Podcast appearances and mentions of kwame kwei armah

Gregg T. Daniel is best known for his recurring role as David Carter in HBO's show Insecure. In addition, he plays Reverend Daniels on another one of HBO's hit shows True Blood. With over 100 credits in film and television, Gregg's roles span the spectrum from comedy (I Am Not Okay With This) to drama (Insecure) to procedurals (911, Grey's Anatomy), science fiction (Star Trek: Voyager) and children's shows (Austin & Ally, Kickin' It). Big screen credits include Spiderman 3, 7th & Union, and Truth Or Dare. Gregg recurred on HBO's Insecure and starred in the award-winning film 7th And Union. Currently, he is set to be in the upcoming sequel of Joker, Joker: Folie à Deux. Gregg is a very accomplished theater director. He is a founding member and Artistic Director of the Los Angeles-based Lower Depth Theatre Ensemble. He was nominated for a 2013 NAACP Image Award for helming the Los Angeles production of “Kwame Kwei-Armah's Elmina's Kitchen”, also winning the NAACP Award for Best Ensemble for 2013. In addition, he has directed three August Wilson Plays. Prior, his stage direction included 2009's acclaimed production of Tom Stoppard's “Heroes”, Sybyl Walker's “Beneath Rippling Waters”, Lee Blessing's “Cobb”, and Frank McGuinness's “Someone Who'll Watch Over Me”. Gregg also directed Pulitzer Prize-winning author August Wilson's “Seven Guitars” For Theatre 150 in Ojai, California, he directed Athol Fugards' “Sizwe Bansi”, Diana Son's “Stop Kiss”, and the 2004 Pulitzer Prize winner, “I Am My Own Wife by Doug Wright”. Gregg has also directed and acted in various theater productions including, “Hamlet”, “Radio Golf”, and “Les Blancs”. He recently directed his fourth August Wilson play, "King Hedley II," at A Noise Within Theatre and is set to direct his fifth. This marks the halfway mark through the playwright's ten-play cycle.   @stagelync Thank you to our sponsor @clear-com The StageLync Podcast is a branch of our larger StageLync Community. Come visit us at www.stagelync.com

Gregg T. Daniel is best known for his recurring role as David Carter in HBO's show Insecure. In addition, he plays Reverend Daniels on another one of HBO's hit shows True Blood. With over 100 credits in film and television, Gregg's roles span the spectrum from comedy (I Am Not Okay With This) to drama (Insecure) to procedurals (911, Grey's Anatomy), science fiction (Star Trek: Voyager) and children's shows (Austin & Ally, Kickin' It). Big screen credits include Spiderman 3, 7th & Union, and Truth Or Dare. Gregg recurred on HBO's Insecure and starred in the award-winning film 7th And Union. Currently, he is set to be in the upcoming sequel of Joker, Joker: Folie à Deux. Gregg is a very accomplished theater director. He is a founding member and Artistic Director of the Los Angeles-based Lower Depth Theatre Ensemble. He was nominated for a 2013 NAACP Image Award for helming the Los Angeles production of “Kwame Kwei-Armah's Elmina's Kitchen”, also winning the NAACP Award for Best Ensemble for 2013. In addition, he has directed three August Wilson Plays. Prior, his stage direction included 2009's acclaimed production of Tom Stoppard's “Heroes”, Sybyl Walker's “Beneath Rippling Waters”, Lee Blessing's “Cobb”, and Frank McGuinness's “Someone Who'll Watch Over Me”. Gregg also directed Pulitzer Prize-winning author August Wilson's “Seven Guitars” For Theatre 150 in Ojai, California, he directed Athol Fugards' “Sizwe Bansi”, Diana Son's “Stop Kiss”, and the 2004 Pulitzer Prize winner, “I Am My Own Wife by Doug Wright”. Gregg has also directed and acted in various theater productions including, “Hamlet”, “Radio Golf”, and “Les Blancs”. He recently directed his fourth August Wilson play, "King Hedley II," at A Noise Within Theatre and is set to direct his fifth. This marks the halfway mark through the playwright's ten-play cycle.   “ATTENTION SPOTIFY LISTENERS: IF you want to WATCH this with VIDEO, you can also subscribe to our video version: https://open.spotify.com/show/5e9KnBRZdjUTXTvCe6Nrqm?si=6639537c61044396” @stagelync Thank you to our sponsor @clear-com The StageLync Podcast is a branch of our larger StageLync Community. Come visit us at www.stagelync.com

Francesca Moody, esteemed theatre producer of "Fleabag" and "Baby Reindeer", joins host Lucy Eaton for an eye-opening chat in this week's episode. Francesca shares her profound admiration for Dennis Kelly, choosing Jess' final monologue from "Love & Money" as her favourite speech. The conversation also explores Francesca's long-standing relationship with the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, a pivotal platform throughout her illustrious career. Tune in to hear her insightful reflections on the festival's impact on contemporary theatre and her own professional journey. And don't miss her behind-the-scenes insights into the importance of "Fleabag" on her subsequent career and how she feels about the lives of "Fleabag" and "Baby Reindeer" on screen.Hear Me Out is hosted by Lucy Eaton, a theatre producer and West End / screen actress best known for her role as Lucy in hit BBC comedy ‘Staged'. Other episodes of Hear Me Out include Claire Skinner, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Neil Gaiman and Brendan Coyle.Follow us on TikTok, Instagram and X at @PodHearMeOut.** Join the family by subscribing on iTunes or becoming a Hear Me Out Patreon! www.patreon.com/podhearmeout **Podcast of the Week - GuardianTop 10 theatre podcasts - Feedspot"An ode to the brilliance of language peppered with personal anecdotes" - Vanity FairA Lucy Eaton Productions podcast. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week's enlightening conversation is thanks to esteemed actor Shaun Dooley, known for his roles in Apple's recent “Criminal Record, “Broadchurch”, “Mr Bates vs The Post Office” and “Saltburn”. Joined by host Lucy Eaton, Shaun delves into the depths of Harold Pinter's timeless play, "The Caretaker," focusing on Aston's poignant monologue. Along the way, he candidly shares his experiences with nerves and imposter syndrome, and challenges the conventional wisdom of media critics. Also tune in to find out what Die Hard, Father of the Bride and Forrest Gump all have in common…Hear Me Out is hosted by Lucy Eaton, a theatre producer and West End / screen actress best known for her role as Lucy in hit BBC comedy ‘Staged'. Other episodes of Hear Me Out include Claire Skinner, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Neil Gaiman and Brendan Coyle.Follow us on TikTok, Instagram and X at @PodHearMeOut.**Join the family by subscribing on iTunes or becoming a Hear Me Out Patreon! www.patreon.com/podhearmeout **Podcast of the Week - GuardianTop 10 theatre podcasts - Feedspot"An ode to the brilliance of language peppered with personal anecdotes" - Vanity FairA Lucy Eaton Productions podcast. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Iconic "Misfits" star Antonia Thomas takes centre stage on this week's Hear Me Out episode, offering an inside look into her illustrious career spanning both sides of the pond. Antonia delves into her favourite speech from Nina Segal's "Shooting Hedda Gabler," opens up about the challenges of pushing actors to their limits in film creation, and candidly discusses the pervasive snobbery between the theatre and screen industries. As a classically trained British actress (a graduate of Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and a National Theatre alum) and a major American TV star (playing the much-loved Dr Brown in “The Good Doctor”), she's seen it all! Plus, get ready for a barrel of laughs as Antonia shares the mic with Lucy Eaton.Hear Me Out is hosted by Lucy Eaton, a theatre producer and West End / screen actress best known for her role as Lucy in hit BBC comedy ‘Staged'. Other episodes of Hear Me Out include Claire Skinner, Freddie Fox, Kwame Kwei-Armah and Niamh Walsh.Follow us on TikTok, Instagram and X at @PodHearMeOut.** Join the family by subscribing on iTunes or becoming a Hear Me Out Patreon! www.patreon.com/podhearmeout *****Podcast of the Week - GuardianTop 10 theatre podcasts - Feedspot"An ode to the brilliance of language peppered with personal anecdotes" - Vanity Fair*****A Lucy Eaton Productions podcast. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kwame Kwei-Armah, artistic director, Young Vic theatre, delivers the 2024 RSA Fellows Festival keynote address on COURAGE#FELLOWSFESTIVAL #FELLOWSFESTIVAL2024Become an RSA Events sponsor: https://utm.guru/ueembDonate to The RSA: https://utm.guru/udNNBFollow RSA Events on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thersaorg/Follow the RSA on Twitter: https://twitter.com/theRSAorgLike RSA Events on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theRSAorg/Listen to RSA Events podcasts: https://bit.ly/35EyQYUJoin our Fellowship: https://www.thersa.org/fellowship/join

Mincefluencers, it's time to tune in! As this week's episode sees Lucy Eaton sit down Claire-Marie Hall, who plays Jean in the hit West End show Operation Mincemeat. And in this special episode, there's a little break from tradition as Claire-Marie shares her favourite song from a musical, offering a fresh perspective on her craft. Claire talks about the experience of being in the West End's best reviewed show of all time, delves into the differences between musical theatre auditions and straight theatre auditions and discusses how she's breaking free from the confines of the "musical theatre performer" label.Hear Me Out is hosted by Lucy Eaton, a theatre producer and West End / screen actress best known for her role as Lucy in hit BBC comedy ‘Staged'. Other episodes of Hear Me Out include Mark Gatiss, Corey Mylchreest, Maddy Hill and Kwame Kwei-Armah.Follow us on TikTok, Instagram and X at @PodHearMeOut.** Join the family by subscribing on iTunes or becoming a Hear Me Out Patreon! www.patreon.com/podhearmeout **Now in the Top 10 theatre podcasts on Feedspot: https://blog.feedspot.com/theatre_pod...A Lucy Eaton Productions podcast. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the Young Vic's Kwame Kwei-Armah becomes the latest in a list of artistic directors to announce they are leaving the theatres they have run with great enthusiasm and distinction, Nancy and Sarah discuss whether standstill funding and the effects of Covid are bringing British theatres to their knees. There are a lot of reasons to fear that Kwei-Armah is right when he warns that without government intervention, there's a danger of losing a generation of talent. But why are we so bad at valuing something that is not only an economic boon, but that also adds value to life? It's time to speak out. Plus, much praise for Beth Steele's brilliant new play Till the Stars Come Down. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Actor, playwright and director, Kwame Kwei-Armah was one of those addressing a conference in London on aspects of Reparations from cultural redress to environmental justice.

Stephen Sackur speaks to Kwame Kwei-Armah, artistic director of the Young Vic theatre in London. His work poses questions about race, identity, equality and justice. In an era of political polarisation, are audiences prepared to engage?

