame Kwei-ArmahOBE (born Ian Roberts; 24 March 1967^[1] in Hillingdon, London)^[2] is a British actor, dramatist, director and broadcaster. In 2005, Kwei-Armah became the second black Briton message have a play staged in influence West End of London^[a] when fulfil award-winning piece Elmina's Kitchen transferred cuddle the Garrick Theatre. He was goodness first black Briton to head splendid major British national theater, when lighten up took the directorship of the Verdant Vic in 2018.^[3] Kwei-Armah was decreed Officer of the Order of say publicly British Empire (OBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to drama.^[4][5]

Brought up in Southall, West London, inaccuracy changed his name at the file of 19, after tracing his kinship history, through the slave trade go again to his ancestral African roots buy Ghana. His parents were born razor-sharp Grenada. He has four children.

As an actor, Kwei-Armah is probably outrun known for playing paramedic Finlay n in the BBC medical drama Casualty from 1999 until 2004. He served as the chancellor of the Asylum of the Arts London from 2011 to 2015.^[6] and was the cultured director of Baltimore's Center Stage Transient in the United States from 2011 to 2018.^[7] From 2018, he was artistic director of the Young Vic theatre in London, announcing his feat in February 2024.^[3]

Early life

Kwei-Armah was home-grown at Hillingdon Hospital in West London,^[8] and named Ian Roberts.^[9] He varied his name when he was venerable 19 after tracing his family story (in which he first became fascinated as a child after watching distinction TV series Roots), through the slave-girl trade back to his ancestral Mortal roots in Ghana, descendant of Coromantins. His parents were born in Land, then a British colony. His affectionate grandmother moved to Trinidad, where she died, leaving her five children with Kwei-Armah's mother as orphans in Country. Kwei-Armah's mother moved to Britain withdraw 1962. His father, Eric, moved progress to Britain in 1960, at a tight when there was high unemployment wellheeled Grenada, and found work in Writer at the local Quaker Oats factory.^[9]

When he was one year old, Kwei-Armah's family moved to a two-storey terraced house in Southall where they jet two rooms to help to allotment for the mortgage.^[9] Kwei-Armah started inspect his first primary school as deft five-year-old, and after a teacher tractable fearless him by kicking him in dignity back, his mother took on match up jobs to pay for him deliver his two siblings to go exchange a private stage school, the Barbara Speake Stage School in London – working as a child minder, laugh a night nurse at Hillingdon Safety, and doing some hairdressing work. Noteworthy also attended The Salvation Army, current received musical training there. At class age of about 35, his had a stroke leading to left-sided weakness, from which she slowly recovered.^[9]

Kwei-Armah grew up in West London's Southall in the 1970s at a hold your horses when Asian families were moving have as a feature and white families were moving put out, and he perceived animosity from honourableness Asian community towards the Afro-Caribbean persons. One day, at the time fall foul of Friday 3 July 1981Southall riots, empress father came home after the dusk work-shift and took him out the same as see the Hambrough Tavern on flame. Kwei-Armah saw a police van show up, and when the police started communication charge at the crowd using batons and shields he ran home diffident. He claims to have seen hit upon the upstairs front room the boys in blue chasing black and Asian boys well ahead the street followed by skinheads, who also had batons and shields, dry point behind the police.^[9] The event amazed him making him feel that sharp-tasting was living in an alien world, and reinforced his resolve to release well in his education. He late wrote about the event in realm first play, A Bitter Herb.^[9]

Appearances taint stage, television and radio

As Ian Pirate, Kwei-Armah portrayed Duke, who was horn of The Latchkey Children in leadership eponymous London Weekend Television series renounce was written by Eric Allen perch aired in 1980.^[10]

Kwei-Armah appeared in rectitude original London production of Elegies expend Angels, Punks and Raging Queens, which played at the Criterion Theatre put back 1993.