School's out for summer, so what's good on the West End? Spitting Image & Have I Got News For You writer, John O'Farrell, joins us to talk about turning the iconic Mrs Doubtfire into a musical. He also discusses his work on the movie Chicken Run - and drops a few hints about the upcoming sequel.Following on from our interview with House of the Dragon's Milly Alcock and Succession's Caitlin Fitzgerald, who star in the show, we review The Crucible, the Arthur Miller play currently being staged by Lyndsey Turner at the Gielgud theatre.Plus, our thoughts on Beneatha's Place at the Young Vic, written and directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah and led by Cherrelle Skeete, who starred in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - listen to our interview with her here. Also, all you need to know about what's been happening in Theatreland this week.For all the latest news and reviews visit standard.co.uk/culture Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A love letter to old school American showbiz - we review Crazy for You, which is now on at the Gillian Lynne Theatre. This feet-tapping musical features the songs of George and Ira Gershwin, and it's directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman.Cherrelle Skeete, star of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and the Amazon original, Hanna, joins Nick Curtis to talk about her role in Beneatha's Place, which is written and directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah. The show's now on at the Young Vic.Plus, we discuss Michael R. Jackson's A Strange Loop which is now on at the Barbican Theatre. You can hear our interview with Michael here.And what's been happening this week? Which “rubbish” Shakespeare scene is going to be rewritten by comedian Stewart Lee for the RSC? Also, Cabaret is going to Broadway in spring 2024 and will be on at the August Wilson Theatre. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kwame Kwei-Armah discusses his play Beneatha's Place, which imagines a future for Beneatha Younger, a character from Lorraine Hansberry's ground-breaking 1959 play A Raisin in the Sun. He talks to Samira Ahmed about the themes of race and politics in the play, which is set in 1950s Nigeria and the present day. Samira is joined by critics Leila Latif and Ekow Eshun to review some of the cultural highlights of the week: A World in Common, an exhibition of contemporary African photography at Tate Modern in London and Disney Pixar film Elemental, which imagines a world where the inhabitants are all elements. The Edinburgh Film Festival re-launches today, following its forced closure in 2022 when the charity that ran it went into administration. The festival's director Kate Taylor joins Samira to outline the plans for the re-vamped festival. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Corinna Jones

Actor John Boyega reunites with writer Kwame Kwei-Armah for Breaking the true story of a desperate man who finds himself in a desperate situation.When Marine Veteran Brian Brown-Easley is denied support from Veterans Affairs, financially desperate and running out of options, he takes a bank and several of its employees' hostage, setting the stage for a tense confrontation with the police.Joined by the late Michael K Williams, Nicole Beharie and Selenis Leyva, Breaking is a tense re-telling of an emotionally charged story. Afua Hagan sat down with John to discuss working with Brian's family to tell his heartbreaking story and sharing the screen with Michael K Williams in one of his last films.Breaking is currently available on Prime Video UK

In which the Mister joins me in reviewing BREAKING (2022), currently playing on Showtime and to buy/rent on Prime. Inspired by the story, "THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO KILL HIM' : THE DEATH OF LANCE CORPORAL BRIAN EASLEY by Aaron Gell, the film is directed by Abi Damaris Corbin with a script from Abi Damaris Corbin and Kwame Kwei-Armah. John Boyega gives a magnificent, heartbreaking performance as Brian, a Marine vet who's come back to face constant adversity from the VA. The film follows Brian on a fateful day in July, 2017 when he walks into a Wells Fargo bank and holds it up with the threat of using the C4 bomb he claims is in his backpack. The film briefly introduces us to Estel {Nicole Beharie), Rosa (Selenis Leyva), Lisa (Connie Britton) and Eli (Michael K. Williams in his last screen performance) but the main focus here is the last agonizing hours of a man who'd had enough and snapped. The film has a run time of 1 h and 43 m and is rated PG-13. Please note there are SPOILERS in this review. You can find the Aaron Gell article here: https://taskandpurpose.com/news/death-lance-corporal-brian-easley/ Opening intro music: GOAT by Wayne Jones, courtesy of YouTube Audio Library --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jokagoge/support

On this episode of Breaking the Curtain, we're joined by the insanely talented and lovely Bradley Gibson and Isabelle McCalla who star as Hercules and Meg in the upcoming Paper Mill Playhouse production of Hercules! The inspired Disney animated film is now a mythical new musical adventure. HERCULES is the divinely funny story of an honest-to-Zeus hero on a quest to discover who he is and where he belongs. Is love a possibility too? Oh, Hades, yes! The roof-raising score by Alan Menken and David Zippel features all the hits you love from the film, including the Oscar-nominated song “Go The Distance,” as well as “Zero to Hero” and “I Won't Say (I'm in Love),” along with new songs written for the stage. The show features a new book by Kwame Kwei-Armah (artistic director of London's Young Vic) and Tony Award® winner Robert Horn (Tootsie), and direction by Obie Award-winning Lear deBessonet. This cheeky, Greeky MUSE-ical earned a New York Times' Critic's Pick for its original Public Theater production in Central Park, with the New York Post cheering it's “wise-cracking, heartfelt and emotionally rich.” And that's the gospel truth! Hercules runs at Paper Mill Playhouse from Feb 16th - March 19th, 2023. Purchase your tickets today! herculesthemusical.com

Letters grant us a glimpse into fascinating lives, whether through the eyes of a genius, a monster or of an ordinary person. For this archive event, we matched up award-winning historian Simon Sebag Montefiore and No 1 bestselling novelist Kate Mosse to discuss the letters of Michelangelo, Catherine the Great, Sarah Bernhardt, Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela, Virginia Woolf, Alan Turing and more. A cast of performers including Young Vic director Kwame Kwei-Armah, plus actors Jade Anouka, Jack Lowden and Tamsin Greig provided readings live onstage.   ... Did you know that Intelligence Squared offers way more than podcasts? We've just launched a new online streaming platform Intelligence Squared+ and we'd love you to give it a go.  It's packed with more than 20 years' worth of video debates and conversations on the world's hottest topics. Tune in to live events, ask your questions or watch back on-demand totally ad-free with hours of discussion to dive into for just £14.99 a month. Visit intelligencesquaredplus.com to start watching today.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is our last podcast of the year so we're going out on a high by talking to Kwame Kwei-Armah, Artistic Director at The Young Vic, about staging the world premiere of ‘Mandela the Musical', set to become the most talked about show of the next few weeks. Mandela is played by Michael Luwoye, who played both the title role and Aaron Burr in Hamilton. Winnie Mandela is played by Scottish actor Danielle Fiamanya who played Elsa in ‘Frozen'. The musical has been staged with the full cooperation of Mandela's family so listen to Kwame tell the story of how it came about and why he took the plunge to shape this well-known resistance story as a musical. It covers the 30 years from the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960 to Mandela's release from prison in 1990. We'll be back on air again on Sunday 15th January but meanwhile, thank you to all our listeners for staying with us over the last three years and we wish you all a very happy Christmas.

Host Hilliard Guess chats with screenwriter-director Abi Damaris Corbin & co-screenwriter Kwame Kwei-Armah about their recent film Breaking, whose title resonates in more ways than one.

This week on the pod John, Jeff & Dave discuss Breaking, the new film, based on a true story, starring John Boyega as a US Marine veteran who demands the VA pay him his disability checks, which have been held up by bureaucratic crap that the US military doesn't want to confront ever, ever. Therefore, Boyega's Brian Brown-Easley makes a bold decision to make his situation known at the risk of his own life. We discussed the incredibly important content of the film as compared to the final product, which was directed by relative new-comer to feature film directing, Abi Damaris Corbin, who co-wrote the script with Kwame Kwei-Armah. Boyega also co-exec produced, and the supporting cast is led by Michael K. Williams in one of his final performances. RIP! Composed by frequent Jordan Peele collaborator Michael Abels, the film was also co-produced by Euphoria's Sam Levinson. Additional Cast/Creatives: Connie Britton, Selenis Leyva, Nicole Beharie, Olivia Washington, London Covington, Jeffrey Donovan, Doug Emmett. Find all of our Socials at: https://linktr.ee/theloveofcinema Hosts: Dave Green, Jeff Ostermueller, John Say. Edited and produced by Dave Green. Music: soundcloud.com/dasein-artist Beer: @cbarrozo.beer

A writer for stage and screen, an artistic director, and an actor, Kwame Kwei-Armah chose a truly poetic trio of Black men pushed to a righteous breaking point for today's conversation. Which is a perfect parallel to his latest project, Breaking (which premiered at Sundance ‘22 under the title 892), starring John Boyega and based on the true story of Brian Brown-Easley. Then, Jordan has one quick thing about forthcoming shorts anthology Give Me an A.Movies this week:Malcolm X (Spike Lee, 1992)Ragtime (Milos Forman, 1981)Hollywood Shuffle (Robert Townsend, 1987)***With Jordan Crucchiola and Kwame Kwei-Armah

"Breaking" premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, where it received strong notices for the performances by the cast, John Bodega, Nicole Beharie, and the late Michael K. Williams. Director Abi Damaris Corbin and her co-writer, Kwame Kwei-Armah, sought to tell the tragic true story of former veteran Brian Brown-Easley and looked at many other tension-filled, single-location thrillers to capture the anxiety and drama of such a high-stake situation. Abi was kind enough to spend some time talking about what drew her to the story, working with the cast, her inspirations, and what she took away from the experience of making her first feature-length film. We hope you take a listen down below and check out the film, now playing in theaters from Bleecker Street. Thank you, and enjoy! Check out more on NextBestPicture.com Please subscribe on... SoundCloud - https://soundcloud.com/nextbestpicturepodcast iTunes Podcasts - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/negs-best-film-podcast/id1087678387?mt=2 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/7IMIzpYehTqeUa1d9EC4jT And be sure to help support us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month at https://www.patreon.com/NextBestPicture

Entrevista con la directora Abi Damaris Corbin y escritor Kwame Kwei-Armah sobre la nueva película Breaking - protagonizada por John Boyega. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/cinexpress/support

This is our last podcast before our summer break, so we've selected some of our favourite conversations of the last year. ART: We celebrate Patrick Hughes's birthday, talk to Tracey Emin about battling cancer and to gallerist James Burch about drinking with Francis Bacon. BOOKS: Rose Tremain tells us about her novel ‘Lily', Barbara Taylor Bradford explains how she found inspiration to write the prequel to ‘A Woman of Substance', Ben Okri inspires to see trees in a totally new light, we discuss culture wars with Bernardine Evaristo and lyricist Don Black, while talking at Jewish Book Week, makes us laugh. THEATRE: We talk to playwright David Hare about ‘Straight Line Crazy' and the death of the avant garde, actor Nathaniel Parker about playing Henry VIII in Hilary Mantel's ‘The Mirror and the Light', Nick Allott from Cameron Mackintosh regales us with hilarious theatrical anecdotes and Creative Director of the Young Vic, Kwame Kwei-Armah, praises playwright James Graham. HISTORY: Andrew Roberts tells us about George III and A.N. Wilson explains how our Trafalgar Square Christmas tree was a gift from the King of Norway during World War II. MUSIC and DANCE: We talk to ballet-dancer Marcelino Sambé about playing Romeo in Kevin McMillan's ballet, to choreographer Matthew Bourne about his stellar career, to soprano Anush Hovvanisyan about all the Armenians at the Royal Opera House and playing Violetta in Richard Eyre's ‘Traviata' and finally Dylan Jones, polymath and long-standing editor of GQ, tells us what David Bowie was really like. Enjoy the summer. Ed and Charlotte will be back on Sunday September 11th September.

New York, 1984: the iconic artist Andy Warhol meets the rising star Jean-Michel Basquiat. Their relationship as they work together on a landmark exhibition is at the heart of the world premiere of Anthony McCarten's new drama, The Collaboration, at the Young Vic theatre. The director Kwame Kwei-Armah tells Kirsty Wark how the drama pulls apart the creative, racial and sexual tensions between the two, and explores artistic reputations and rivalries. The artist Louise Bourgeois was already in her 70s in the 1980s and slowly getting the attention she deserved. An exhibition at the Hayward Gallery in London focuses on the decades that followed as she had a late burst of creativity using fabric and textiles. The curator of Woven Child Ralph Rugoff explains how the artist began to incorporate clothes from all stages of her life into her art, mining themes of personal trauma, memory, identity and reparation. The Somali-British poet Warsan Shire has been hailed as the voice of a generation, who has collaborated with the superstar Beyoncé. Her debut collection, Bless The Daughter: Raised By A Voice In Her Head is full of sounds and smells, exploring the lives of refugees and the relationship between mothers and daughters. While she is celebrated as an exciting poet of our time, Shire says she looks to Somalia's literary heritage for inspiration. Producer: Katy Hickman Photo credit: Jeremy Pope and Paul Bettany in 'Collaboration' (c) Marc Brenner. Concept and design by Émilie Chen.

In 1980s New York, two notorious members of the city's art scene have just met. Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat become close friends and collaborators as they plan to hold a joint exhibition, which promises to be the greatest in the history of modern art. ‘The Collaboration', a new play at London's Young Vic Theatre, tells this story. We speak to its writer, Anthony McCarten, director Kwame Kwei-Armah and stars Jeremy Pope and Paul Bettany.

This week: The Collaboration, a new play dramatising the relationship between Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat has opened at the Young Vic theatre in London. It looks at the period between 1983 and 1985 in which they worked together on a group of paintings, many of which were shown to critical derision and commercial failure at the Tony Shafrazi gallery in New York in 1985. Ben Luke talks to the playwright Anthony McCarten and the director Kwame Kwei-Armah about bringing these complex characters to life, and the issues, including race and class, that their relationship brings into focus. In today's New York, a Faith Ringgold retrospective has opened at the New Museum; Ben talks to Massimiliano Gioni, the exhibition's curator, about the astonishing breadth of the now 91-year-old artist's work. And in this episode's Work of the Week, Helen Stoilas is at the Frieze Art Fair in Los Angeles, where she talks to Julie Roberts, the co-founder of the gallery Roberts Projects, about Betye Saar's mural LA Energy—created and quickly destroyed in 1983, and now repainted for Roberts Projects' stand at the fair. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Believing he has no other recourse than to take action to obtain the money he's owed, Brian Easley a veteran of the U.S. Marines walks into a bank, passes a note saying he has a bomb to the teller, and there begins a day that many will never forget, and many more never even knew of. In this episode of Carolyn Talks..., I discuss the film 892 with Valerie Complex, film critic and associate editor at Deadline.Directed by Abi Damaris Corbin and co-written with Kwame Kwei-Armah 892, is the dramatic feature film based on this fateful day in 2017. The film premiered at the 2022 Sundance film Festival, and stars John Boyega as Easley, Nichole Beharie, Selinis Leyva and Michael K. Williams as the people bank staff and hostage negotiator who try to get through to Brain in order to prevent him from making a decision he could never come back from.In our discussion Valerie, who her self is also a veteran of the ARMY, shares her own personal perspective on 892, experiences dealing with the Office of Veterans Affairs, and the way the system fails people once it no longer needs them. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Kwame Kwei-Armah is British actor, playwright, director and broadcaster. In 2018 he was made Artistic Director of the Young Vic, where he has directed Twelfth Night and Tree. From 2011 to 2018 he was previously the Artistic Director of Baltimore Center Stage where he directed: Jazz, Marley, One Night in Miami, Amadeus, Dance of the Holy Ghosts, The Mountaintop; An Enemy of the People, The Whipping Man and Things of Dry Hours.Other work as a director includes: Tree (Manchester International Festival), Twelfth Night, Comedy of Errors, Much Ado About Nothing, Detroit'67 (Public Theatre, New York), The Liquid Plain (Signature Theatre, New York and Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Porgy and Bess (Baltimore Symphony Orchestra) the Olivier Nominated One night in Miami for Best New Play 2016 (Donmar Warehouse) and One Love (Birmingham Repertory Theatre). As a playwright his credits include Tree (Manchester International Festival, Young Vic), One Love(Birmingham Repertory Theatre), Beneatha's Place (Baltimore Center Stage) Elmina's Kitchen, Fix Up, Statement of Regret (National Theatre) Let There Be Love and Seize the Day (Tricycle Theatre). Kwame was Artistic Director for the Festival of Black arts and Culture, Senegal, in 2010. He conceived and directed the opening ceremony at Senghor National stadium. He was an Associate Director of the Donmar Warehouse and has served on the boards of the National Theatre, Tricycle Theatre, and Theatre Communications Group. Kwame was the Chancellor of the University of the Arts London from 2010 to 2015, and in 2012 was awarded an OBE for Services to Drama.In 2012, 2013 and 2014 Kwame was named Best Director in City Paper's Best of Baltimore Awards and in 2015 was nominated for the prestigious Stage Directors and Choreographers Zelda Fichandler Award for Best Regional Artistic Director. In 2016 he was awarded the Urban Visionary Award alongside House Representative Elijah Cummings by the Center for Urban Families for his work in the Baltimore community. In 2019 he was the Chair of the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting. Kwame is a patron of Ballet Black and a visiting fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Kwame Kwei-Armah shares some of the influences that have had a significant impact on his career in the theatre. He became a household name playing paramedic Finlay Newton in BBC One's Casualty, while at the same time pursuing a career in writing. His award-winning plays including Elmina's Kitchen and Statement of Regret have been staged at the National Theatre. He tells John Wilson about his early years at stage school, how seeing a production of Joe Turner's Come and Gone by August Wilson changed the way he saw what theatre could do, and how Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave put him on a different path. Producer: Edwina Pitman

Highlights from Young Vic Artistic Director Kwame Kwei Armah's episode of Hear Me Out. Viewable as a video on Spotify or youtube. Kwame discusses 2 plays in this special series finale of Hear Me Out. First off is American icon August Wilson, best known for 'Fences' and the recently Oscar nominated 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.' But it is his play, 'Joe Turner's Come and Gone' that gets explored here, having inspired Kwame to be a writer himself. Also discussed is Randolph Edmonds' 'Nat Turner', recounting the real-life slave rebellion of 1831. Lucy and Kwame chat spirituality, David Mamet and whether Kwame ever finds himself mimicking his favourite writers... Full podcast audio can be found on the same platform you're watching this on, or find us on Youtube here: https://youtu.be/399rKikOEYM **Join the family by becoming a Hear Me Out Patreon! www.patreon.com/podhearmeout**

A bitesize episode exploring American red oak and all of its unique features. Host Oli Stratford speaks to designer Tomoko Azumi about her experience working with the timber in her project for Legacy, where she designed a beautiful steam-bent boat seat for Kwame Kwei-Armah, artistic director of the Young Vic Theatre. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

LaDonna Raeh finally meets the actor that plays the character she loves to hate on the all new Starz series BMF, Eric Kofi-Abrefa. Man, simply put would you believe that Eric called his own self boring? Watch while he sort of goes into what the deal is with he and Kato. Not to mention his obsession with the 50 Boyz especially now that he's been shut out from Monique and Zoey. Eric can currently be seen in the critically acclaimed Paramount film Blue Story, from music artist Rapman, which is now available on VOD. He recently filmed a series regular role in “The One” for Netflix, based on John Marr's critically acclaimed novel, a recurring role on the USA Network series “Treadstone,” and worked on the Sundance Lab film Pretty Red Dress, from writer/director Dionne Edwards. Prior, Eric played the role of ‘Noah Webster' in the second season of the Hulu series “Harlots,” recurred on “Deep State” for Fox International/Epix as well as the Amazon series “Jack Ryan.” Eric was also on the Sky 1 series “Stan Lee's Lucky Man” AMC's “Humans” and Ridley Scott's “Halo: Nightfall.” Eric's feature credits include Fury opposite Brad Pitt, Oliver Stone's Snowden film and I.T. opposite Pierce Brosnan. Eric has extensive theatre experience. He starred in the National stage production of “Julie,” where he played the co-lead role of “Jean” opposite Vanessa Kirby; as well as “Ear For Eye” at the Royal Court Theatre; “Labyrinth” at the Hampstead Theatre Main House; “The Glass Menagerie” at the Headlong Theatre and “One Love: Bob Marley Musical” at the Birmingham Rep, with Kwame Kwei Armah. Eric is based in London, but is currently in Atlanta shooting a series regular role on the upcoming Starz series “BMF” which airs every Sunday at 8PM ET. BMF, which debuted September 26th, is based off of the real-life story of Demetrius “Big Meech” and Terry “Southwest T” Flenory, two brothers from southwest Detroit who built a cocaine-trafficking empire and ventured into the music industry before being sentenced to 30 years in prison. Did you know that Terry “Southwest T” Flenory was released from prison in May of 2020 for fear of COVID-19. Leave a comment to tell me if you knew or not. This is only part 1 of the entire interview. So make sure that you subscribe, like and comment so that we can keep spreading the word about these extraordinary content creators! #ladonnaraehshow #ladonnaraeh #starz #bmf #starzbmf #randyhuggins #50cent #lilmeech #lamar #lamarsilas #laytonsimon 50boyz #erickofiabrefa #flenorybros #kingsofdetroit #bleudivinci --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/ladonnaraehshow/message

Chris Hirst, Global CEO of advertising group Havas Creative, cuts through the bullshit and gets to the heart of modern leadership in this straight-talking podcast brought to you by Intelligence Squared.In this episode Chris speaks to Kwame Kwei-Armah, the Artistic Director of the Young Vic theatre in London. He is also an actor, playwright, singer and broadcaster. From 2011 to 2018 he was the Artistic Director of Baltimore Center Stage, and he was Artistic Director for the Festival of Black arts and Culture, Senegal, in 2010. His series of eight short films, Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle, was shown on BBC4 in 2019. He is a patron of Ballet Black and a visiting fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University. If you enjoyed this podcast please let us know what you think by rating and reviewing No Bullsh*t Leadership on Apple Podcasts. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Young Vic podcast investigates the power of a 4000-year-old story about exile and home: how the tale of Sinuhe inspired Ben Okri to write Changing Destiny. And Kwame Kwei-Armah speaks to Egyptologist Allison Hedges about mummies, myths and the origins of theatre.