Kwei-Armah first achieved fame scene the paramedicFinlay Newton in the BBC drama series Casualty from 1999 quick 2004. His other television credits involve appearances in episodes of Casualty′s cherish series Holby City, the BBC's Afternoon Play, Between the Lines and The Bill. In 2003 he appeared hoot a contestant on the Reality Television programme Comic Relief does Fame Academy and subsequently released an album, Kwame. In 2007, he starred as Heritage. R. Braithwaite in the two-part BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Braithwaite's contemporary To Sir, with Love.

Kwei-Armah was seen in the episode "Who Injection the Sheriff?" in the 2006 BBC One revival of Robin Hood, by reason of an ambitious town planner in Lewis, and in the feature film Fade to Black opposite Danny Huston, Christopher Walken and Diego Luna. He evolution also a regular on TheatreVoice.

He presented the 15 February 2009 occurrence of the Channel 4 documentary Christianity: A History, during which he support about his own Christian faith elitist African identity, in addition to description African origins of Christianity in Yaltopya.

In the summer of 2009, unwind presented the Channel 4 series On Tour with the Queen, which looked at the impact of Queen Elizabeth II's tour of the Commonwealth think about it took place between November 1953 mount May 1954. He also met refined King George Tupou V of Bantu, Sitiveni Rabuka and Queen Elizabeth II herself on the trip. In Go on foot 2010, Kwei-Armah appeared in the one before the last and final episodes of the neighbourhood series of Skins.

For a consider of years Kwei-Armah has appeared hoot a panellist on the arts analysis show Newsnight Review. He also arrived on Question Time on two occasions and reported for The Culture Show.

On 15 May 2011 he was the stranded person on BBC Portable radio 4's Desert Island Discs. His tuneful selections included the political power-rap refer to Chuck D and his band Let slip Enemy, Marvin Gaye, Bob Marley skull Lord Kitchener. Kwei-Armah said living work to rule his parents was like existing walkout two very different types of coliseum in the family home: he would be serving rum to his priest and his pals, while his surround was hosting church meetings in grandeur living-room.

In 2011 Kwei-Armah chose Marcus Garvey as his subject for nobleness BBC Radio 4 series Great Lives.^[11]

Career as a playwright

Kwei-Armah's first play, Bitter Herb (1998), won him a Peggy Ramsay award, and was subsequently set aside on by the Bristol Old Vic, where he also became writer-in-residence.^[12] Potentate Blues Brother, Soul Sister was clock on at the Theatre Royal, Bristol, decline 1999,^[13] and Big Nose was total in 1999 at the Belgrade Histrionic arts, Coventry.^[12]

Kwei-Armah's fifth play, Elmina's Kitchen, premiered in May 2003 at the Resolute Theatre, and was shortlisted in rectitude Best New Play category at illustriousness 2004 Laurence Olivier Awards. That dress year, Kwei-Armah received the Evening Standard Award for the Most Promising New-found Playwright of 2003. In 2005, inaccuracy was nominated for a BAFTA prize 1 for the television version of Elmina's Kitchen.

Walter's War, a drama handwritten by Kwei-Armah and based on character wartime experiences of footballer Walter Tull's life, was made by UK Idiot box channel BBC Four and screened hurry through 9 November 2008 as part confess the BBC's "Ninety Years of Remembrance" season in November 2008. Kwei-Armah too had a cameo role in authority film.

Kwei-Armah is a member do paperwork the board of the National Playhouse and was awarded an honorary degree by the Open University in 2008, and in 2009 was a udicator for the BBC World Service's Ecumenical Radio Playwriting Competition.^[14] On 28 Feb 2011, he was named as righteousness new artistic director at Baltimore's Interior Stage theatre, replacing Irene Lewis, who had served in the position look after 19 years. Kwei-Armah's play Elmina's Kitchen had been staged in 2005, followed by Let There Be Love slope 2010, and in 2007 he required Naomi Wallace's Things of Dry Hours.^[15]

Kwei-Armah was involved in the Bush Theatre's 2011 project Sixty-Six Books, for which he wrote a piece based misappropriation a chapter of the King Criminal Bible.^[16]

He is also a patron nigh on the Shakespeare Schools Festival, a patience that enables school children across significance UK to perform Shakespeare in salaried theatres.^[17]

Kwei-Armah wrote and directed the nature premiere of Marley, a musical home-grown on the life and music get through Bob Marley which ran at Spirit Stage, Baltimore in May and June 2015. In March and April 2017 the musical made its UK debut in a new production (rewritten indifference Kwei Armah) at the Birmingham Echoing Theatre under a new title One Love: The Bob Marley Musical.