Chris Hirst, Global CEO of advertising group Havas Creative, cuts through the bullshit and gets to the heart of modern leadership in this straight-talking podcast brought to you by Intelligence Squared. In this episode Chris speaks to Kwame Kwei-Armah, the Artistic Director of the Young Vic theatre in London. He is also an actor, playwright, singer and broadcaster. From 2011 to 2018 he was the Artistic Director of Baltimore Center Stage, and he was Artistic Director for the Festival of Black arts and Culture, Senegal, in 2010. His series of eight short films, Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle, was shown on BBC4 in 2019. He is a patron of Ballet Black and a visiting fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University. If you enjoyed this podcast please let us know what you think by rating and reviewing No Bullsh*t Leadership on Apple Podcasts. For updates on the series follow @intelligence2 and @chrishirst on Twitter. Executive Producer: Farah Jassat; Editor: Emma Corsham; Technical Support: Mark Roberts. Chris Hirst is author of the award-winning book No Bulls*ht Leadership: Why the World Needs More Everyday Leaders and Why That Leader Is You. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ben Okri's new play Changing Destiny is an adaptation of one of the world's oldest known stories, the ancient Egyptian Tale of Sinuhe. Tonight marks not only its opening night at London's Young Vic theatre, but the first time the venue has opened its doors since last year. Artistic director Kwame Kwei-Armah, who directs the play, talks to Tom live from the Young Vic just a few minutes before the curtain goes up. This evening, Sir James MacMillan has a new piece being premiered at the First Night of the Proms, alongside Vaughan Williams's Serenade to Music. He tells Tom why it will be such a special occasion, and the pressure of writing a piece to accompany a masterwork. "Paint me, Joan," the children of the tenements of Townhead in Glasgow used to say to Joan Eardley. And she did. The people of Townhead and scenes of the fishing village of Catterline in northeast Scotland became the focus of her art. This is celebrated in her centenary year with two exhibitions in Edinburgh, where the Art Festival opened yesterday. Glasgow-based artist Hannah Tuulikki and Adam Benmakhlouf, art editor of The Skinny magazine, review the Joan Eardley shows, as well as Tak' Tent O' Time Ere Time Be Tint, a new installation and film by Sean Lynch, responding to the statues and public monuments of Edinburgh. Laura Snapes joins us to review Billie Eilish's eagerly awaited new album Happier Than Ever. And as ITV announces it has axed The X Factor, she discusses its legacy and why Simon Cowell is now choosing to distance himself from the programme.

Actresses & educators Suzette Llwellyn and Suzanne Packer have recently come together to add 'author' to their list of achievements. Birthed during lockdown the pair curated 'Still Breathing: 100 Black Voices on Racism' is an anthology of 100 testimonies describing the impact of racism on the lives of people of African descent. Published by HarperCollins the book brings together a cross-section of people from all walks of life. Among the contributors are Dame Elizabeth Anionwu, Paul Boateng, Dotun Adebayo, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Bonnie Greer, Vaughan Gething, Nadine White, Arthur Torrington, Sharon D Clarke, Beverley Randall, WWII veteran Allan Willmot.  As co-founders of the groundbreaking all-black woman cabaret collective The Bibi Crew and with both sharing inspiring careers on screen and stage, Suzette and Suzanne discuss why their new book is so important. Still Breathing: 100 Black Voices on Racism is available to buy now from all popular online retailers. Please buy independent where possible! 

Gregg Daniel talks about his time on "True Blood", working on "Insecure", his new film "7th & Union", a truly heartbreaking audition mishap, and shares some wonderful advice every actor should hear!About Gregg Daniel:Gregg T. Daniel is best known for his role as Reverend Daniels on HBO’s hit show True Blood. With over 100 credits in film and television, Gregg’s roles span the spectrum from comedy (Curb Your Enthusiasm, Weeds) to drama (The West Wing, Castle, Desperate Housewives) to procedurals (NCIS), science fiction (Star Trek: Voyager) and children’s shows (Austin & Ally, Kickin’ It). Big screen credits include Spiderman 3, Hancock, Mars Attacks, Evan Almighty, Pump Up The Volume, and White Men Can’t Jump. Currently, Gregg is recurring on HBO’s Insecure and stars in the upcoming film 7th And Union.An accomplished theatre director, Gregg is the Artistic Director of the Los Angeles-based Lower Depth Theatre Ensemble, and was nominated for a 2013 NAACP Image Award for helming the Los Angeles production of Kwame Kwei-Armah’s Elmina’s Kitchen, which also won the NAACP Award for Best Ensemble for 2103. Prior to that, his stage direction included 2009’s acclaimed production of Tom Stoppard’s Heroes, Sybyl Walker’s Beneath Rippling Waters, Lee Blessing’s Cobb, and Frank McGuinness’s Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me. Gregg also directed the world premiere of solo performance artist Joyce Guy’s War Stories at the Los Angeles Theatre Center and at St. Mark’s Church in New York. For Theatre 150 in Ojai, California, he directed Athol Fugards’ Sizwe Bansi, Diana Son’s Stop Kiss, and the 2004 Pulitzer Prize winner, I Am My Own Wife by Doug Wright.Twitter: @RealGreggDanielInstagram: @officialgreggdaniel

Kwame Kwei-Armah (actor, writer and artistic director of the Young Vic Theatre) discusses 2 plays in this special series finale of Hear Me Out. First off is American icon August Wilson, best known for 'Fences' and the recently Oscar nominated 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.' But it is his play, 'Joe Turner's Come and Gone' that gets explored here, having inspired Kwame to be a writer himself. Also discussed is Randolph Edmonds' 'Nat Turner', recounting the real-life slave rebellion of 1831. Lucy and Kwame chat spirituality, David Mamet and whether Kwame ever finds himself mimicking his favourite writers... Hosted by Lucy Eaton, star of lockdown smash-comedy Staged (BBC/Netflix/Staged), West End actress and theatre producer. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter at @PodHearMeOut, and watch visual clips from the show on our Youtube channel: https://bit.ly/3l7vRht Other episodes include Patricia Hodge, Brendan Coyle, and Denise Gough. A Lucy Eaton Productions podcast.

London's own inaugural Aaron Burr, Giles Terera, talks all things 'Hamlet' and 'Hamilton'. With particular exploration into a lost Hamlet scene between Horatio and Gertrude that he found when doing the play at the National Theatre, Giles discusses favourite unknown Shakespeare roles with Lucy, what it was like to land the mother of all gigs (*cough cough* thanks Lin-Manuel!) and how much that Olivier really meant to him. Hosted by Lucy Eaton, star of lockdown smash-comedy Staged (BBC/Netflix/Staged), West End actress and theatre producer. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter at @PodHearMeOut, and watch visual clips from the show on our Youtube channel: https://bit.ly/3l7vRht New episodes coming weekly, with guests such as Young Vic artistic director Kwame Kwei-Armah and Freddie Fox. A Lucy Eaton Productions podcast.

Kwame Kwei-Armah OBE is an actor, playwright and Artistic Director of the Young Vic Theatre. He joins Rachel and Alice to discuss the impact the TV series Roots had on his identity, the racial violence he witnessed as a child in 80's London and how his career has taken him from an ambulance driver in Casualty to leading one of the UK's biggest theatres.Get The Times free for a month: thetimes.co.uk/pastimperfectStop Hate UK: www.stophateuk.orgRunnymede: www.runnymedetrust.orgTheatre's Trust: www.theatrestrust.org.ukProducer: Ben Mitchell Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

CHASE BROCK, called “prolific” in The New Yorker and “a showman with an eye to a wide audience” in The New York Times, is a choreographer, director and occasional costume designer working across theater, dance, opera, ballet, TV and video games. From Flat Rock, NC, Brock made his Broadway debut at 16 in the original cast of Susan Stroman’s revival of The Music Man, also appearing on “The Rosie O’Donnell Show” and “The Tony Awards.” At 18, Brock produced a showcase of his own choreography in Michael Bennett’s leg- endary building at 890 Broadway, and at 23, he launched his own dance company. As Artistic Director of The Chase Brock Experience (in residence at Theatre Row on 42nd St), he has commissioned 8 original scores and directed, choreographed and often designed cos- tumes for 31 original works including American Sadness to Gabriel Kahane’s debut album, The Four Seasons to the Vivaldi score and new text by David Zellnik, Mirror Mirror with an original score by Michael John LaChiusa, The Song That I Sing; Or, Meow So Pretty to vintage record- ings by The New Christy Minstrels, The Girl with the Alkaline Eyes with original score and sce- nario by Eric Dietz, and Whoa, Nellie! to Nellie McKay’s album Obligatory Villagers. Broadway choreography: Joe Iconis and Joe Tracz’s Be More Chill (Lyceum Theatre), Bono, The Edge and Julie Taymor’s Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark (Foxwoods Theatre) and Sam Gold’s revival of Inge’s Picnic (Roundabout Theatre Company). International choreography: Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame (North American, German and Japanese companies), Be More Chill (London), Roméo et Juliette (Salzburger Festspiele). Off-Broadway choreography: Disney’s Hercules, Michael John LaChiusa’s First Daughter Suite, Lear deBessonet and Todd Almond’s The Tempest and The Winter’s Tale (The Public Theater), The Wildness (Ars Nova), Gigantic (Vineyard Theatre), The Mysteries (The Flea Theater). Re- gional highlights include directing The Music Man, The Nutcracker (Flat Rock Playhouse) and The Night They Invented Champagne (Westport Country Playhouse) and choreographing the world premieres of Sara Bareilles’s Waitress (American Repertory Theater), Soul: The Stax Mu- sical (Baltimore Center Stage, dir. Kwame Kwei Armah), Daniel Zaitchik’s Darling Grenadine (Goodspeed Musicals) and Be More Chill (Two River Theater). Other highlights include serving as the onscreen theater director for the Fiddler on the Roof episode of Kristin Bell’s “Encore!" (Disney+) and choreography for Bartlett Sher’s production of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette for The Metropolitan Opera and “Great Performances” (PBS), “Dash & Lily” (Netflix), many works of political satire for “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” on HBO, the bestselling video game Dance on Broadway (Nintendo Wii, PlayStation Move), sever- al ballets for New York Theatre Ballet and the upcoming film Man & Witch. Brock is the subject of the Emmy-nominated documentary Chasing Dance, and his latest project is the creation of Modern Accord Depot (modernaccorddepot.com), an arts residency space and luxury getaway in a turn-of-the-century Hudson Valley train depot. For more, please visit www.chasebrock.com and www.chasebrockexperience.com Follow @instachasebrock --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/confessionsofanactress/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/confessionsofanactress/support

In this episode, Andrew and Brittani celebrate carnival and discuss their favorite soca musicians. This leads them to imagine, and cast, a soca-driven Broadway show. Make it happen, producers! Then they review two pieces. First they talk about iN-Hale MEGA VEE's reading of All Boys Aren't Blue, by George M. Johnson. This is followed by a review of Judas and the Black Messiah, a biopic of Fred Hampton, the revolutionary socialist and chairman of the Black Panther Party in Chicago, who was murdered by the FBI at age 21. This is followed by an interview with Kwame Kwei-Armah, the playwright/performer who is also the Artistic Director of the Young Vic in London. The three talk about their Caribbean heritage and wonder why it's taking so long for the "dam to break" when it comes to producing works by Black artists. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, I will be talking about the Conundrum, which is a play by Paul Anthony Morris, which gives us a unique insight into the incredible mind of a man trapped in a society that has not yet evolved. Having resolved to conduct a personal life review to critique the inequality of society, our protagonist, Fidel, becomes alarmed by the prospect that he may also be responsible for undermining his own well-being. Perplexed by this conundrum, Fidel embarks upon an epic journey to wrestle with some of life’s most fundamental questions; Who am I and why am I here? Anthony Ofoegbu - Artistic Director Anthony Ofoegbu started performing in 1981 and in 1988 co-founded Four’s Company Dance Theatre with choreographer and dramatist, Christine Cubberley. Between 1991-1998 he was Resident Collaborator and Artist for Bayie Busuofo Mas Band, for the annual Notting Hill Carnival. From 1995 Anthony worked with Nigerian Nobel Laureate and playwright, Professor Wole Soyinka, on The Beatification Of Area Boy, Oyedipo (an adaptation of Oedipus At Colonus) and Death And The King's Horseman, which toured Australia, America, Africa, and Europe. In 2001 Nàwáo Produktions, Zurich, appointed him to be head of casting for King Baabu which toured Nigeria, Switzerland, and Germany. In 2015 Anthony became Company Director for Crying in the Wilderness Productions, an associate theatre company of the Young Vic Theatre. Anthony joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2017/18 for their Rome Season and performed as Julius Caesar and Titus Andronicus. He was also in Antony and Cleopatra. Anthony went on to perform as James in Annie Baker’s, Circle Transformation, at Manchester’s Home Theatre, UK, before embarking on an extensive US tour of Barbershop Chronicles that premiered at the UK’s National Theatre in which he played Emmanuel. The pandemic put closure on Anthony’s starring debut of Fidel in Conundrum at the prestigious Young Vic Theatre in London last March. Providence intervened and a special version of Conundrum was filmed and screened live online last august in London. This filmed production was later included in the Rijeka, the European Capital City of Culture Festival in November and December 2020 which ran for two weeks. Anthony has been a keen photographer for over 30 years. Highlights include the OffWestEnd Offie Awards Ceremony. He also designed and produced their award trophies. Paul Anthony Morris - Artistic Director Artistic Director, Paul Anthony Morris, trained at Barbara Speake Stage School and went on to work as an actor in theatre for many years. In 2006 Paul founded Crying in the Wilderness Productions. In 2006 his epic play ‘THE SEER’ was produced into a short documentary film in collaboration with West Yorkshire Playhouse. In 2007 Paul directed ‘35 CENTS’ at the Blue Elephant Theatre and ‘CHOICES’ for the CIA Theatre Company. In 2008 Paul won ‘The Adopt A Playwright Award’ for his play ‘IDENTITY’ and went on to complete three separate commissions from the Half Moon Young People’s Theatre. In 2008 and 2009 Paul worked as a film coordinator for STORY MAKERS TV which was screened at the BEAUTIFUL SOUTH FILM FESTIVAL at the British Film Institute. In the autumn of 2009, Paul directed ‘THE MEETING’ at the Warehouse Theatre. In 2010 Paul was commissioned by Fostering Network to write ‘CLICK’ and he directed ‘SHINNING MYRIAD’ at the Rosemary Branch Theatre. In 2011 Paul directed the ‘INVISIBLE MAN’ at the Decibel Performance Arts Showcase in Manchester. In 2012 Paul began developing a trilogy of plays with a second showcase of the ‘INVISIBLE MAN’ at the Bush Theatre. In 2015 he directed ‘SARAI’ at the Arcola theatre. In 2016 and 2017 he directed ‘CONUNDRUM’ at the Certain Black Festival. In 2017 he directed ‘INVISIBLE MAN’ at the Rich Mix In 2018 his company became an associate of the Young Vic theatre. In 2019 he was Associate Director on ‘TREE’ a play conceived by Idris Elba and directed by Kwame Kwei Armah. In 2020 Paul filmed the production of ‘CONUNDRUM’ which was screened for two weeks at the European Capital of Culture in 2020. Paul’s awards include the Fringe First at the Edinburg Theatre Festival for ‘THE GUISE’, the Achievement Award for best short film ‘ONCE UPON A TIME’, the Adopt A Playwright Award for ‘IDENTITY’ Offwestend, and a double winner in of the Peggy Ramsay Award for GIFTED in 2011 and Professional Mourners in 2015. His plays ‘35 Cents and ‘IDENTITY’ have been published by Oberon.

As the sector rebuilds in the wake of Covid-19, theatre critic and poet Bridget Minamore imagines a new future for Black British theatre. Setting out her vision, Bridget asks if the confluence of the Black Lives Matter movement and the devastating impact of the pandemic on the theatre industry might be an opportunity to build a more egalitarian theatre sector with greater opportunity for black makers, performers, backstage workers, and audiences - and, as a consequence, for other marginalised groups. For over 100 years, Black theatre groups have worked on the periphery of the industry, while making work that moved the conversation around race and representation forward. What can this history of creating in the face of adversity tell us now about the future of theatre? Talking to those working on the frontiers of the contemporary scene, Bridget explores whether black theatre workers could be empowered to build alternatives to the establishment, and end the uneasy and often gestural culture of diversity schemes that many feel stand in place of genuine change and opportunity. Right now, the fear in the industry is that the panic to save venues and companies will lead to a new conservatism, and risk-averse programming (for 'safe' read 'white'), reversing some of the hard won gains made by black and minority ethnic professionals in theatre in recent years - not to mention those from queer, disabled and other identities deemed peripheral. So - Bridget asks - could this response be countered with a fresh attitude to what is 'safe' to attract audiences? With reflections from voices across theatre including, Tobi Kyeremateng, Kwame Kwei Armah, Lynette Gordon, Paulette Randall MBE and Roy Alexander Weise MBE, Jasmine Lee Jones and more. A Boom Shakalaka production for BBC Radio 4

London has escaped the toughest Covid-19 restrictions with cases now falling in more than two-thirds of boroughs, according to official figures. But our deputy political editor, Nicholas Cecil, says it was a "borderline decision" that politicians and health officials debated until the last moment. He takes us behind closed doors to reveal what was behind the judgement call, and just how close the capital was to being put into Tier 3.And, the Evening Standard has joined forces with TikTok to launch a £120,000 fund to support the next generation of theatre stars, who are struggling under the impact of Covid-19. Our arts editor, Nancy Durrant, tells us high-profile figures including award-winning actress Helen McCrory, theatre supremo Andrew Lloyd Webber and Young Vic boss Kwame Kwei-Armah have joined the panel to help decide who receives the 12 grants, each of £10,000. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

John Wilson explores moments of creative inspiration as experienced by five leading artists - composer Hannah Peel, ballet dancer Tamara Rojo, playwright and director Kwame Kwei-Armah, designer Es Devlin, and songwriter David Bowie. We dive deep into the mystical, revelatory moments in which artists are set on a creative path at an early age, or inspired to continue to create throughout their lives. Detailed stories of emotional, physical and psychological responses to these moments of wonder are embedded in a rich soundscape of music and location recordings. Epiphanies is an audio love-letter to artistic creativity at a time when so much culture has been silenced and stilled. Produced by John Wilson A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4

Gregory is the author of the 2020 International Dance Day message – which so poignantly addresses the fragility of the world and humankind.Gregory’s dance journey provides a powerful insight to the dance of dance as a political voice and his voice has carried across the world. His insightful, unflinching, International Dance Day message speaks to his empathy and insight as an activist and artist.Gregory became interested in dance in the late 1980s as a means to escape the political tensions growing in his place of birth. He started his formal dance training in 1990 at Moving Into Dance wherein 2002 he became the Associate Artistic Director. Maqoma has established himself as an internationally renowned dancer, choreographer, teacher and director. He founded Vuyani Dance Theatre (VDT) in 1999 when he was undertaking a scholarship at the Performing Arts Research and Training School (PARTS) in Belgium under the direction of Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker.Maqoma is respected for his collaborations with artists of his generation like Akram Khan, Vincent Mantsoe, Faustin Linyekula, Dada Masilo, Shanell Winlock, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Nhlanhla Mahlangu and Theatre Director James Ngcobo.Several works in his repertoire have won him accolades and international acclaim. This includes FNB Vita Choreographer of the Year in 1999, 2001 and 2002 for Rhythm 1.2.3, Rhythm Blues and Southern Comfort respectively. He received the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Dance in 2002. Maqoma was a finalist in the Daimler Chrysler Choreography Award in 2002 and in the Rolex Mentorship Programme in 2003. He is the recipient of the 2012 Tunkie Award for Leadership in Dance. In 2014 he received a “Bessie”, New York City’s premier dance award for Exit/Exist for original music composition. He served as a nominator in the 2016–2017 Rolex Arts Initiative as well as curating the 2017 Main Dance Program for The National Arts Festival. His current works ‘Via Kanana’ and ‘Cion: Requiem of Ravel’s Bolero’ were touring in Africa and Europe when Covid colosed borders and dancers were forced to return to South Africa.In 2017 Maqoma was honoured by the French Government with the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Arts & Literature) Award. In 2018 was honoured by the South African Department of Arts & Culture with the inaugural Usiba Award for dedication to dance teaching.In 2018 Maqoma collaborated with William Kentridge as a choreographer and performing in Kentridge’s opera ‘The Head And The Load’ toured to the UK, Germany, Austria, Holland and New York.In 2019 Maqoma Collaborated with Idris Elba and Kwame Kwei-Armah in the production “Tree” produced by Manchester International Festival and the Young Vic. He is also part of the selection committee for Dance Biennale Afrique Festival which was to take place in Marrakech in 2020.

From online dance, pavement performances of plays, and the part played by audiences in Greek theatres and Shakespeare's Globe - how is performance adapting in the Covid era, and how are we rethinking what an audience is? Shahidha Bari hosts a discussion, with Kwame Kwei-Armah of the Young Vic; Kirsty Sedgman from the University of Bristol, who looks at theatre from Ancient Greece on; Lucy Weir, who teaches dance at the University of Edinburgh and is a BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinker; and Ted Hodgkinson, who programmes literary events at the Southbank Centre in London. This episode is part of the programming for BBC Radio 3's residency at London's Southbank Centre and their Inside Out Season of Music and Literary Events, which include concerts broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and available to catch up with via BBC Sounds, and a series of author interviews and discussions. The Young Vic is marking its 50th anniversary with a series of events, including Twenty Twenty - 3 plays centred around the themes of Home, Heritage, and History which mark the culmination of a year-long community project with Blackfriars Settlement, Certitude, and Thames Reach, and various online films. You can find discussions about how Covid has affected classical and musical audiences and programming on BBC Radio 3's Music Matters programmes https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006tnvx Producer: Emma Wallace

The Black British Theatre Awards were founded by Solange Urdang and Omar F Okai in 2019 to highlight, as well as champion, the recognition, and representation of Black talent in British theatre. The awards, which are voted almost entirely by the public, feature 26 different categories that span production and performance in plays, musicals, and dance productions, with additional categories including the LGBTQ+ Champion Award, the Disability Champion Award, and Best Teacher of Performing Arts as a Subject Award. This year's awards ceremony took place at London's Young Vic Theatre and will broadcast exclusively on Sky Arts Sunday 25th October at 9pm. The awards have been produced by Kwame Kwei-Armah & Shantelle Rochester and Directed by Charlie Di Placido and Kojey Radical. We spoke to Solange, Omar and Shantelle to find out more…

During the two hours of Slipping Into Darkness with Ra Hendricks, music will be framed by a choice of favourite listening encompassing all genres representing classic recordings of past and contemporary artistes with some surprises in store.