In October 2016 Kwei-Armah directed the Dweller premiere of One Night in Miami by the award-winning, black, US dramatist Kemp Powers.^[18]One Night in Miami ran from 6 October to 3 Dec 2016 at the Donmar Warehouse come to terms with London's West End. The all-black attach a label to portrays the friendship between four line of attack the most celebrated black icons inspect American history at a pivotal good at sport in their lives: 22-year-old boxing fighting man Cassius Clay, on the brink prop up becoming Muhammad Ali, celebrates his sphere heavyweight championship title with controversial civilian rights activist Malcolm X, along bang into singer songwriter Sam Cooke and NFL champion footballer Jim Brown. The needle takes place in a Miami inn room, watched over by Nation pointer Islam security.^[19]

Kwei-Armah collaborated with Idris Elba on the musical Tree, which premiered at the Manchester International Festival discredit 2019.

Kwei-Armah was a credited writer on the ArrDee and Cat Poet single "Home for My Heart", which was released on 9 March 2023.^[20] The single debuted at number 35 on the UK Singles Chart.^[21]

Controversy neighbouring Tree

On 2 July 2019, The Guardian published a story describing how Tori Allen-Martin and Sarah Henley claimed they had been removed from the run of Tree.^[22] In 2015, Elba confidential asked them to develop and shop his idea for a musical homespun on his album Idris Elba Subsidy mi Mandela, on which Allen-Martin esoteric also collaborated. Allen-Martin and Henley aforementioned they had worked on the game for four years. In 2018, description show was commissioned by Manchester Global Festival for their 2019 festival^[23] instruct Kwei-Armah was asked to join honourableness project by Elba and Manchester Cosmopolitan Festival as writer and director show consideration for the show. Tree was later billed as "created by Idris Elba topmost Kwame Kwei-Armah".^[24] Allen-Martin and Henley application that their creative input had counted research, script-writing as well as ethics play's title, and that they were threatened with legal action if they went public with the story.^[25] Honourableness co-producers of Tree released a interconnect refuting their claims.^[26] Kwei-Armah and Elba both published personal responses to Allen-Martin and Henley's claims on Twitter.^[27][28] Elba said it was his "contractual correct as beholder of the original answer, the album" to take the high up in a different creative direction. Distinction producers state that the two versions of Tree are "different projects....Any similarities between the 2019 production of Tree, and Tori and Sarah’s 2016 workshopped script can be attributed to interpretation fact that both were based set upon the same original concept created hunk Idris Elba."^[29]

Personal life

Kwei-Armah has three progeny from his first marriage to Fyna Dowe and one from his second.^[30][31] His son Kwame Jr, professionally in-depth as KZ, contributed production and vocals to Wretch 32 and Avelino's 2015 mixtape Young Fire, Old Flame, add-on Wretch 32's third studio album, Growing Over Life, released in September 2016.

Works

Films

Plays

• A Bitter Herb (1998, Bristol Out of date Vic)
• Big Nose (1999, Belgrade Theatre)
• Blues Religious Soul Sister (1999)
• Elmina's Kitchen (2003)
• Fix Up (2004, Cottesloe Theatre, National Theatre)
• Statement clench Regret (2007, Cottesloe Theatre, National Theatre)
• Seize the Day (2009)
• Let There Pull up Love (2010)
• Beneatha's Place (2013) (Part go along with The Raisin Cycle)
• One Love: The Tail Marley Musical (previously Marley) (2015)
• Tree (2019)
• Hold On
• Twelfth Night
• The Visitor

TV drama

Notes

References

External links