The coronavirus pandemic has had an impact on nearly every industry, and the arts especially are feeling the strain, with theatres still unable to reopen their doors. Kwame Kwei-Armah is the artistic director at London’s prestigious The Young Vic; he joins Christiane Amanpour to discuss how he and his peers are dealing with this and looking to the future. He also opens up about his experience as a black man in the industry and the racism he’s faced. Then turning to U.S. politics, Al Franken, former Senate Democrat and author of "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them," traces the war on facts-- from Rush Limbaugh to the current administration. Our Walter Isaacson speaks to Adrian Wooldridge, The Economist political editor, and John Micklethwait, Bloomberg News editor-in-chief, about how the pandemic has highlighted weaknesses in Western governments.To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy

A great reckoning is taking place in the wake of the brutal killing of George Floyd and the protests that followed his death. Companies and organisations are looking afresh at how they can do a better job of combatting institutional bias and racism. Employees are increasingly speaking out about their experiences and calling for change.In this special event this Thursday June 25, Intelligence Squared brought together two leading voices from the arts, Kwame Kwei-Armah, artistic director of the Young Vic, and Idris Elba, star of The Wire and Luther, to discuss what should happen and is likely to happen in the world of culture as we move forward. Given all the promises made and broken over the years, will things be different this time? Will there be deep structural change so that we see more Black and Brown people – not just on the stage or screen – but in positions of real power and decision-making? And once lessons have been learned, what do people actually need to do?------------------------------Intelligence Squared+. The world's best speakers. Your questions. £4.99 per month.Intelligence Squared+ will bring you live, interactive events every week on our new online platform. Just like at our real-life events, you’ll be able to put your questions to our speakers, vote in live polls and interact with other members of the audience. Your subscription will give you access to multiple events featuring the world’s top thinkers and opinion formers, including Thomas Piketty, Margaret Atwood, Clive Woodward, Thomas Friedman, Meera Syal and Paloma Faith.For a full list of Intelligence Squared+ events and to subscribe, click here: https://bit.ly/2yfYIfm Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The sixth podcast in the series features a conversation between Kwame Kwei-Armah, Artistic director of the Young Vic Theatre, and Sir David Adjaye, architect. For this first episode recorded mid-lockdown, the pair discuss the importance of reinvention to build the art of tomorrow, the idea of homecoming and of knowing where you come from to know where to go next. The Genesis Podcast Series is being produced in the run-up to the Genesis Foundation’s 20th anniversary, and consists of conversations between artists and thought leaders presented by broadcaster James Jolly.

Aasmah Mir and Suzy Klein are joined by former Special Forces sniper, Ant Middleton, now star of Channel 4’s SAS: Who Dares Wins, where ex-Special Forces soldiers put civilian recruits through their paces, SAS style. Andrew Garrido was desperate to play the piano. He couldn't afford lessons, but undeterred, he made a keyboard out of paper and taught himself and is now studying at the Guildhall School of Music. Jane Couch took part in unregulated boxing matches for years – sometimes against men - before taking the British Boxing Board of Control to court in 1998 and winning, becoming the first British licensed female boxer. Listener Ellie Somme grew up with stories of her father’s work in the Norwegian resistance during the Second World War, but it wasn’t until he died that she discovered an archive of secret papers and realised the extent of his historical importance to the resistance movement. The inheritance tracks of Kwame Kwei-Armah, Artistic Director of the Young Vic, who chooses Sugar Bum Bum by Lord Kitchener and What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye. And a listener thanks someone they were unable to thank at the time. Producer: Annette Wells Editor: Eleanor Garland

Chooses Sugar Bum Bum by Lord Kitchener and What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye.

Pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason talks about her love for the music of Clara Schumann, who in the 19th Century was famous as a virtuoso pianist but overshadowed as a composer by her husband Robert Schumann. Isata has recorded Clara's music for her debut album, Romance. Tree, a major production of the Manchester International Festival, is embroiled in controversy. The Festival states that Tree is a new work, based on a concept by Idris Elba with an original script by Kwame Kwei-Armah. But writers Tori Allen-Martin and Sarah Henley say that they spent 4 years working on the project, workshopping and writing drafts, and should be credited. Samira talks to Allen-Martin and Henley about this and why they have set up an organisation to help female playwrights. Jill Halfpenny and Babou Ceesay star in new BBC drama Dark Money as a parents who accept a huge pay off to keep quiet after finding out their child was sexually abused while shooting a film in Hollywood. The Radio Times's David Butcher reviews, Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Timothy Prosser

John meets Kwame in a rehearsal room of London’s Young Vic Theatre, where he is artistic director. Although he’s worked as an actor, musician, television presenter and theatre director, Kwame regards himself as a playwright first and foremost. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

These Three is a new podcast series in which John Wilson talks to leading artistic figures about their creative lives, their key influences and what continues to inspire them. Each guest focuses on three works: one they made, one they wish they’d made, one that they’re making right now. Guests include music legend Paul Weller, Avenger's actress Hayley Atwell, songwriter Natalie Merchant, painter Jonathan Yeo, songwriter Tom Odell, playwright Lucy Prebble, songwriter Guy Garvey and playwright Kwame Kwei-Armah. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Actor, director, writer, producer, and recently appointed Artistic Director of London’s Young Vic theatre, Kwame Kwei-Armah joins broadcaster Sarah Crompton to discuss mistakes, family, loneliness, getting death threats, serving the next generation of artists, the fun of theatre, and the enduring difficulties of getting your play on stage.

Richard and Aasmah are joined by Kwame Kwei-Armah OBE, who began pursuing a pop career but drama took over with TV and theatre roles. As a writer, his first play won an award and his second transferred to the West End, he’s curated a World Festival of Black Arts and had an artistic directorship in Baltimore. Now he has been appointed Artistic Director of the Young Vic theatre in London. Caroline Crampton grew up sailing with her family at every opportunity, but it's only since a recent trip to sail down the Thames Estuary with her family that she got to really love it. Candice Brathwaite is a parenting blogger, Influencer and founder of Make Motherhood Diverse – an online initiative that aims to encourage a more accurately representative and diverse depiction of motherhood in the media. Edd China, mechanic on TV's Wheeler Dealers and the creator of numerous obscure vehicles including a road legal sofa. He has set Guinness World Records for the fastest furniture, shed, bathroom and bed, largest motorised shopping trolley and fastest electric amphibious vehicle and electric ice cream van. And as well as your thank yous, we have the Inheritance Tracks of Francis Rossi of Status Quo. He chooses the Everley Brothers’ Cathy’s Clown, and In the Army now by Bolland and Bolland. Producer: Corinna Jones Editor: Beverley Purcell

Last August, Baltimore Center Stage announced the appointment of Stephanie Ybarra as its new Artistic Director. She succeeds Kwame Kwei Armah, who left to become the Artistic Director of the Young Vic Theater in London. Stephanie Ybarra comes to Baltimore after six years as the Director of Special Artistic Projects at the Public Theatre in New York City, where she oversaw its popular Public Forum programs and led the theater’s Mobile Unit on a first-of-its-kind national tour. She is an alum of the Women’s Project Theater, where she’s served for the past few years as the Producer’s Lab Liaison. She is also the Curator and Casting Director of the Cruzando Fronteras, or Crossing Borders Festival at the Two River Theater in New Jersey. That festival features the work of Latinx theater artists. Stephanie Ybarra is, in fact, the first Latinx theater artist to lead one of America’s major theaters. Baltimore Center Stage on Thursday announced the list of plays it will present during its upcoming 2019-2020 season. Our theater critic, J Wynn Rousuck, joins Tom in Studio A with Stephanie Ybarra to talk about the new season lineup, and about the artistic vision she brings to her new role at Baltimore Center Stage.This conversation was livestreamed on WYPR's Facebook page. You can watch the video here.

Following on from Intelligence Squared’s acclaimed events on great speeches and poetry, when Carey Mulligan, Simon Russell Beale, Helena Bonham Carter and other stars took to our stage, we now present Letters That Changed The World, based on award-winning historian Simon Sebag Montefiore’s new book Written in History: Letters that Changed the World. Joining him on stage were No 1 bestselling novelist Kate Mosse. Together they discussed letters by Michelangelo, Catherine the Great, Sarah Bernhardt, Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela, Virginia Woolf, Alan Turing and Leonard Cohen. Some are inspiring, some unsettling, others express foreboding and despair. Many celebrate love and sex.A cast of performers, including Young Vic director Kwame Kwei-Armah, rising star Jade Anouka, Dunkirk actor Jack Lowden, and West End star Tamsin Greig, brought the letters to life on stage. Listen and discover the bravery, beauty and visceral immediacy in these letters. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Highlights of the launch event for the Manchester International Festival 2019, held in Manchester on 7 March 2019. Introduced by MIF artistic director John McGrath, this episode also features announcements from festival participants including Phelim McDermott of Improbable Theatre, Kwame Kwei-Armah of Young Vic Theatre, actors Maxine Peake and Juliet Stevenson, Leo Warner of 59 Productions, writer Lolita Chakrabarti, choreographer Claire Cunningham, Mary Anne Hobbs of BBC 6 Music and grime artist Skepta. Other artists appearing at the festival include Philip Glass, Yoko Ono, Laurie Anderson and David Lynch. Image from MIF launch: Michael Symmons Roberts, Emily Howard, John McGrath, Maxine Peake, Grainne Flynn, Wesley Thistlewaite, Adam Ali, Kirsty Housley, Claire Cunningham, Leo Warner, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Isaiah Hull, Young identity poet, Reggie Gray, Animals of Manchester child-curators, Sibylle Peters, Karl Hyde, Lois Keidan, Adam Thirlwell, Danny Collins, Adania Shibli, Juliet Stevenson, Lolita Chakrabarti, Benoit Swan Pouffer, Christine Cort, Mark Ball

The Artistic Director of the Young Vic speaks about the theatre's YV:ID Festival

Writer, director, actor, musician and YV’s artistic director - Kwame Kwame Kwei-Armah joins Dan in the studio to talk about his return to London after 7 years in the US, and his most recent musical foray into Shakespeare with Twelfth Night. They chat about upcoming production of The Convert written by Danai Gurira and starring her Black Panther co-star Letitia Wright, alongside Kwame’s ongoing digital projects including My England, a response to his perceived changes in living in England since his childhood in Southall. We also talk about the upcoming 2019 Season, with shows including creatives Idris Elba, Marianne Elliot, and Yael Faber, and the incredible acting talents of Sharon D. Clarke, Arinzé Kene and Wendell Pierce.

An entire disused swimming pool has been built on the ground floor of the Whitechapel Gallery in London for the new exhibition from the Scandinavian duo Elmgreen & Dragset. The artists discuss how they have been inspired by the work of David Hockney and Ed Ruscha. Then film critic Mark Eccleston art critic Jacky Klein and artist and former Canadian national competitive swimmer Leanne Shapton reflect on the swimming pool in the arts. Kwame Kwei-Armah opens his first season as the Artistic Director of London's Young Vic with a musical adaptation of Twelfth Night. This reworking of Shakespeare's comedy, which includes soul music and show tunes from songwriter Shaina Taub, has already impressed audiences in New York. Theatre critic Sam Marlowe gives her verdict.Green Noise is the title of poet Jean Sprackland's new collection which encapsulates her concerns with the natural world on which she focuses minutely, as well as the sounds of the street, the wind, and resonating history. She reads her work and talks about writing poems that listen to the green noise of life.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Edwina Pitman

News of tickets going on sale for Ivo Van Hove's new production All About Eve starring Gillian Anderson and Lily James, an award for Aidan Turner and a review of Humans at Hampstead Theatre plus the pick of theatre shows opening around the UK including Stephen Sondheim's Company, a comedy by and starring Adrian Edmonton and Nigel Planer, Kwame Kwei-Armah's first production in large of the Young Vic and the National Theatre's Macbeth on tour.

Jools Holland on Falstaff & Kwame Kwei-Armah on falling in love with someone's story

Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck joins Tom today with her review of the world premiere of Soul: The Stax Musical, now rattling the boards at Baltimore Center Stage.The production is the directorial swansong of departing artistic director Kwame Kwei Armah, who's stepping down after seven years running the shows at Center Stage. (Check out his May 9 interview here on Midday).With a book by Matthew Benjamin, choreography by Chase Brock, musical direction by Rahn Coleman and a multi-talented 21-member cast, Soul: the Stax Musical tells the story (with renditions of more than 30 songs) of Memphis-based Stax Records and the recording company's role in launching such legendary artists as Otis Redding, The Staple Singers, Isaac Hayes, Booker T ---- The MG's, Rufus ---- Carla Thomas, David Porter, Wilson Pickett, Johnnie Taylor, and Eddie Floyd — singers whose iconic work during the 1960s and 70s laid the foundations for American Soul Music. Their story, and the rise and fall of Stax Records, play out against the backdrop of the evolving civil rights struggle and the growing power of R----B music -- still evident today -- to unite a divided nation.

Tom's guest today is the playwright, director and actor, Kwame Kwei Armah, OBE. He has been the artistic director of Baltimore Center Stage since 2011, but he will soon be moving on. After his final show at Center Stage, which opens tomorrow night, he’s heading home to London, where he has taken the helm of the storied Young Vic Theatre.During his tenure here in Baltimore, he produced three of the best-selling shows in the theater’s history. As a playwright, Kwei-Armah premiered several new works here in Charm City, and he made great strides in diversifying the Center Stage audience. He also oversaw a major, $28 million renovation of the theater’s Calvert Street home, and in his spare time, in 2012, Queen Elizabeth II made him an Officer of the British Empire for his service to drama.His final production at Center Stage -- a world premiere of a work by playwright Matthew Benjamin that Kwame is directing--is Soul, the STAX Musical, It tells the story of Memphis-based Stax Records, and chronicles the rise of artists like Otis Redding, The Staple Singers, Isaac Hayes, Booker T. and The MG’s, Wilson Pickett and others—some of the great and early progenitors of Soul and R----B music. Midday's theater critic J Wynn Rousuck joins Kwame and Tom in Studio A. We streamed this conversation live on the WYPR Facebook page. If you missed that, click here to check out the video.

Hosted by M. Graham Smith, we are delighted to bring you the fifth episode of our podcast series – Masters of the Stage: Regional Originals with M. Graham Smith – a series of interviews with some of the most exciting Directors and Choreographers working in America’s regional theatres today. This week Graham is with Kwame Kwei-Armah, who is about to make his move from Artistic Director of Baltimore Center Stage in the U.S. to Artistic Director of the Young Vic in the U.K. 'This is a moment to be bold. This is a moment to say that I believe in tomorrow and that tomorrow will look like this'. Kwame Kwei-Armah.

For centuries tales were shared around the camp-fire; modern settlements share data via wi-fi. But what hasn't changed across the ages is our passion for histories and information - we shape and make sense of our lives by telling stories about what has happened to us, and relax by reading or seeing fictions about the lives of imagined characters. From cave-dwellers to millennials , stories have been organised in pretty much the same way - with a beginning, middle and end, although, in contemporary culture, now less frequently in that order. All storytellers have used techniques of tension, delayed revelation, surprise twists. But - now - the art of narrative is being fundamentally changed by new technologies, which offer fresh ways of telling stories and different places for them to be told, redefine narrative genres, and allow audiences unprecedented opportunities to inter-act with and even co-author the content. In this, the first part of a new three part series, Mark Lawson speaks with some of the leading figures in British TV - including showrunner Jed Mercurio (Line of Duty), producer Nicola Shindler (Red Productions) writer Paula Milne (The Politician's Wife, Angels), Charlotte Moore (BBC Director of Content) - to examine how the stories being told on television in the digital age have adapted to the advent of streaming services, binge-watching and catch-up TV. Mark also visits a cinema in Macclesfield to watch the live broadcast of 'Follies'- staged simultaneously in the West End. He talks with Kwame Kwei-Armah, soon to begin as the Young Vic's Artistic Director, about how the technology involved has brought top-level theatre to a whole new audience and redefined the idea of live spectatorship. Presenter: Mark Lawson Producer: Geoff Bird.

Kwame Kwei-Armah is a British actor, playwright, director, singer and broadcaster. In 2005 he became the second black Briton to have a play staged in the West End of London. Kwei-Armah's award-winning piece Elmina's Kitchen transferred to the Garrick Theatre in 2005. He became the chancellor of the University of the Arts in London on 7 March 2011. He has been the Artistic Director of the Baltimore Center Stage Theatre since 2011. His other works include voicing Mtambo in The Lorax, Fix Up, Blues Brother Soul Sister, Statement of Regret, Let There Be Love, Seize the Day, Beneatha's Place, and One Love: The Bob Marley Musical. Listen in to hear Kwame chat about his experience in Baltimore, his upcoming gig, as well as . . . Why a lack of jobs for him and his actor friends made him pick up a pen and write, even though he had never written a play before. How a mentor helped give him his start . . . and why we ALL need a mentor! Why he doubled down on studying and mastering writing AFTER he had a hit . . . (Most people would sit back and surf on their early success, but not Kwame.) How a political point influences all his writing . . . and then why he hides it. What the @#$% can we ALL do about diversity. Keep up with me: @KenDavenportBway www.theproducersperspective.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Armando Iannucci, writer of The Thick of It, discusses his new film satire The Death of Stalin and his love of classical music as explored in his book, Hear Me Out.Kwame Kwei-Armah has been running the Center Stage Theater in Baltimore and in February will take over the Young Vic in London. Meanwhile he's directing The Lady From the Sea, in a new version by Elinor Cook that transports Ibsen's Scandi drama of a woman's tussle for her independence to the Caribbean. John Wilson finds out why, and what Kwei-Armah has up his sleeve for his new job.Form 696 is a risk assessment form which the Metropolitan Police requests promoters and licensees of events complete and submit 14 days in advance of hosting some music events. When the form was first introduced in 2005 it proved controversial as it asked for details of audience ethnicity and, although this wasamended later, critics still say the form is discriminatory because grime and urban music artists are disproportionately affected. As London Mayor Sadiq Khan asks the Met to review the form, and a new report on the state of grime music in the UK is published, we discuss Form 696 and its impact on the grassroots music scene with the Director for the Black Music Research Unit at the University of Westminster, Mykaell Riley and music journalist Hattie Collins.And we remember the actor and comedian Sean Hughes whose death was announced on Monday. Presenter : John Wilson Producer : Dymphna Flynn.

On Saturday at the Barbican 18 musicians from several countries will play in a concert of Christian music from the East - Greece, Syria and India. Three of them, the singer Susheela Raman, guitarist Sam Mills and percussionist Pirashanna Thevarajah, talk to Samira Ahmed about the music and where they found it, and perform live in the Front Row studio.Elizabeth Dawn played Vera Duckworth in Coronation Street; Tony Booth, was Alf Garnett's Scouse son-in-law, Mike Rawlins, in Till Death Us Do Part, and was also in Coronation Street. The death of both actors was announced today and Susannah Clapp, the theatre critic of the Observer, and a keen Corrie fan, discusses the characters and the actors.This weekend many students will be going to university. As well as being a place of sober (and lewd) learning the university campus has, since the Second World War, been the setting of so many novels and films these have become a genre. Hannah Rose Woods captained her team to victory in University Challenge last year. She and Toby Lishtig, fiction editor of the Times Literary Supplement, consider the role of the campus in modern culture.It was announced today that playwright and director Kwame Kwei Armah, who for the last few years has been running the Center Stage theatre in Baltimore, will return to take over as Artistic Director of the Young Vic. Susannah Clapp tells Samira about him, and considers the significance of the appointment.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Julian May.

Behind the scenes access to a brand new play, as it is being developed. The award winning Kwame Kwei-Armah invites the creator of The Wire to rehearsals, days before the world premiere in Baltimore. Kwame is the Artistic Director at Baltimore’s Center Stage Theatre. We watch cast and crew, as they work on the stage version of Toni Morrison’s novel, Jazz.

July 21, 2017 - Segment 1 - I hosted a conversation with Center Stage Artistic Director and world-renowned playwright Kwame Kwei-Armah. We talked about his artistic work, the world of the African Diaspora, his six years at Center Stage, and his recent announcement that he will be leaving Center Stage after the upcoming season.

Jake Gyllenhaal on his latest movie Life, a sci-fi thriller about a team of scientists aboard the International Space Station who find a rapidly evolving life form from Mars. He discusses the practicalities of simulating zero gravity on film and also his current role in the musical Sunday in the Park with George on Broadway.Choreographer Christopher Wheeldon talks about directing the Tony Award-winning musical An American in Paris, which has just opened in London. This year thirteen new musicals will receive a Broadway premiere, but in the UK only two new musicals are slated for West End premieres, so is the UK is being left behind by America? Jamie Hendry, producer of the forthcoming West End musical, The Wind in The Willows, and Zoë Simpson, independent producer and board member of the Musical Theatre Network discuss the business of putting on a musical.Pauline Black, lead singer of Midlands ska band The Selecter, reviews One Love: The Bob Marley Musical at The Birmingham Rep. Written and produced by director, actor and playwright Kwame Kwei-Armah, the show brings the reggae star's global hits to the stage for the first time and delves into the political turmoil of Marley's native Jamaica.Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer Rachel Simpson.

The Democrats hated it before it even happened and now many Republicans have distanced themselves from the US President's proposals for an Obamacare replacement. So is Trumpcare already dead in the water? We speak to Professor John McDonough of Harvard University's Department of Health Policy & Management - who worked in the Senate on the passage of the Affordable Care Act. The US Department of Justice has fined the Chinese telecoms maker ZTE nearly $1.2 billion for selling banned American-made equipment to Iran and North Korea. We get analysis from Shawn Donnan, World Trade Editor of the Financial Times in Washington DC. The shipping industry is predominantly male and women who manage to get in complain of institutional harassment and sexism. Eldine Chilembo Gless, a One Young World Ambassador from Angola in south-west Africa outlines the extent of the problem. We cast the net a little wider to draw in some of the business headlines from elsewhere in the world and we cross to Sydney and the BBC's Phil Mercer. 36 years ago at the age of just 36 Bob Marley died but interest in the reggae star shows no sign of diminishing. In the UK, a new stage show called One Love: The Bob Marley Musical opens on Friday. It's written and directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah who's been talking to our Arts Correspondent Rebecca Jones. And we're joined throughout the programme by Mitchell Hartman of Marketplace who's is in Portland, Oregon and Jyoti Malhotra, President of South Asian Women in Media is in Delhi. Picture description: Protestors demonstrate during a health care rally at Thomas Paine Plaza on February 25, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images

Historian Peter Frankopan and Classicist, Edith Hall, join the author and drama practitioner Kwame Kwei-Armah in a Free Thinking session, chaired by Anne McElvoy, on the concept of success. Success was scrutinised in a documentary on the Third Programme in 1967. Personal or public - how do we imagine success in the contemporary world? Have our hopes for a successful society grown or diminished, is a sense of personal integrity as strong as it was? Archives from the Third Programme include a transcript from 5 June 1967 of a programme produced by Douglas Cleverdon in which Philip Toynbee, Sir Michael Redgrave, Malcolm Muggeridge and John Berger talk to host Philip O'Connor about the nature of success. Have our definitions changed at all?Peter Frankopan from Worcester College, Oxford is the author of The Silk Roads: A New History of the World Edith Hall's latest book is called Introducing The Ancient Greeks: From Bronze Age Seafarers to Navigators of the Western Mind Kwame Kwei-Armah, author, actor and Artistic Director of CENTERSTAGE Baltimore directs One Night in Miami by Kemp Power at London's Donmar Warehouse October 6th - December 3rd 2016Producer: Jacqueline Smith.

As Radio 3 broadcasts Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun as the Sunday Drama hear theatre directors Kwame Kwei-Armah, Yael Farber and Dawn Walton and historians Kit Davis and Althea Legal Miller on her life, work and its resonances today.

With two plays by Lorraine Hansberry being staged in the UK in 2016, Philip Dodd looks at her writing and its resonance today. When A Raisin in the Sun opened in 1959 it was the first play written by a black woman to be performed on Broadway. It is now touring the UK and being broadcast at the end of January on BBC Radio 3. Les Blancs - written 11 years later - is set in an African country on the brink of civil war and is staged at the National Theatre in Spring. The new production of Raisin in the Sun is being directed by Dawn Walton and Yael Farber is in charge of the National's account of Les Blancs - both directors will be joined by the playwright, Kwame Kwei Armah to discuss Hansberry. Kwame Kwei-Armah, who runs Baltimore's Centre Stage, put on what he called the Raisin Cycle in 2013 which included Bruce Norris's Clybourne Park and his own Beneatha's Place, both responses to Hansberry. Philip's other guests are the historian Dr Althea Legal- Miller and the anthropologist, Kit Davis. Les Blancs directed by Yael Farber opens at the National Theatre on March 24th. A Raisin in the Sun directed by Dawn Walton artistic director of Eclipse Theatre company opens at the Sheffield Crucible Studio Theatre on Jan 28th and tours to New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich; Nuffield Theatre, Southampton; Liverpool Playhouse; Watford Palace Theatre; The Albany, Deptford ; The Belgrade, Coventry. A BBC Radio 3 production of A Raisin in the Sun is being broadcast on Sunday January 31st.Producer: Zahid Warley

Ed Vaizey, minister for UK Culture, Communications and Creative Industries is today asking senior figures in TV, film and arts to explain the lack of diversity in their industries. We talk to two people attending that meeting; playwright and actor Kwame Kwei Armah and senior TV executive Pat Younge, and ask the founder of the Cultural Diversity Network, Clive Jones, why he thinks black, asian and minority ethnic representation in the creative world is low and is actually going down.Tony Gallagher, editor of The Daily Telegraph, left the newspaper yesterday as part of an editorial restructure. The Telegraph Media Group said that Mr Gallagher was leaving the company as the business "moves to the next phase of its digital transformation". The newspaper has introduced new apps and subscription packages, and last year began using a metered model for access to its internet edition, which gives readers a numbers of articles for free. So, what further changes does it want to make to remain viable?With Birds of a Feather, writers Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran bucked the trend and found a formula to create a much-loved ratings smash. The British sitcom placed as its heart the adventures of a group of female lead characters; and now Dorian, Sharon and Tracy are back on our screens. The new series, being shown on ITV, has been the highest rating comedy launch on ITV in over a decade, with every episode drawing audiences way above the slot average. Laurence Marks joins Steve to discuss the success of the new series, the public's enduring love of the original Essex girls, and his views on why the biggest barrier to successful comedy is fear.Producer: Katy Takatsuki.

With Mark Lawson. Writer and comedy performer Miranda Hart reflects on her career so far, as her book Is It Just Me? appears in paperback. Martin Amis discusses his 13th novel Lionel Asbo: State of England, a black comedy about a very violent and not very successful criminal and his nephew Desmond Pepperdine. Playwright and actor Kwame Kwei-Armah, currently Artistic Director of Center Stage in Baltimore, Maryland, selects his Cultural Exchange: Joe Turner's Come and Gone by August Wilson Producer Jerome Weatherald.

Kwame Kwei-Armah chooses Joe Turner's Come and Gone (1984), a play by August Wilson (1945 - 2005) and the second installment of his decade-by-decade chronicle of the African-American experience, The Pittsburgh Cycle. Presented by Mark Lawson. The interview is followed by selected clips from the BBC archive: August Wilson reflecting on his career; James Earl Jones on race in Wilson's plays; director Paulette Randall on Wilson's female characters and Kwame Kwei-Armah on being interviewed 18 times for his role as artistic director at Centerstage Baltimore. full details available from the Front Row website

Agnetha Fältskog talks about her years with ABBA and her new solo career; Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie nominates Tutu, by painter Ben Enwonwu, for Cultural Exchange; soprano Angela Gheorghiu reflects on her work and her controversial reputation; actor Kwame-Kwei Armah discusses his new role as artistic director of Center Stage theatre in Baltimore; James Hamilton-Paterson discusses his new book, set during the height of the Cold War.

With Mark Lawson. British actor, director and playwright Kwame Kwei-Armah is now Artistic Director of the Center Stage theatre in Baltimore. Mark spent a day with Kwame, discussing his new play, race relations and the differences between UK and US theatre. Producer Penny Murphy.

With Mark Lawson. Dominic Cooke is leaving London's Royal Court Theatre after seven years as Artistic Director. He looks back at his often controversial tenancy and discusses his final production, The Low Road by Bruce Norris. And in the week that Nicholas Hytner announced the date for his departure as Artistic Director of the National Theatre, Kenneth Branagh, Marianne Elliott, Sam Mendes and Kwame Kwei-Armah reveal where they stand as potential contenders for the top job. Michael Dobbs, who was Conservative Chief of Staff under Margaret Thatcher, and Haydn Gwynne who is currently portraying Thatcher on stage in The Audience, reflect on the ways that the former Prime Minister has been represented in culture. And two exhibitions by leading women artists open in London this week. In her new show Detached, Rachel Whiteread continues her exploration of casting the inside of objects including sheds, doors and windows. And sculptor Elisabeth Frink, who died twenty years ago, has an anniversary retrospective which celebrates the four decades of the artist's life in sculptures, drawings and paintings. Rachel Cooke reviews. Producer Jerome Weatherald.

Playwright Kwame Kwei Armah chooses a speech from Othello (Act 1 Sc 3)as the piece of Shakespeare which has inspired him most. Peformed by Don Warrington. Broadcast on Radio 3.

By David Dower, Kwame Kwei-Armah. Listen to weekly podcasts hosted by David Dower as he interviews theater artists from around the country to highlight #newplay bright spots. This week: Kwame Kwei-Armah of Center Stage.

Kirsty Young's castaway is the actor, director and playwright, Kwame Kwei-Armah. His creative output spans both high art and popular culture. He became a household name starring in BBC One's Casualty, but at the same time he was pursuing a career in writing and his award-winning plays have been staged at the National Theatre. He's just finished a stint as the artistic director of The World Festival of Black Arts in Senegal and his next posting is to the US, where he's taking over a theatre in Baltimore. Throughout his life, he says, he continues to be inspired by the joyful atmosphere he grew up in. "My home was so warm, so full of life and noise. Most of my theatre I call the theatre of my front room. My memory was just this citadel to love and joy."Record: Fight the Power Book: The complete works of August Wilson Luxury: A basic word processorProducer: Leanne Buckle.

Kirsty Young's castaway is the actor, director and playwright, Kwame Kwei-Armah. His creative output spans both high art and popular culture. He became a household name starring in BBC One's Casualty, but at the same time he was pursuing a career in writing and his award-winning plays have been staged at the National Theatre. He's just finished a stint as the artistic director of The World Festival of Black Arts in Senegal and his next posting is to the US, where he's taking over a theatre in Baltimore. Throughout his life, he says, he continues to be inspired by the joyful atmosphere he grew up in. "My home was so warm, so full of life and noise. Most of my theatre I call the theatre of my front room. My memory was just this citadel to love and joy." Record: Fight the Power Book: The complete works of August Wilson Luxury: A basic word processor Producer: Leanne Buckle.

Playwright Kwame Kwei-Armah is a passionate advocate of Marcus Garvey, the inspirational black leader of the early twentieth century. Long before Martin Luther King or Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey was trying against all the odds to give black people a sense of pride, and to create the conditions in which they might hope to flourish and prosper. Kwame Kwei-Armah tells the story of Garvey's incredible rise and fall, and brings this impressive yet flawed man to life. He's joined by Colin Grant, the author of Negro with a Hat - a biography of Marcus Garvey. Presenter Matthew Parris contributes his own memories of living in both Jamaica and Africa. Producer: Beth O'Dea.

Wendy Robbins presents a series revisiting the childhood neighbourhoods of influential Britons. Playwright and actor Kwame Kwei-Armah takes Wendy to Southall, west London, to remember his West Indian childhood there in the 1970s.